“The university is a pluralistic context, and dialogue, not attempts at hegemony, should characterize it,” said Nicholas Wolterstorff, one of three conversants in yesterday’s (February 19) Symposium on Civic Engagement and Moral Education. The Symposium, which was held at Cowles Auditorium in the U of Minnesota’s Humphrey Center, was sponsored by the Institute, and joined by various institutional co-sponsors from throughout the University. Nearly 225 faculty, scholars, administrators, and community members filled the auditorium for the event, which is available on the Institute website as a series of two downloadable MP3 files.

Professor Wolterstorff, who spoke after Professors Bernstein and Bauerlein, is the former Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University, and a leading Christian philosopher who helped found the Society of Christian Philosophers. He began by openly grounding his views in his Christian convictions, acknowledging at the outset that he believes there is an objective structure to justice, often phrased as “natural rights.” Because universities are pluralistic contexts of “diverse moral vision,” responsible voices, secular and religious, must dialogue about those moral visions as well as how to cultivate students that embody deep civic commitment.

Wolterstorff’s comments followed those of Richard Bernstein, Vera List Professor of Philosophy at New York City’s New School for Social Research. A philosopher in the broad tradition of American pragmatism made famous by John Dewey (who for a short time in the 1880s taught at the University of Minnesota), Bernstein also appealed for dialogue in the midst of pluralism, preferring to call his “engaged critical pluralism.” Rather than starting from the assumption of an objective moral order, Professor Bernstein is, rather, concerned to develop students who think critically about real problems in society. “There must be continuity between the classroom and real life.” Rather than relying on one’s worldview (a term that he rejected), Dr. Bernstein contends that civically engaged students must make “specific judgments about injustices and what is to be done about them.” Students make those practical judgments based upon multiple influences--early childhood training, experiences, teachers, texts, family and friends.

The third presenter, Emory University’s Mark Bauerlein, agreed with Bernstein and Wolterstorff that universities have placed far too much emphasis on career, at the expense of developing citizens. A professor of English whose commentaries on college students and academic life have been widely carried in various publications, including The Chronicle of Higher Education, Bauerlein introduced his comments by noting that, among college students, rates of volunteerism and neighborhood activity are high, and civic and political knowledge is low. From Bauerlein’s perspective, colleges and universities are failing to inculcate knowledge of America’s founding and the central events that have defined us as a nation and a culture. Without the re-insertion of this form of knowledge into the curriculum, students will be little more than consumers whose “lives shrivel into immediate satisfactions and private needs.”

Bauerlein closed his comments by noting that in his field--English literature--themes of religion and redemption are strongly resisted (as they are in virtually all fields of study). “And, yet,” said Bauerlein, “these are often the source of the students’ most deeply-held values.” Here is a rich source of values that could nurture students’ civic engagement, if only colleges and universities would foster this knowledge, said Bauerlein.

The three presenters shared about 10 minutes of conversation in front of the audience, followed by responses from several members of the University community. The student respondent, Petra Duecker, made an impassioned appeal for students to be “co-creators” of their education. Dr. Elizabeth Beaumont, co-author of a leading text on developing civically engaged college students and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University, briefly introduced the notion of “democratic morality,” and appealed to the example of Abraham Lincoln as one who epitomized this morality at its finest. Closing out the comments by respondents was Dr. Vic Bloomfield, the University of Minnesota’s Associate Vice President for Public Engagement, who, among other points, appealed for more focus on the contribution made by international students. The speakers entertained several questions from the audience before the symposium’s close at 4:30.

Of particular interest to Christians were closing comments by Wolterstorff. He expressed his concern that evangelicals have compromised their deepest convictions by sometimes resorting to power politics. Instead, suggested Wolterstorff, the Christian path lies in respectful, thoughtful dialogue with those who do not necessarily share our moral vision, a dialogue that should flourish in institutions like the University of Minnesota.

The Institute’s Executive Director, Bob Osburn, suggested that what was implicit in his closing comments was, on the one hand, the call for religiously-informed scholars to play a role in developing civically-engaged college students. “This,” said Osburn, “was an implicit challenge to the university to welcome religiously informed scholarship to a very secular institution. At the same time,” said Osburn, “Wolterstorff was challenging Christians to demonstrate our highest values by actively becoming dialogue partners who join in seeking the common good and not the hegemony of ours or any other perspective.”