Written by Maggie Samples // Photo by Macy Cox
The College of Arts and Sciences appointed Heath Carpenter, associate professor of English and director of Interdisciplinary Studies, as assistant dean for Academic Innovation and Collaboration. The position focuses on the Big Questions initiative for the University as a whole, according to an email sent to faculty and staff Jan. 26.
Executive Vice President Jean-Noel Thompson said this role is about collaborating across departments and creating a culture of asking important questions.
“Dr. Carpenter has been instrumental in helping the University think about ways we could more effectively engage our students across all academic areas in important questions about God and our place in his kingdom,” Thompson said.
According to Thompson, the Big Questions initiative is about fully preparing students to work in and impact a broken world. The questions ask: Who is God? Who are we? What matters? What are our responsibilities? How do we know what we know?
“As a Christian University with required Bible classes and chapel, we don’t just want to assume that our graduates are fully prepared to engage a changing world and culture who increasingly doubts the relevance of God’s word in their lives,” Thompson said. “We choose to be highly intentional in our collaborative efforts to produce graduates who are equipped with a deep understanding of who they are in Christ, and how this impacts their interaction with all types of people in all aspects of their lives.”
Thompson said he hopes students will see themselves as participants in the initiative, rather than recipients.
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dana Steil considered the Big Questions initiative important because of the opportunity it provides for communal contemplation.
“I value a liberal arts education done right because it frees people to explore beyond their discipline, glimpse all the foreign places where God is at work, challenge the status quo, respect the God-given gifts of others and have confidence they can learn more,” Steil said.
Carpenter has worked at Harding in the English Department for 16 years. Carpenter said he’s grateful for the collaboration across the University to support the initiative.
“This job isn’t about me,” Carpenter said. “It’s about students and faculty. It’s about the academic spirit on campus.”
The goal of Big Questions is to create a clear connection between classes and disciplines.
“We have a solid foundation of academic excellence both in the liberal arts and in our majors, and there is an unmistakable ‘Harding experience’ outside of class, but we have not always done a good job creating shared language and a common story to unite that shared experience,” Carpenter said.
According to Carpenter, the initiative has some projects in the works, including a short book of essays about Harding classroom experiences by employees and alumni, bringing in speakers to engage the Big Questions and a podcast with past Student Government Association presidents.
“To be clear, projects like that are fun, but the soul of the Big Questions is in the classroom experience with faculty and students,” Carpenter said. “I’m hoping we can further an entrepreneurial spirit with faculty to continue to innovate inside their classrooms to create meaningful experiences for students.”
Carpenter said that his Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing class is partnering with associate professor Stacey Rodenbeck’s biology class to ask “What does it mean to be alive?”
“The world needs wise people,” Carpenter said. “The world needs people who are excellent at their professional craft but whose life ambition is to live out the teaching of Christ.”
Carpenter said higher education is at a turning point between political polarization and a professional skills model but that the best schools in the United States are returning to a liberal arts education.
“I am convinced that students are starving for a place where they can combine honing dynamic skills for the marketplace with a higher calling, intellectually, spiritually and philosophically,” Carpenter said. “Harding is a place that does this, and the Big Questions helps us to recommit to those values and to better tell that story.”
