August 2021, Vol. 7, No. 3

How Can Higher Education Institutions Better Equip College Student Peers to Engage With Diverse Populations More Effectively? Critical Conversations #26

Shafiqa Ahmadi, Darnell Cole and Mabel E. Hernandez, University of Southern California

Campuses that have a commitment to diversity and openness to people who identify with different worldviews often report climates that promote learning about other cultures and worldviews. When campuses do not have such commitment both inside and outside the classroom, minority students may feel that they are not supported and perceive more insensitivity and coercion as there is a lack of understanding and willingness to learn about their identities and practices. Read More.

Questions Relating to Moral Development: JCC, August 2021

Pamela C. Crosby, Co-Editor, Journal of College and Character

Here are some important questions that relate to moral development that are explored in articles in the August 2021 issue (vol. 22, no. 3) of the Journal of College and Character. Read more.

Critical Religious Studies in Higher Education

Legislation against Critical Race Theory: Are Critical Religious Theories Next?

 Jenny L. Small 

The original and still most famous critical theory, critical race theory (CRT), has been in the news during the last year. In at least 20 U.S. states, legislators have introduced bills to prohibit the teaching of CRT in primary and secondary schools, and in some cases, higher education (Pettit, 2021, par. 2). Primarily Republican lawmakers have taken against CRT, claiming that it is “divisive” and may cause students “to feel ‘guilt,’ ‘anguish,’ or other forms of distress due to that person’s race or sex” (par. 4).. Read more. 

Engaging Civic Religious Pluralism

Civic Religious Pluralism: Native American Teachings are Central to Interfaith Leadership

Becca Hartman-Pickerill, Interfaith Youth Core

Imagine a society in which people are treated with respect, enjoy mutual relationship, and work together for the common good. Hold that image for a moment—now what are examples, glimpses, even partially realized iterations of that ideal? Read More.

Fostering Moral Development

My Best Friend's Baby

Alan Acosta, University of Massachusetts Medical School 

Dear Best Friend’s Baby,

Welcome to the world! Having spent the last seven months talking to your mom and dad about you, it is fantastic you are finally here. I am biased, but I can already sense you are destined for great things. My partner Danielle and I will be a huge part of your life—you are family now! So as the newest member of Familia Acosta, I want to give you some sabiduría, or words of wisdom. Read more

New Spaces & Roles for Student Affairs Educators

The Future of Work Just Got More Uncertain: The Role of Student Affairs Educators

Michael J. Stebleton, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

Instability. Uncertainty. Agility. When one scours the literature and current trade publications on the future of work, these words tend to jump out at the reader. For those of us who work in various areas of higher education and student affairs, it is likely no surprise that the world of work—and in particular—how we will work in the future has changed dramatically in recent years. Read more.