In only two short years since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, AI has changed how we teach, learn, shop, and work. Is this new technology a benefit for humanity? Will it eventually, Matrix-style, cause our destruction? In Baylor in Deeds, our 2024 – 2030 strategic plan, the university committed to addressing new challenges arising out of “human-technology interface” from our unique vantage point as a Christian research university. At the 2026 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, we are excited to be part of that discussion – not only within Baylor University, but with faculty, students, and leaders from across the United States and around the world. Our conversation will go beyond simply discussion of AI, as we explore how to properly understand and use technology in a way that upholds the fundamental dignity of the human person created in the image of God. We believe that the Symposium will be a time of fruitful dialogue, creative engagement, and life-giving community. We are especially excited to bring student voices more fully into the discussion with a new poster session where students can present their research. We will also be expanding our programming through partnerships with groups across Baylor’s campus: from the AI Ethics Initiative to the Faith and Sports Institute. Paper proposals are open now! We hope you join us!
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Dr. Larry Lyon: Faith, Learning, and Graduate Education |
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Graduate education is especially challenging for Christian colleges. Graduate faculty need to be experts in their discipline, and at least since the time of Charles Darwin, strong disciplinary scholarship coupled with strong Christian faith has become increasingly rare. Similarly, graduate students, unlike undergraduates, are thought to be relatively set in their beliefs and much more interested in learning how to be an accountant, a chemist, or a historian than how to grow spiritually. It is not surprising, then, that most Christian colleges focus on undergraduate education. In fact, most Protestant universities that developed strong graduate programs lost their faith connections.
So, how does Baylor do it? How do we have graduate education at the highest levels while still holding firm to our faith? My fifty years at Baylor suggest two strategies: one for our graduate faculty and the other for our graduate students.
For our graduate faculty, we hire active, committed Christian or Jewish faculty. While it is true that many of the academy’s best scholars are not believers, there are more believers than Baylor could ever hire. They often welcome the opportunity to engage in high-level scholarship without marginalizing or compartmentalizing their religious commitment. Baylor is extremely attractive to such faculty. I have personally seen us hire hundreds of strong faculty who left major research universities to join us.
For our graduate students, we share Baylor’s religious foundation and provide voluntary programs for spiritual growth. The Graduate School’s surveys consistently show new students ranking Baylor’s faith connection among the top reasons they enrolled. Moreover, our exit surveys show that most graduate students report “growing spiritually” while at Baylor.
To be sure, combining faith and learning at the graduate level presents challenges. The challenges, however, are not insurmountable, and the reward is becoming something exceedingly rare and very important—a Christian Research University.
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For the 2026 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture: Technology and the Human Person in the Age of AI, IFL welcomes contributions from scholars and practitioners across all disciplines reflecting on AI’s current significance and future implications. How should we best responsibly utilize this new technology? How can it illuminate the nature of the human person, and what moral demands might human nature place on its proper use?
We welcome proposals for individual papers, papers with multiple presenters, panels, and posters (a new opportunity!).
Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words by August 1, 2025.
We have an exciting lineup of invited speakers! Please like or follow us on social media to get updates about invited speakers.
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We are excited to announce that Andy Crouch will be a plenary speaker at the Symposium! Read more about his influential work here.
We’ll be announcing the other invited speakers in the coming months, so please like or follow us on social media for updates.
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We welcomed Dr. Addison Lane, a former Baylor undergraduate and now the Executive Director of Mission at Mercy, to the Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas for a Missio discussion on April 17th. The discussion focused on preparing Baylor students to serve as leaders in Catholic health care.
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Nathan F. Alleman, Cara Cliburn Allen & Sarah Madsen Book Celebration |
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Writing Workshop with Ryan Sanders |
IFL and the Truett Committee for Grants and Public Scholarship welcomed Ryan Sanders, commentary editor for the Dallas Morning News, to campus for a workshop on public scholarship for newspapers. We appreciated learning from his practical wisdom for translating academic research into newspaper editorials. We will continue this partnership and offer similar workshops next year. Follow us on social media and watch the newsletter for upcoming workshop dates.
