Schedule
All sessions to be held in Villard Room, Main Building
Meal and reception to be held in Multi-Purpose Room (MPR), Main Building
Coffee, Tea, and light refreshments provided each morning
| Day 1 | |
|---|---|
| 8:00-9:00 | Registration and Conference Information Room 237 |
| 9:00-9:30 | Welcome and Opening Remarks Sam Speers, Vassar College |
| 9:30-11:00 | Session I “Varieties of Secular Experience:” a Student Roundtable 8 student panelists from four different campuses discuss how “big questions” of meaning and purpose are engaged on their campus Moderators: Randolph Cornelius, Vassar College and Richard Spalding, Williams College |
| 12:00-1:00 | Lunch Multi-Purpose Room |
| 1:30-3:00 | Session II “Politics of the Secular and the Religious” Uncovering the political interests and conditions of current discussions of secularity on campus Panelists: Jonathon Kahn, Vassar College; Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Wesleyan University; Amitava Kumar, Vassar College Moderator: Clay Steinman, Macalester College Respondents: Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Jacobsen, Messiah College and eds., The American University in a Postsecular Age (Oxford, 2008) |
| 3:30-5:30 | Session III “Pedagogy of ‘Big Questions’ in Secular Education” Case study presentations on the capacities and limits of the “secular” classroom, including small group discussions Case study presenters: Paul Macdonald, Bucknell University; Ken Livingston, Vassar College; Rachel Kitzinger, Vassar College Moderator (following break-out group discussions): W. Robert Connor, President, Teagle Foundation |
| 7:30-9:00 | Keynote Address “Secular, Not Secularist” Lecture by Jeffrey Stout, Professor of Religion, Princeton University, followed by audience discussion |
| 9:00-10:00 | Reception |
| Day 2 | |
| 9:00-10:30 | Session IV “Secularity, Meaning and the Liberal Arts” Would focusing on and re-defining the secular nature of liberal arts education improve student engagement and learning? What are the dangers? What are the possible rewards? Lecture by Rebecca Chopp, President and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Colgate University Respondents: Ian Oliver, Yale University; Joseph Murray, Bucknell University |
| 11:00-12:30 | Closing Session “Transforming ‘Secular’ Campus Life” What have we learned about the varieties of secular experience on our campuses? What changes in educational practices are suggested by our discussions? Presenter: Stephanie Paulsell, Houghton Professor of the Practice of Ministry, Harvard Divinity School, will offer brief remarks; she will moderate discussion, along with Working Group members. |