Conversations with university chaplains in challenging times

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Embodied practices and transformative dialogues for social justice and healing

Proposal

In recent years, universities in the United States have become particularly challenging places to study and work. Students face a multitude of issues, ranging from loneliness and food insecurity to growing concerns about the job market and the value of a college education. Faculty and staff may feel ill equipped to address these matters and in some cases, may encounter some of the same issues as students themselves. Most recently, political campus unrest and uneasiness about the nation’s political future have added to the unsettled and complex nature of American university life.

Chaplains serving a university community would seem to be individuals with the training and understanding to make a difference in addressing this campus malaise. How do they approach their work in this current climate? How have they been able to act as a steadying force for
students, faculty, and staff especially when campus issues in part revolve around the subject of religion and religious difference? This paper will offer a phenomenological study based on conversations with a small group of chaplains working in a campus setting.

Author

• Denise McHugh, University of Maryland