The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America posted an 8-page PDF titled Rooted and Open which addresses intellectual humility and curiosity.
« Because the world is always larger and more mysterious than the lens through which it is known, intellectual humility nurtures genuine curiosity and an interdisciplinary search for truth. »
« The expansion of human knowledge only deepens the awareness of its limits, and this awareness leads to a dual attitude toward learning. On the one hand, because broad knowledge and deep wisdom benefit the world, these institutions reach for excellence. On the other hand, they register suspicion about claims to have a complete understanding of complex issues. »
Quotes from Dr. Lori Varlotta, president of California Lutheran University:
« On that spectrum of really nervous and downright excited, most of you whom I met with and talked to this morning said you were somewhere in between. That in between-ness is where a lot of life happens. And, if there was only a single student-learning goal I would like you to set this year, it would be to identify, study, and seriously consider the grey areas that fall between any two extremes. Life is not black and white. People are neither all good nor all bad. Truth, reality, meaning making resides most often in the murky middle — not exactly at the half-way point, but usually in a place that has “some of this” and “some of that.” » — Opening Convocation, August 26, 2021
« In almost all cases, our forward momentum has been fueled not by taking the most obvious route or the path less traveled. It has been achieved by carving out the base for a new path… neither fully laid nor an equal-part compromise between two clearly delineated paths; it’s an emergent one that we co-create or build together… It moves us closer toward a common good, even if that destination is never fully reached. » — Welcome message, January 2022
« Expecting students to demonstrate competency in those areas I once attributed to philosophy:
- Reading closely
- Thinking critically
- Writing clearly
Combining those three academic pursuits with those related to:
- Computational reasoning
- Information literacy
- Data analysis
- The creation and maintenance of diverse, productive and authentic teams »
— Cultivating Hopeful Change remarks from Fall 2021 Faculty Retreat
Articles of Interest 