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Over the last two decades, the American academy has engaged in a wide-ranging discourse on faith and learning, religion and higher education, and Christianity and the academy. Eastern Orthodox Christians, however, have rarely participated in these conversations. The contributors to this volume aim to reverse this trend by offering original insights from Orthodox Christian perspectives that contribute to the ongoing discussion about religion, higher education, and faith and learning in the United States. The book is divided into two parts. Essays in the first part explore the historical experiences and theological traditions that inform (and sometimes explain) Orthodox approaches to the topic of religion and higher education—in ways that often set them apart from their Protestant and Roman Catholic counterparts. Those in the second part problematize and reflect on Orthodox thought and practice from diverse disciplinary contexts in contemporary higher education. The contributors to this volume offer provocative insights into philosophical questions about the relevance and application of Orthodox ideas in the religious and secular academy, as well as cross-disciplinary treatments of Orthodoxy as an identity marker, pedagogical framework, and teaching and research subject.
"In this beautifully edited volume, the contributors issue a prophetic challenge to their fellow Orthodox Christians to join the longstanding conversation concerning the place of religion in American higher education. The fact that Orthodox Christians have not been part of this conversation in the past is lamentable, given the vast intellectual and spiritual resources of Orthodoxy. But the times are changing. The dynamic renewal of Orthodox institutions and Orthodox culture in the post-communist East in the last thirty years is moving global Orthodoxy 'from margins to mainstream,' as Elizabeth Prodromou puts it in these pages. A new engagement of Orthodoxy with the academy is an instance of this change. All parties interested in the destiny of American higher education will benefit as Orthodox colleagues take a seat at the table." —Paul Valliere, McGregor Professor in the Humanities, Butler University
"In the last two to three decades, only a small handful of more-or-less dated books on Orthodox perspectives toward higher education have been published, in contrast to the plethora of works on the topic by Roman Catholics, Reformed, Lutheran, Baptistic, Evangelical, Wesleyan, and various Protestant authors. Thus, the arrival of this book is long overdue." —Christian Higher Education
“Eastern Orthodox Christianity and American Higher Education is neither easy nor comfortable reading, but it is interesting, insightful, scholarly, and helpful. . . . This book will help us all get busy, and to do so with a deeper awareness of the challenges we face and an appreciation for the blessings of serving as Christian scholars in a watching world.” —International Journal of Christianity & Education
“In all, this book is a successful and welcome beginning to a long-overdue conversation. The multiple voices heard in this text provide rich possibilities for response, critique, and further engagement. In general, I was convinced by the ways that various scholars drew from Orthodox theology and spirituality to address a fuller presence in higher education.” —Reading Religion
"Seldom have so many scholars representing such a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities (even the hard sciences) been brought together to address the important issue of faith and learning through the prism of various aspects of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The fact that all but one of these contributors are themselves Orthodox Christian scholars provides ample proof that, most likely, representatives of Orthodox Christianity will be active participants in the ongoing debate addressing the crucial question of faith and the academy, or Athens and Jerusalem, to borrow Tertullian's much abused epigrammatic description of the phenomenon. Eastern Orthodox Christianity and American Higher Education will be useful to the growing number of classes on Eastern Orthodox history and culture taught in American colleges and universities." —Theofanis G. Stavrou, University of Minnesota
“A remarkably fresh and insightful conversation.” —International Journal of Christianity & Education
Elizabeth H. Prodromou is visiting associate professor of conflict resolution at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Ann Mitsakos Bezzerides is director of the Office of Vocation and Ministry at Hellenic College.
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Piecing the Puzzle of Eastern Orthodox Christian Involvement in American Higher Education by Ann Mitsakos Bezzerides
Part I. Historical and Theological Roots
CHAPTER 1: Education (Paideia) as Kerygmatic Value in the Orthodox Tradition by John A. McGuckin
CHAPTER 2: Wisdom and Education: An Old Testament Perspective by Michael C. Legaspi
CHAPTER 3: A Rhetoric Fit for the Gospel: Education in the Letters of Saint Paul by George L. Parsenios
CHAPTER 4: “Learn from Me”: Embodied Knowledge through Imitation in Early Christian Pedagogy by Bruce N. Beck
CHAPTER 5: Plundering the Egyptians: The Use of Classical Paideia in the Early Church by John Behr
CHAPTER 6: Orthodox Monasticism and Higher Education by Andrew Louth
CHAPTER 7: Thoughts from Orthodoxy’s Modern Past: Theology, Religion, and the University in Russia (Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries) by Vera Shevzov
Part II. Engaging the Contemporary Academy
CHAPTER 8: An Orthodox University in Lebanon: A Rich Legacy and Insistent Calling by Georges N. Nahas
CHAPTER 9: An Orthodox College by Candace Hetzner
CHAPTER 10: Ecumenism in the Classroom: An Orthodox Perspective on Teaching in a Catholic University by Radu Bordeianu
CHAPTER 11: Theosis and Theological Literacy: Identity Formation and Teaching Theology to Undergraduates by Aristotle Papanikolaou
CHAPTER 12: Perspectives from the Academy: Being Orthodox and a Scientist by Gayle E. Woloschak
CHAPTER 13: Singing the Lord’s Song in a Foreign Land: Teaching Orthodox Liturgical Music in Non-Orthodox Contexts by Alexander Lingas
CHAPTER 14: In the World, for the Life of the World: Personal Reflections on Being a Professor and Priest in a Public University by Michael Plekon
CHAPTER 15: The Absence of Eastern Orthodoxy in American Academia and Its Possible Relevance for an Integral Vision of Reality by Kyriacos C. Markides
CHAPTER 16: Reflections on Political Science and the Study of Orthodox Christianity in the American Academy: Thoughts on Mainstream and Margins by Elizabeth H. Prodromou
CHAPTER 17: The Transfiguration Polyeleos, Textbooks, and Polyphonic Learning by Roy R. Robson
CHAPTER 18: Vocation, Poetry, and Prayer by Scott Cairns
Afterword
CHAPTER 19: Faith and Learning in Higher Education: Historical Reflections for Contemporary Challenges by Andrea Sterk
List of Contributors
Index