Steven C. Bauman, Ph.D.(Cand.)

Using words like “anguish,” struggle, and “isolation,” René Arcilla suggests that for today’s students “disorientation is a central feature” of their postmodern education (Arcilla, 2007, p. 19). As James Donahue notes, such “confusion and alienation” instigate “an intense search for security and definition” (Donahue, 1988, p. 326), which both writers observe ends in premature resolution of the “big questions.” This is, of course, highly problematic, as the premature closing off of possible futures restricts the scope of a student’s world, and consequently, inhibits engagement with bigger questions.

In this paper, Melissa James and I draw from work in our respective disciplines—Ethics and Social Theory (Melissa) and Religion and Psychology (Steven)—, our shared participation in the Teagle-Wabash Preparing Future Faculty Project, and subsequent combined interdisciplinary efforts, to offer our own unique insights into this problem and provide suggestions for possible remedies which take seriously the Astins’ challenge that ‘there is much more faculty and colleges can do to facilitate students’ spiritual development.’ (HERI, 2005)

Key Points:

• Applying the work of his Teagle-Wabash Project mentor—Kelly Bulkeley—in “spheres of wonder,” Steven Bauman imagines the potential for a pedagogical practice of "Wonder" to stimulate a habit of “knowledge seeking curiosity” (Bulkeley, 2005,  p. 199), where exploration of neglected, repressed, or newly discovered “epistemological universes” (Beaudoin, 2003, p. 37), is unbounded.
  

• Drawing upon participation in this project, and work in cognitive, developmental, and social psychology, Steven Bauman describes a faculty constructed learning environment, or “pedagogical container,” characterized by safety (Garbarino, 1995), solidarity, and high frustration tolerance (Ellis), which elicits conditions of flow (Csikszentmihalyi), thereby enabling learning as an autotelic experience—having advantages not only for classroom learning, but for student and faculty spiritual development as well.
  

• In the final section of this presentation, we offer a ‘conversation between colleagues’ on what we saw as the most portable insights from the Preparing Future Faculty program for development of future faculty. Particular attention is paid to the importance of interdisciplinary collegiality and (in) authenticity of faculty members.

** I would like to thank Elizabeth Drescher, Ph.D., for making this publication possible. Her ambitious inspiration, comprehensive research, and diligent efforts made the TEAGLE-WABASH project a reality. The fellows, mentors, and academy are truly indebted to her. 

Papers

• Psychology of Conversion and Spiritual Transformation. Rambo, L., & Bauman, S., Paper presented at the Fourth International Annual Conference on Psychology of Religion, Qufu City, Shandong, China (2010, March). 

• Emergence as Remedy in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Evolutionary Faith and Raimon Panikkar’s Theandric Ontonomy. Paper presented at the Religion & Social Sciences Section, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego (November, 2007).

• Religion & Psychology at the GTU:  Opportunities for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Scholarship. Paper presented at the Spring 2005 Series Faculty-Student Colloquium (S. Bauman, Chair), Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA (April, 2005).

• Dreaming and Community in a Troubled World. Paper presented at the Regional Meeting of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, John F. Kennedy University, Pleasant Hill, CA (October, 2004).
  

 Presentations

• Religion & Psychology at the GTU:  Opportunities for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Scholarship. Spring 2005 Series Faculty-Student Colloquium (S. Bauman, Chair), Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA (April, 2005).

• Intercultural Teaching and Learning at the GTU
  
  • August 2006
    
  • August 2005
  • August 2004