Symposium discusses the state of Christian higher education

Foundational questions on the purpose and role of Christian higher education were at the forefront of the Institute for Faith and Learning's (IFL) annual Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture in October.

More than 500 scholars and students from dozens of universities, both public and private, convened to discuss fundamental questions, challenges and opportunities that institutions of higher learning face today: What is the purpose of the Christian institution of higher learning in the United States? What is its role in a student’s life and in the world beyond its campus borders?

Dr. Darin Davis, vice president for university mission and director of IFL, noted that a changing and increasingly complex world prompted Baylor IFL's desire to bring educators together to share and discuss fundamental questions.

"Colleges and universities are in a time of great challenge and stress, so much so that they can easily lose a clear sense of why they exist and whom they serve," Davis said. "Christian institutions are not immune to this. Our conference was an attempt to ask afresh fundamental questions about the goals of a university education and to seek answers that might help set an agenda for the future of Christian higher education."

The symposium featured more than 125 presentations from scholars with such topics as:

• Challenges and Opportunities for Christian Higher Education in the 21st Century,
• Forming Christian Virtues Through Teaching and Research,
• Bringing Together Town and Gown, and
• Higher Education in a Wide Context.

Several of the presentations may be viewed on the Baylor IFL Vimeo page: vimeo.com/baylorifl