Callings

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 hopes and interests, and how to affirm those “good citizens” that we meet along the way. Listeners will also be interested in Tim’s comments about his tattered copy of Habits of the Heart, New Jersey diners, and how being a young adult today is like trying to navigate the LA freeway system at rush hour. 

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 institutional crisis, Marjorie drew upon a set of images and metaphors from her own Jewish tradition. For her, calling is first and foremost about responsibility—that is, our ability to respond—as Abraham and others did. She reminds us that when Jacob wrestled with the angel, he received the blessing but forever afterward walked with a limp. 

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 College Classrooms, which includes various essays on how we can encourage students to develop imagination and reflection in their learning. Our conversation highlights the steady patience that vocational discernment entails, as well as the space vocation programming can provide to consider important questions, such as “what do we need to leave behind in order to become the people we are called to be?” Tom talks about pilgrimages, Max Weber, and how a “hermeneutic of wonder” can prompt imaginative acts that help us better experiment with our 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, and yet the inspiration of her hard-working mother, the encouragement from early mentors, and the uplifting teachings of the black church keep her going. President Hinton chooses to “lead from the margins,” and speaks about the importance of the balance between strength and vulnerability. 

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 our work in vocational exploration in terms of a constellation, operating collaboratively to move entire communities forward (rather than singling out individual “stars”). This process will need to involve significant reflective questioning, an openness to receiving feedback, and above all, love—which Patrick describes as an inheritance from his grandmother and his ancestors.  Patrick’s words of advice will resonate with faculty and students alike: be courageous, because future generations depend upon our boldness.

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 social distancing, quarantine, protest, and social unrest. He writes about the threat of white supremacy, the challenges of repentance, and the importance of mundane acts. He urges us to resist stories that are too tidy in their resolution. 

Jason Mahn is Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities and director of the Presidential Center for Faith and Learning at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He was a contributor to NetVUE’s second scholarly resources project volume, Vocation across the Academy, as well as the Vocation Matters blog. He is also a member of the NetVUE Advisory Council.  

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 throughout all aspects of the college experience. For Andy, innovation is not just about novelty for its own sake, but about “creating value in new ways that meets the needs of those you serve, and also aligns with who you are and what you value.” Sharing some significant moments in his own vocational journey, Andy emphasizes the importance of “situational mentors” along the way.  Andy helps us see that the categories of mission, core values, and our students’ passions can help us reimagine more instrumentalist models of “career services” as forms of vocational exploration and discernment. 

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 Holtschneider, and Shirley Showalter. 

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 line between fidelity to the past and stewardship for the future. She also offers sage advice about vocational reflection and discernment, including the value of internships and the need to seek mentors throughout one’s life. Our vocations unfold, she observes, as we focus on the next move and not the whole game on the chessboard of life.

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 pride. With a forthcoming book (co-written with Marilyn McEntyre) about grandparenting and becoming an elder, Shirley has much to offer about life’s transitions, including the importance of daily habits of reflection. She encourages us to be wary of pre-fabricated advice from others: “Your vocation to yourself and to your own spirit is your highest vocation.”