Faith and Learning Institute

Faith Integration

“I am most passionate about my students being able to read the New Testament in its original language, Koine Greek. Every student at CSU can take Greek to meet their foreign language requirement, and we offer ongoing opportunities for tutoring, advanced study, and summer practice to all our Greek students. It is a real joy to watch the Scriptures come alive to my students as they begin to become proficient in reading and translating God’s Word.”

— Dr. Ed Gravely Professor of Christian Studies

Faith and Learning Institute Growing Christian Community

by Jan Joslin / Photos by Richard Esposito

Faith is the foundation upon which Charleston Southern University was built. Integrating faith in learning, leading, and serving is part of the university’s vision.

In day-to-day life it can be hard to define. In an effort to strengthen faith integration, President Dr. Dondi Costin combined the faculty Faith Integration Committee and the Center for Excellence in Teaching to form the Faith and Learning Institute, a branch of the Whitfield Center for Christian Leadership.

The Faith and Learning Institute kicked off in January 2020 and is led by 20 faculty members representing 14 different colleges and departments. Dr. Jacquelynn Pleis, from the College of Education, and Dr. Jonathan Denton, from the College of Christian Studies, are chairing the group this year.

Dr. Jacquelynn Pleis

The new format has energized the faculty, and attendance and participation is up in all of the activities they lead. The Faith and Learning Institute oversees the fall faculty kickoff training, book studies, new faculty orientation meetings, and faculty resources such as a Blackboard community, the Cover the Campus prayer initiative, and What Works for Me training sessions that also include time for networking.

Dr. Michael Bryant, vice president for strategic planning, faith integration, and Christian leadership, manages the faculty resources in Blackboard including researching definitions and descriptions of faith integration for faculty members. “There are so many different people involved,” said Pleis. “That’s part of what’s making this so magical.”

Dr. Jonathan Denton

The revamped Faith and Learning Institute had just gotten its start in January 2020, not knowing that the COVID pandemic was about to send everything virtual. The FLI members saw the shutdown as an opportunity for growth. “Other universities scaled back their faculty development or became intensely focused on technology development, while we grew and continued focusing on the whole faculty member not just technology development,” said Pleis.

Denton said the faculty are interested in how faith integration looks in different disciplines, how to answer student questions about faith integration, how to integrate a biblical worldview into the curriculum, and how to think about who a student is, what the environment in the classroom is, and what works best for different educators.

The book studies fill up almost as soon as they are announced. This year’s books are Small Teaching and What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done.

Obviously, as professors at a Christian institution, faculty members know that faith integration is an important part of the curriculum. Some faculty members have worked in professions where they were not allowed to bring their faith into their daily work. They appreciate learning tangible ways to infuse faith into their lessons.

Pleis uses teaching creativity in the classroom as a way to integrate faith. She said she reminds her students that God is the creator, and man is made in His image. “My job is to teach my students God has already put creativity in you, and show them everyone is creative,” said Pleis.

Helping students understand how faith impacts what they are studying, and ultimately, everything they do in life, is driving the work of the Faith and Learning Institute and is creating an even stronger Christian community on campus.

“Faith-learning integration may be briefly described as a scholarly project whose goal is to ascertain and to develop integral relationships which exist between the Christian faith and human knowledge, particularly as expressed in the various academic disciplines.”

— William Hasker, in “Faith-Learning Integration: An Overview,” in Christian Scholar’s Review, Vol. 21, No. 3

“While I demand strong technical competence, I pay special attention to the importance of good interpersonal skills, particularly listening, as one of those most prized skills in the creative industry. A broad understanding of how the world fits together is one of the best ways students can expand their creative arsenal. I often share with students: Design forms culture. Culture forms values. Values form the future. So wield your creativity with the utmost care. What is beautiful is glorified.”

— Professor Ed Speyers Associate Professor of Graphic Design