A series featuring interviews with NetVUE Scholars whose essays appear in Called Beyond Ourselves: Vocation and the Common Good, the most recent publication of the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project.
On September 12, over one hundred people gathered at Loras College for this year’s launch of NetVUE’s “Big Read,” which is Called Beyond Ourselves: Vocation and the Common Good, the fourth volume of the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project. Edited by Erin VanLaningham (who also served as this gathering’s host), this new collection of essays brings together a diverse range of voices to consider vocation in relation to the concerns of the common good and communal flourishing. The event featured presentations by four of the volume’s authors, along with a powerful keynote address by Mary Dana Hinton, a conversation between two college presidents, and presentations by faculty and staff from Loras College, all of which aimed to provide educators with ways to think about the roles of leadership and advocacy as we deepen our understanding of the common good as an essential part of vocational exploration on our campuses.
This series of posts showcases interviews with NetVUE Scholars who contributed to this volume and generously agreed to respond to my questions about their experience participating in this project, as well as reflecting on their essays and their relation to vocation and the common good. For our first interview, I’m pleased to feature Robert Pampel, who graciously opened the Loras gathering with reflections on his chapter, “The University as the (Common) Good Place.” Robert is currently the director of student academic affairs and associate dean at Washington University, in St. Louis.
Continue reading “Robert Pampel and Common Good Places”