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Baylor's University Chaplain Search |
The Division of Student Life invites all faculty, staff, and students to join us for three presentation and Q&A sessions with the finalists for Baylor's University Chaplain position. Each will share their vision for spiritual formation at Baylor.
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📍Powell Chapel, Truett Seminary
🗓 May 8, 12, & 14
⏰ 3–4 pm
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Christian Scholar's Review |
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The Christian Scholar's Review, including a peer-reviewed journal, blog, and website with helpful information, is a great resource for Christian faculty, staff, and students. If you're at Baylor, you can access digital copies of the publication here.
We hope you check it out!
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Faith and Learning Around Baylor Campus |
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Faith and Learning Outside of Baylor |
NetVUE Scriptural Reasoning Training Hubs, May 7-9, 2025
This Scriptural Reasoning Training Hub will be held at Southwestern College in Winfield, KS on May 7-9. Very briefly, this is a practice to enable students from different religious backgrounds to study texts together in a way that encourages reflection about their future vocations. NetVue would be especially glad if Baylor could send 2-3 faculty members or staff to this event. Students at campuses like Baylor are eager to engage with religious texts, and they would be attracted to the thoughtful, non-threatening atmosphere that Scriptural Reasoning sessions offer. Two nights’ lodging and all meals are included in each gathering. Due to the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc., there is no cost to participate. Visit the NetVUE Scriptural Reasoning page for additional details, locations, and dates.
Integrating Vocation in the Academic Disciplines, May 29-31, 2025
This NetVUE regional gathering seeks to help faculty members and academic departments integrate vocation into disciplinary programs and courses. The event focuses on helping students connect vocation to the knowledge and skills of academic disciplines, particularly as students' central point of vocational focus is often grounded in their major field.
An Inklings Week in Oxford, July 6-11, 2025
The fifth edition of the triennial Inklings Week in Oxford will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by exploring "Of Other Worlds: 75 Years of Narnia". The weeklong event includes a grand collection of speakers as well as evening concerts staged by Oxford University. Please refer to the registration form for additional information including cost.
Spirituality in the Academy: Exploring the Contribution & Legacy of Henri Nouwen, August 21-23, 2025
The Henri Nouwen Society, in partnership with the Oblate School of Theology, is pleased to announce an Academic Symposium dedicated to the life, work, and enduring influence of Henri Nouwen, a profound thinker and writer whose contributions to theology, spirituality, and pastoral care have inspired countless individuals and communities. This symposium aims to bring together scholars and practitioners to explore and critically engage with Nouwen’s rich body of work. Scholars from diverse disciplines, including theology, psychology, philosophy, and religious studies are invited to submit abstracts for presentations that delve into various aspects of Henri Nouwen’s thought and impact. The submission deadline is January 15, 2025.
Front Porch Republic Conference 2025 - Work and Leisure, October 10-11
Our 2025 conference will be held in Waco, Texas at Baylor University on October 10 and 11. Matthew Crawford will be the keynote speaker, and plans are taking shape for an agricultural and gustatory excursion. More details will be forthcoming, but for now, save the date, and we look forward to seeing many of you in Texas.
25th Annual Notre Dame Fall Conference: That which I Also Received, November 13-15, 2025
In honor of its 25th annual Fall Conference, the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture will consider how the phenomenon of living tradition—whether dogmatic, religious, literary, artistic, legal, interpretive, or otherwise, up to and including the customs, embodied practices, and habits of everyday life—serves to bridge past and future. The de Nicola Center invites scholars, practitioners, and artists from diverse fields to submit proposals that address any of the following questions: How does tradition influence ethics, culture, identity, community, technology, education, creativity, public policy, and other areas? How, broadly speaking, is continuity reliably preserved through change? What might a closer look at the phenomenon of tradition say about the value of interpersonal and intergenerational dialogue? Why and how does the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition remain important, relevant, and necessary?
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Are you hosting an event or working on a project related to faith and learning? We'd love to hear about it! Fill out the appropriate form using the links below, and we will follow up directly.
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Institute for Faith and Learning
One Bear Place #97270
Waco, Texas 76798
(254) 710-4805
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