A Student's Search for Meaning

This edited volume brings together reflections on how students pursue the search for meaning and purpose in the context of higher education. It offers perspectives from humanities professors, college chaplains of multiple faiths, and observers of the changing shape of the American university as each considers the needs and expectations of today's students. The collection address three key lines of inquiry: what the student search for meaning looks like in the context of higher education; how do presenters understand the dimensions of the search for meaning itself; and how do (or don't) humanities faculty and religious life leaders talk to each other around the common student concerns addressed in both course work and the extracurricular world of religious life programs? Together, the conversation suggests that students pursue a search for meaning in the context of university life and the academic curriculum, but the particular dimensions of this search are yet undefined. This is often a contested pursuit because it conflicts with the other purposes of the university which some see as primary. A key audience for this book is university administrators who work in the field of chaplaincy and faith-based programming, as well as department chairs and faculty in the liberal arts who are directly involved in building humanities curriculum.