A Shared Vocation:

As followers of Jesus we want our faith in him to make a tangible and visible difference to how we go about our business in academia, but where do we begin? What are the right kind of questions to ask, the right kind of confidence to have, and the right approach to take?

Prof. Andy Bowie, Trinity College Dublin

The default worldview of modern universities is secular, evidence of the ongoing effect of the Enlightenment. We need to understand it, and how it affects us. First, we will look at the major manifestations of these secular worldviews and in particular, consider the rise of extreme individualism and its emphasis on self-creation alongside its accompanying authoritarianism. Secondly, we will reflect on how secular discourse has been indelibly marked by Christian ideas over the last 1500 years and evaluate how that discourse overlaps with Christian thought. Finally, we will outline the practical challenges we face as we seek to teach and research in this context, and yet remain faithful to Christ and our Christian belief.

Prof. John Gillespie, Ulster University Coleraine & Union Theological College

AI is transforming almost every aspect of modern life, bringing with it profound challenges for society. These include questions about the relationship between AI and humanity, the current ethical and social issues arising from AI, and the implications of AI for the future of humanity. In this talk, I will explore how the Christian faith provides a framework for engaging these issues in relation to three worldview questions: What is a human being? How should we live? And what is our hope for the future?

Dr. David Glass, Ulster University Belfast

Some students come to university already following Jesus and wanting to share their faith, while others just want to keep their heads down. Still others don’t yet know Jesus but are searching for answers to spiritual questions. So what can we as Christian academics do to practically support Christian students to fulfil their spiritual vocation on campus? And what part might we have to play in the calling of students to commit their lives to Christ? In this session, I will share a bit of my experience at Trinity and invite others to share their own, as we contemplate together this aspect of our dual vocation: called to academia but first called to Christ.

Prof. David Shepherd, Trinity College Dublin

Prior to working as a University lecturer in Ireland, I was living a bimodal life in Silicon valley, where my time was divided into what I did for God and what I did for myself or my family. But what if my profession was a calling from God? This talk will describe how my wife and I sought to make my university work into a Christ-centred vocation and an opportunity to be Christ’s ambassadors on campus, with a desire to glorify God in every aspect of our lives.

Prof. Frank Peters, University College Cork

A broad view of the interplay between polytheism, Judeo-Christian theology, and atheism can account for the drift of western culture toward dystopia. Atheism was established on the assumption of unchangeable atoms and an infinitely old universe, which was later used to support naturalistic science. Ironically, as education gradually eliminated God, gradual recognition of God’s authorship of science implies that our technological society is actually built on God’s intentional creation. As the atheistic foundation of western culture dissolves, how can we help people see the actual theistic foundation?

Tom Bieler, CUI

In the academic setting, as in many other areas of life, our cultural predisposition is one of ‘getting ahead’. How, as Christian academics, might we reframe our intellectual pursuits in light of our call to a life of love and service in community. Richard Mouw in ‘Called to the Life of the Mind: Some Advice for Evangelical Scholars’ calls us to reconsider the connection between academic tasks, spiritual virtues – in particular, humility, faith, self-denial, and love - and communal worship. How might we reimagine the life of the Christian scholarly community in Ireland today as we consider our individual call to scholarship and teaching?

Dr. Olwyn Mark, Union Theological College

Beginning with the ABCs of ambition, belonging and collaboration, in this talk I reflect on the joys and challenges of life as a Christian woman pursuing an academic vocation bridging the disciplines of Literary Studies and Education. Throughout I will draw on lessons from Scripture and from personal experience.

Dr Sharon Jones, Stranmillis University College

In a culture that often reduces human life to “nothing but…”, the arts hold, in the words of Professor Jeremy Begbie, ‘enormous theological promise’. Drawing on personal experiences as a PhD student working in the arts and humanities and as a musician, in this talk I will explore the unique potential of the arts to open up our imaginations, as well as those of our colleagues, to the greater reality of the Gospel. Together we will consider how the arts can help us as we think, speak and live as Christian scholars.

Sophie Jones, Union Theological College