Callings

As a young girl in Kittrell, North Carolina, Mary Dana Hinton never imagined she might one day become the president of a college. Driven by a life-long calling to educational equity, she became the 13th president of Hollins University in August 2020 after serving as president of the College of Saint Benedict for many years. In this conversation she shares that on some days her calling feels heavy,...

In this episode, we interview Patrick Reyes about his new book, The Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive . Patrick speaks with urgency about our need to lean into the diversity of colleges and universities so that we might be most effective in addressing “the purpose gap” that exists for many students of color. Inviting new metaphors, Patrick suggests that we see...

During the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jason Mahn began chronicling his “wondering and wanderings,” which are now published under the title Neighbor Love Through Fearful Days: Finding Purpose and Meaning in a Time of Crisis (Fortress, 2021). In this episode, we talk with Jason about his “in the moment” reflections about how we commit ourselves to loving our neighbors during times of...

In this episode, we talk with Andy Chan, Vice President for Innovation and Career Development at Wake Forest University. We ask Andy about the ways vocation and career overlap, as well as how we might help students rethink success. The provocative title of his TED talk, “Why Career Services Must Die,” is a rallying cry for how the academy can better integrate questions of career and purpose throug...

This bonus episode features highlights from conversations that aired during the first season of Callings . We often ask our guests what advice they might offer to young adults today, and their answers are varied as they are thought-provoking. Listen to this compilation of good advice from insightful people, including Darby Ray, Eboo Patel, Amanda Tyler, Rabbi Rachel Mikva, Father Dennis Holtschnei...

In this episode we talk with Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, which is headquartered on Capitol Hill and advocates for religious freedom for all (a mission that now includes confronting the challenge of Christian nationalism). Drawing on her experience as a trial lawyer and a leader in the not-for-profit sector, Amanda shares with us the ways we are called to walk a...

After serving for many years as the president of Goshen College, Shirley Showalter has written an engaging memoir about growing up in a Mennonite community and her efforts to negotiate the lures of the “glittering world.” In this conversation, she shares how she came to write Blush , describes what that process taught her about narrative and story, and reflects on the ambiguities of humility and p...

In this episode, we talk with Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU). Fr. Dennis shares his insights about leadership and our common call to listen to one another — even when we hold strongly opposing views. He also challenges us to consider “interruption stories,” those moments when we are called to respond to a compelling human need. D...

In this episode, we speak with Rabbi Rachel Mikva, longstanding contributor to NetVUE and author of the new book Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots of Self-Critical Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Beacon, 2021) . In the book, she probes the ways that the dangers that lurk in our religious identities and convictions can be a force for good or for evil. Rachel unpacks how critique...

In this new episode, we talk to Paul Wadell and Charlie Pinches, authors of the new book Living Vocationally: The Journey of the Called Life (Cascade Books, 2021). The authors note that, while we live in a moralizing time, we have a limited vocabulary for describing issues of morality and character with any degree of nuance. They turn to the language of the virtues in order to capture the subtleti...

Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), speaks passionately about work as a craft , and about the promises and pitfalls of charismatic leadership. Invoking such diverse sources as James Baldwin, William Carlos Williams, and The Grateful Dead, Patel discusses shifts in his thinking about leadership and listening as president of a non-profit over the course of the last decade. His forth...

Can a person’s calling be shaped by driving into a new town on Annual Trash Day? Find out in this episode, which features Darby Ray, Professor of Civic Engagement at Bates College and co-director of the NetVUE faculty seminar. Darby encourages us to undertake what she describes as “necessary homework”—attending to ourselves and to our communities—and thereby emphasizes the importance of cultural h...

The book Leading Lives That Matter is a much-loved collection of vocation-related readings oriented toward undergraduate students. A new edition was published this summer, updated with new sections and several new readings, including pieces by Pope Francis, Malcolm Gladwell, Winona LaDuke,  Jhumpa Lahiri, Wangari Maathai, Toni Morrison, Larry Rasmussen, and Alice Walker. In this interview, editors...

Shirley Roels, the founding director of NetVUE, currently serves as the executive director of the International Network for Christian Higher Education. In this inaugural episode of Callings , Shirley shares some of the twists and turns in her own life and describes the three “intertwined threads” that have informed her career: higher education, faith-based institutions, and organizational manageme...