Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive resource that addresses the growing movement for incorporating spirituality as an important aspect of the meaning and purpose of higher education. Written by Arthur W. Chickering, Jon C. Dalton, and Leisa Stamm--experts in the field of educational leadership and policy-- Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education shows how to encourage increased authenticity and spiritual growth among students and education professionals by offering alternative ways of knowing, being, and doing.

Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education includes a rich array of examples to guide the integration of authenticity and spirituality in curriculum, student affairs, community partnerships, assessment, and policy issues. Many of these illustrative examples represent specific policies and programs that have successfully been put in place at diverse institutions across the country. In addition, the authors cover the theoretical, historical, and social perspectives on religion and higher education and examine the implications for practice. They include the results of recent court cases that deal with church-state issues and offer recommendations that pose no legal barrier to implementation.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword
• Preface
• The Authors
• Part One Framing Perspectives
• 1 Our Orientation
• 2 The Dynamics of Spirituality and the Religious Experience
• 3 The Influence of Religion and Spirituality in Shaping American Higher Education
• Part Two Institutional Amplification
• 4 Policy Issues: Legislative and Institutional
• 5 Curricular Content and Powerful Pedagogy
• 6 The Place of Spirituality in the Mission and Work of College Student Affairs
• 7 Integrating Spirit and Community in Higher Education (Jon C. Dalton)
• Part Three Getting There from Here
• 8 Planned Change and Professional Development
• 9 Assessing Ineffable Outcomes
• 10 Leadership for Recovering Spirit
• 11 Principles and Practices for Strengthening Moral and Spiritual Growth in College
• Appendix A University of Missouri-Columbia Policy Statement
• Appendix B Illustrative Course Syllabi
• Appendix C Rutgers Evaluation and Dissemination Plans
• Appendix D Teacher Formation Evaluation Results
• Appendix E Inventory for Assessing the Moral and Spiritual Growth
• Initiatives of Colleges and Universities
• References
• Name Index
• Subject Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

"Rational empiricism" has its rightful place in American higher education. Regrettably, academe's devotion to empiricism and materialism and its rigorous disciplinary specialization have tended to crowd out attention to the student's "inner" development. Liberal learning's traditional rooting in the maxim "know thyself" notwithstanding, official practice in the academy today neglects "values and beliefs, moral development, spirituality, and self-understanding." This is the contention of prominent scholars Chickering, Dalton, and Stamm in their accessible, readable, well-researched, and amply illustrated book. It is their manifesto, a call to reform. The authors' premise: "We need to temper our current heavy emphasis on rational empiricism and professional and vocational preparation with increased efforts to help students address issues of authenticity and spiritual growth." Theirs is a book of praxis, integrating theory (part 1) with practical applications in curriculum, pedagogy, and student affairs (part 2). Part 3 treats related institutional issues: planning, professional development, assessment, leadership. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, faculty, and practitioners. J. D. Gillespie Presbyterian College