Callings

Anantanand Rambachan’s career as a teacher, scholar, and activist has been grounded in a “thirst for the sacred.” Anant is a scholar of Hinduism and interreligious studies and is professor emeritus of religion, philosophy, and Asian studies at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. In this conversation, he discusses his experience as a Hindu scholar at a Lutheran institution, the importance of...

 Rabbi Sarah Bassin works for the world’s oldest refugee agency, the nonprofit organization HIAS (originally the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society). In the episode, Sarah reflects on the paradoxes of leadership as part of the call to live for the sake of others. She speaks to the power of seeing and acknowledging others’ pain, even while acknowledging and drawing on one’s own pain. Through the lens of...

As Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Miroslav Volf is one of the most influential Christian theologians of this generation. He is also someone who cares deeply about issues of vocation and human flourishing. In this episode, we talk with Miroslav about his latest book, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most (co-authored w...

Shirley Hoogstra has been an elementary school teacher, a litigator, a vice president for student life at Calvin University and, since 2014, the president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). In this conversation, she discusses vocational pivots, risk taking, effective leadership, the meaning of Christian higher education, and her passion for marginalized and underrepre...

Katharine Hayhoe’s influence on conversations about climate change is known to many through her vibrant and engaging social media presence. As a distinguished professor at Texas Tech University and the author of the recently published Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World , she uses her platform to educate and to inform. Katharine speaks openly as a deeply c...

Well before vocation and calling developed their current popularity, Parker Palmer was recognized as one of the foremost scholars, authors, and speakers on the topic. In this conversation, he shares profound and honest answers about paying attention to our mistakes—along with our achievements—when describing our callings. Parker’s commitment to the value of listening, to reflection in community, a...

Norman Wirzba’s research, writing, and teaching explore the overlap between theology and ecology, working to address major environmental issues such as climate crisis and food insecurity. In this conversation, we discuss aspects of agrarian living, freedom and fidelity, and the importance of kinesthetic learning. His emphasis on our relationship to the land as a relationship with others—as an expr...

This bonus episode features highlights from conversations that aired during the third season of Callings . In these clips, our guests offer advice for today's students and for anyone who teaches or mentors young adults. Listen to this compilation of insightful and interesting advice from Rowan Williams, Thema Bryant, Rainn Wilson, Richard Sévère, Meghan Sullivan, Deanna Thompson, Shaun Casey,...

Rainn Wilson—best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the sitcom The Office —is an actor, comedian, and the author of the recently published Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution . While sharing funny and wise insights about his career and experiences in life, Rainn reflects on the intertwining of one’s artistic and spiritual journeys. He also explores the nuances in words such as joy...

Richard Sévère shares his approach to mentoring, friendship, and vocation in this episode, drawing in part from his work with first-generation students and students from the Black diaspora. As a professor of English and interim associate dean at Valparaiso University, Richard shares how purposefully connecting with colleagues and students to hear their stories can allow a sense of difference to in...

Part of our call as educators is to prepare students for a dynamic and complicated world. Paul Hanstedt helps us understand how vocation and pedagogy intersect. He is author of Creating Wicked Students: Designing Courses for a Complex World and directs the Houston H. Harte Center for Teaching and Learning at Washington and Lee University. Our conversation explores reflective practices, questioning...

Ever since the publication of her New York Times bestselling book, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (2020), Kristin Kobes Du Mez has been in the middle of intense public debates about faith, nationalism, and gender in American Evangelicalism. In our conversation, Kristin shares some of the story behind that story, reflecting on the role that his...

How does experience with trauma inform, and transform, our vocations? Our guest, Deanna Thompson, helps us understand how suffering shapes us and how our vocational frameworks might integrate sadness. Deanna’s journey with incurable cancer informs her role not only as a scholar and writer, but as a professor of religion at St. Olaf College, where she explores with students how vocation can be fram...

Meghan Sullivan teaches philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, where she also directs a program on God and the Good Life. Meghan’s newest book, co-authored with Paul Blaschko, is titled The Good Life Method: Reasoning through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning . In our conversation, Meghan talks about the philosopher in all of us. She describes how philosophy bridges the activ...

Rowan Williams is a professor, public theologian, author, poet, and one of the most recognized Christian leaders of our era. Most notably, from 2002 to 2012, he served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury which is the senior leadership position in the Church of England and the ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion worldwide. In this conversation, Rowan reflects on his vocational development a...

Shaun Casey’s work explores the overlapping concerns among religion, diplomacy, and public life. Trained as a theologian with an interest in public policy, Shaun held many academic positions before he was called to set up the Office of Religion and Global Affairs at the U.S. State Department by Secretary of State John Kerry. In this conversation, Shaun offers us ways to think about vocations that...

Thema Bryant is the president-elect of the American Psychological Association, as well as a clinical psychologist, professor, and an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She describes a deep sense of calling in her life in terms of an “overarching theme of healing.” In our conversation, Thema discusses liberation psychology, the relationship between faith and therapy, the heal...

Meghan Slining, an epidemiologist and public health professor, shares how we might model compassion and love as we address burnout and support vocations that serve the public good. After five semesters marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities are still assessing the impact of the many losses and changes that we have experienced, both individually and collectively. In our conversa...

This bonus episode features highlights from conversations that aired during the second season of Callings. Our guests offer advice for students today, but the advice is also helpful for anyone who teaches or mentors young adults. Listen to this compilation of insightful and interesting advice from Andy Chan, Marjorie Hass, Tim Clydesdale, Mary Dana Hinton, Jason Mahn, Patrick Reyes, and Stephanie...

Jon Malesic explores the gap between the ideals and reality of work in his new book, The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives . In our conversation, Jon shares how we can imagine new cultural narratives of work and purpose and affirm the dignity of individuals, regardless of the sense of identity that we may gain from paid employment. Jon explains how (what he thought w...

How might literary studies expand our understanding of vocation? In this episode we hear from two English professors who have explored this question in depth. Stephanie Johnson (The College of St. Scholastica) and Erin Van Laningham (Loras College) are co-editors of a new book on the subject: Cultivating Vocation in Literary Studies (Edinburgh University Press, 2022). Together, they observe that t...

Richard Hughes—whose scholarship ranges across religious history, vocation, and the role of race in American religious culture—joins us for a conversation about some “troublesome questions” that have driven his thinking and scholarly work. An accomplished storyteller, Richard shares with us significant moments of rejection and criticism in his life and how these made him reconsider his most deeply...

In this interview, Tim Clydesdale talks about living intentionally—and about what it means to serve through one’s vocation. Building on his influential book The Purposeful Graduate and his subsequent research on twenty-somethings, Tim shares his expertise and empathy for young adults in their vocational journey. He emphasizes the importance of many conversation partners, understanding our common h...

Our guest in this episode is Marjorie Hass, president of the Council of Independent Colleges, who previously served as president of Rhodes College and of Austin College. Her recent book, A Leadership Guide for Women in Higher Education, stems from conversations with women leaders over many years. In her responses to our questions about calling, leadership, and times of personal as well as institut...

Our guest, Tom Landy, is director of the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. A longtime leader in higher education and vocation-related initiatives, Tom is founder of Collegium, a summer colloquy on faith and intellectual life. He is also co-editor of Becoming Beholders: Cultivating Sacramental Imagination and Action in Co...