Press Release

CONTACT: Debra Humphreys
(202) 387-3760
e-mail: dh@aacu.nw.dc.us

College Leaders to Discuss Spirituality and Learning at Meeting of Association of American Colleges and Universities

Washington, DC—April 2, 2002—The events of September 11, 2001 have prompted many Americans to think anew about the religious pluralism of the nation and the role that their own spiritual values plays in their lives. This is no less true on college campuses than anywhere else in American society. The discussions on campus and in classrooms across the country in the wake of September 11th have occurred in the context of a revitalized national conversation about the role of religion and spirituality in college learning and life. These issues and more will be discussed at a meeting in San Francisco called "Spirituality and Learning: Redefining Meaning, Value, and Inclusion in Higher Education."

Co-sponsored by the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, this Association of American Colleges and Universities meeting will draw together faculty members, academic and student life leaders, and research scholars to explore the role of spirituality in higher education. The conference will focus on issues related to the traditional separation of spirit and intellect--and the anxiety this separation often creates in a campus population that encompasses a wide spectrum of spiritual interests and beliefs.

Sessions and speakers will explore the role spirituality plays in the lives of faculty, students, and administrators; in conceptions of campus diversity and traditional commitments to inclusion; in path-breaking new scholarship that cuts across disciplines; and in relations between academic and student affairs. Participants will also examine ways in which engagement with spirituality can enhance student learning. The discomfort many on campus feel in dealing with values questions and commitments will also be addressed.

Select individual concurrent and plenary sessions will cover such topics as:

· supporting students in spiritual crisis
· building reflective and spiritual community on campus
· integrating multiple ways of teaching and learning
· diversity, faith commitments, and inclusion
· teaching religion in religious-mission institutions
· bringing science and spirit together in the classroom

Selected speakers include: Alexander Astin, director, Higher Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles; Gwendolyn Dungy, executive director, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators; Arthur Chickering, distinguished professor of human development, Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland; Riane Eisler, president, Center for Partnership Studies; Ursula Goodenough, professor of biology, Washington University; Peter Lawrence, director, The Education as Transformation Project; Arthur Zajonc, professor of physics, Amherst College; James Donahue, president, Graduate Theological Union; Bernard Steinberg, executive director, Harvard Hillel; and Ralph Wolff, executive director, Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

For more information, see http://www.aacu.org/meetings/spirituality2002.cfm.

To obtain press credentials, contact Debra Humphreys, dh@aacu.nw.dc.us.

AAC&U is the leading national association devoted to advancing and strengthening liberal learning for all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Since its founding in 1915, AAC&U's membership has grown to more than 750 accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

Information about AAC&U membership, programs and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.

Revised April 2002