The American University in a Postsecular Age

Douglas Jacobsen is Distinguished Professor of Church History and Theology and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen is Director of Faculty Development and Professor of Psychology at Messiah College in Grantham, PA. They are co-authors of Scholarship and Christian Faith: Enlarging the Conversation (Oxford University Press, 2004) and have led workshops and seminars on religion and higher education at colleges and universities across thenation.

• 1: Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen: Postsecular America: A New Context for Higher Education Section One: Religion, Institutions, and Faculty Roles 2: Neil Gross and Solon Simmons: The Religious Convictions of College and University Professors 3: Robert Wuthnow: Can Faith Be More Than a Side Show in the Contemporary Academy? 4: Mark U. Edwards, Jr.: Why Faculty Find It Difficult to Talk about Religion 5: R. Eugene Rice: Faculty Priorities: Where Does Faith Fit? 6: Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen: The Ideals and Diversity of Church-Related Higher Education 7: John J. DiIulio, Jr.: A Level Playing Field for Religion in Higher Education Section Two: Religion, the Curriculum, and Student Learning 8: Larry A. Braskamp: The Religious and Spiritual Journeys of College Students 9: Robert J. Nash and DeMethra LaSha Bradley: The Different Spiritualities of the Students We Teach 10: Elizabeth J. Tisdell: Spirituality, Diversity, and Learner-Centered Teaching: A Generative Paradox 11: Warren A. Nord: Taking Religion Seriously in Public Universities 12: Amanda Porterfield: Religious Pluralism, the Study of Religion, and Postsecular Culture 13: Lee S. Shulman: Professing Understanding and Professing Faith: The Midrashic Imperative 14: Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen: Talking about Religion: A Framework for Academic Conversation

This timely and wide-ranging collection of essays provides an invaluable introduction to ongoing conversations about the place of religion in undergraduate education. If, as the editors contend, we are on the cusp of a 'postsecular' era, then I can think of no better guide to the shifting academic terrain.