The purpose of higher education is under scrutiny. With skyrocketing costs, conflated missions, and murky student-learning outcomes, critics are calling into question what college is ultimately for. One sector uniquely challenged by higher education’s crisis of purpose is the private Christian college and university. Often, Christian institutions of higher education respond to these critiques of purpose through promoting the integration of faith and learning as the paramount feature of their curriculum. Simply put, the integration of faith and learning draws connections between faith and the academic disciplines. Though espoused as a value, the mission of integration of faith and learning does not ultimately satisfy scholarly criticism for Christian higher education. Research indicates the notion of integrating faith and learning lacks substance as the concept is identified merely as a buzzword, lacks specific measureable outcomes, and conflates institutional priorities. This dissertation studies the phenomenon of the integration of faith and learning by carefully attending to a faculty’s role within the integration process. Spring Arbor University (SAU) is a small, Christian liberal arts college located in the Midwest. The institution identifies the priority of faith and learning integration through various expressions of their mission as seen within SAU’s stated values, mission statement, and intended student learning outcomes described in the student handbook. As the university espouses their value for the integration of faith and learning through numerous facets, SAU offers an ideal location of observe how this educational practice may be enacted. In order to analyze the phenomenon of integrating faith and learning, this dissertation utilizes case study methodology and studies a senior level general education course at SAU, Community of Learners 400 (COL 400). COL 400 remains a prime location to observe the phenomenon of this inquiry as integration is listed as a learning objective within the course. Through interviews with the COL 400 faculty member, a document analysis of the syllabus, and observation of each class session, this research discovered three avenues in which faith and learning where integrated throughout the course.First, integration was achieved through intentional and organized in-class prayer. Second, integration was incorporated through lectures. Third, integration was achieved through textual analysis of required COL 400 books. The COL 400 faculty member used these instructional practices to intentionally make connections between faith and academic disciplines. Additionally, this study demonstrates how integral the instructor’s charismatic personality was to the successful implementation of the integrative instructional practices. Research findings illustrate a necessity for general education to align with an institution’s mission along with the significance of faculty fitting an institutional ethos. Both of these components influence an institution’s ability to successfully meet the intended goal of integrating faith and learning. Furthermore, significant attention is directed towards the lone faculty member whose charisma and idiosyncratic teaching style were crucial to integrating faith and learning within COL 400. The study displays a case wherein the integration of faith and learning is implicitly connected to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
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