Cultivating Vocation in Literary Studies

The concept of 'vocation' has garnered significant attention as a means of speaking about purposeful living and the multiple responsibilities of civic life, which converge with the broader goals of liberal education. This volume addresses the important role that literary studies can and should play in that conversation. With attention to the forms, voices and praxis of the discipline, and informed by the public humanities, these thirteen chapters address critical questions for cultivating vocation in students: How might the varied fields within literary studies invite students to consider meaning and purpose? How might our pedagogies and theories of interpretation inform the direction of their lives? The chapters offer readers a new language and framework for reinvigorating literary studies as a productive means to answer life's most significant questions, while also modelling how vocational exploration can be incorporated into multiple disciplines and contexts. The volume as a whole positions literary studies as vital to the conversation about value, civic engagement, and purpose as it shapes not only the lives of students but also the future of higher education.

Stephanie L. Johnson, PhD is Associate Professor and Chair of English and Director of the Honors Program at The College of St. Scholastica. She publishes in British literature of the long nineteenth century, poetry, and narrative ethics.

Erin VanLaningham, Ph.D. is Professor of English at Loras College. Her research fields include the British novel, Irish literature and culture, and aesthetics and gender studies. She is the Director of the NetVUE (Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education) Scholarly Resources Project.