Faith, Reason, and World Affairs Symposium

Home
Academics
Events
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026

The 2026 Faith, Reason, and World Affairs Symposium invites participants to explore the transformative power of vocation — from personal passion to purposeful action. We will explore how Lutheran higher education helps students and communities discover purpose, cultivate well-being, and pursue lives of meaning in a globally connected world.

This year's symposium is chaired by Dr. Stefanie Meyer, wellness director and assistant professor of nutrition, dietetics, and exercise science.

Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore

Dr. Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore has multiple and sometimes conflicting callings, but the prominent one behind her keynote is her most recent book, “Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies about Calling” (Oxford University Press). Her 35 years of teaching and 20+ years as the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor Emeritus of Religion, Psychology, and Culture at Vanderbilt University afforded her the wonderful opportunity to hear people’s struggles over their calling and to explore callings across the life course, including among children and mothers. It also gave her the opportunity to author, co-author, and edit 18 books, as well as more than 100 chapters and articles, and led to her international recognition as a leader in pastoral and practical theologies and women and childhood studies. As the mother of three sons, now in their 30s and producing grandsons, and someone with growing commitments to the environment, she always has questions as she tries to discern and follow her calling faithfully.

Please check back for event schedule.