Across our campus, faculty, staff, and students are navigating the rapidly evolving terrain of AI. And while we all must reckon with the place of AI in higher education (especially relative to our respective disciplines), there remains the necessary conversation about Christian spiritual formation and AI. Come grab a cup of coffee or tea and join your colleagues for this important conversation!

Join us to hear from faculty about their Faculty Renewal Leave research. John Boyles' work addressed  “The Functional and Practical Dimensions of Leadership in the Pastoral Epistles” and Brad East explored the topic “Technology: For the Care of Souls.”  Come support your colleagues and hear about their important work!

All of humanity shares a common fate: we all eventually die. But Christians are shaped by a distinct posture towards death--one not of avoidance, but of sober-minded liberation and ethical engagement. Come join us for lunch as Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby shares some of the core ideas explored in her course, Mortality & Meaning, and find out why our students are dying to talk about death!

In the current political and cultural moment, courses addressing diversity and social issues can feel especially fraught. This interdisciplinary faculty group will focus on strategies and resources for engaging students in thoughtful, respectful conversations. 

Our discussion aims to explore approaches that honor the complex positionality, backgrounds, lived experiences, and religious traditions of our students; remain attentive to Board guidance; and achieve disciplinary goals and learning outcomes.

Together, we will share ideas and practices related to:

• Fostering robust, respectful classroom discussions

• Incorporating current events into courses in meaningful ways that align with learning objectives

• Designing activities and assignments that effectively promote student self-reflection and critical thinking around social and diversity-related topics

Reading scripture in community seems to be something of a lost discipline. These sessions will provide an opportunity for faculty to simply read scripture aloud together. At the close of each session, we will share a few moments of reflection on what we have read and heard. The sessions will be held on the following Wednesdays:

• April 22

Chris Riley and Amanda Biles

In this timely book, Christopher L. Eisgruber, constitutional scholar and president of Princeton University, challenges common narratives about free speech crises on campus, arguing that today’s students are not abandoning open inquiry but actively practicing it. He contends that most colleges are getting free speech “mostly right” while navigating a broader civic polarization that extends far beyond higher education. Eisgruber offers a hopeful and practical vision for cultivating civil discourse, mutual respect, and intellectual diversity. Our conversations will explore Eisgruber’s argument alongside ACU’s identity as a private, Christ-centered university. Together, we will ask what responsible, mission-shaped freedom of expression looks like at ACU and how faculty can model, teach, and steward healthy dialogue in today’s cultural climate. 

We will discuss Chapter 9 through the end of the book.

Join us for fun and games with colleagues! Take a break from the usual routine and enjoy a relaxed meal and friendly competition with short and medium-length games. 

Amanda Pittman and Katelin East
Decades of research demonstrate the transformative potential and the lasting legacies of a relationship-rich college experience. In Relationship-Rich Education, Felten and Lambert provide readers with practical advice on how they can develop and sustain powerful relationship-based learning in their own contexts. Join us for a conversation about how to create sustainable ways to engage students well. We will discuss the final chapter in preparation for our conversation with Peter Felton. 

Author Peter Felten will be joining us via Zoom for the April 13 reading group session and in person for the Best Practices Conference in September.

Final date: April 13.
Teaching and Learning Session