Judy L. Rogers

Teaching Spirituality in Public Higher Education

As the above words attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of St. Matthew remind us, our world indeed is sometimes divided between two very different obligations – those belonging to God and the Church and those belonging to Caesar and the State. Such a distinction is one with a long history in American higher education. Although Church and State were, in effect, one and the same in most colleges and universities well into the 19th century, events of the Modern era have drawn more carefully the line that separates them, and for very important reasons. Distinguishing one from the other is politically wise and, for some, a matter of survival. Furthermore, over time many a Caesar has perpetrated evil on the oppressed in the name of God. To equate the authority of religion with the authority of the state may construct a dangerous path as our own history has witnessed. Although Church and State have coexisted side-by-side in our system of higher education, more common has become the distinction that has evolved over the years between institutions that are private and those that are public. This denotes not only differences of institutional mission and purpose, but also the very kinds of questions thought to comprise the proper focus of higher learning. However, deciding between God and Caesar on such matters is complicated and not all that easy for those of us who broach the subject of religion and spirituality in public universities. What are our choices in that regard? What are the boundaries if any that frame our work? Our purpose here is to reflect on our experiences as faculty members in public institutions who prepare professionals at the graduate level for careers in higher education and student affairs. It is our intent to identify some of the principal challenges we face in teaching courses in education and spirituality, as well as potential but differing solutions we propose for resolving them. We recognize clearly that people can disagree vehemently over choices in this domain, especially when it comes to addressing such questions in a public venue. Our hope is that, in sorting through the tangled skein of roles and purposes we face in delivering such courses, others might discover their own commitments and resolutions to this dimension of students’ lives.

Leadership Development for the 90s: Incorporating Emergent Paradigm Perspectives

The author examines the radical change that has occurred in the conceptualization of leadership, with particular emphasis on leadership development.