During the 2024–2025 academic year (during the fall or spring semester, or over the summer), staff and faculty members at NetVUE institutions are invited to read together Called Beyond Our Selves: Vocation and the Common Good, published by Oxford University Press in early 2024. NetVUE will supply free copies to a limited number of institutions that design a program for faculty members, staff, and administrators to read and discuss the book in group settings. Due to the cost of this year’s Big Read selection, priority will be given to institutions that apply early and that participate in one of the two launch events (details below).
Called Beyond Our Selves: Vocation and the Common Good was developed through the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project. This volume emphasizes the interconnectedness of individual life and communal life, suggesting that—in this meeting place between self and others—we are called beyond our selves. The contributors propose that when people prioritize the well-being of all, their notions of success and purpose are elevated. This shift challenges our typical approaches to vocation, as well as our thinking about what is common and what is good. The volume highlights the importance of justice, compassion, dialogue, and action in responses to the traumas of personal, historical, and communal life. Throughout, the authors offer pedagogies, models, and practices that will help those of us who work in higher education to orient vocation toward the well-being of the community.
This year’s NetVUE Big Read includes a new offering: two gatherings that will allow campus leaders to deepen their engagement with the text and to collaborate with others who are participating in the program. Institutions that are participating in the NetVUE Big Read are encouraged to send one or more leaders to Vocation and the Common Good: A NetVUE “Big Read” Event, or to a gathering a Furman University that is currently being planned for February 2025. Campuses that participate in one of these events will receive two additional benefits: guaranteed early access to the Big Read program and additional copies of the book.
NetVUE will directly support member institutions that develop local campus projects related to this year’s Big Read. Toward that end, up to 10 free copies of the book will be supplied to a limited number of institutions that design a compelling program for faculty members, administrators, and staff to read the book in group settings (which may be virtual ones). As noted above, additional copies of the book will be available to those who participate in one of the launch events. Member institutions are invited to draft simple proposals (two pages maximum) that address the following five points:
- A basic description of the institution’s plan for faculty members, staff, and/or administrators to read and discuss the book (including a tentative schedule for reading—whether during the fall or spring semester, or over the summer);
- Any plans to attend one of the two launch events (including which event and who will attend);
- The incentives and accountability structures that will be provided for campus participation in the group reading project and the number of participants that it can reasonably expect to attract;
- Any planned campus activities related to the book (public lectures, sharing proposals for the book’s use in a future course, or other activities that might draw attention to the book among campus audiences beyond the reading group); and
- A brief description of how the institution will promote the Big Read and associated program activities (both on campus and network-wide), as well as a stated commitment to provide NetVUE with a one-page report on the institution’s experience of the program at its conclusion.
Each member institution may offer one proposal, which should be submitted by that institution’s NetVUE Campus Contact. To apply, the Campus Contact should send a document (two pages maximum) in MS Word or PDF format as an email attachment to Rachael Baker, NetVUE director of professional development, at rbaker@cic.edu. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. Proposals should be submitted at least four weeks before the campus project is expected to begin (to allow adequate time for project approval and shipping).
Books will be awarded (and shipped directly in bulk to the Campus Contact) based on the proposal. Additional books will be available directly to participants at each of the two launch events (at Loras College in the fall and at Furman University in the spring). Priority will be given, each semester, to institutions that have one or more individuals registered for the launch event.
Previous Big Read Selections
Since its inception in 2021, the NetVUE Big Read has provided support to member institutions as they form reading groups around various books on vocation. Institutions that did not participate in previous editions of this program are also welcome to submit proposals to read any of these previously-featured books. The same application process applies when proposing to read any of these selections.
Paul J. Wadell and Charles R. Pinches, Living Vocationally: The Journey of the Called Life (Wipf & Stock, Cascade Books, 2021)
Patrick B. Reyes, The Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive (Westminster/John Knox, 2021)
Christian Scholars Review, Summer 2023 special issue on Vocation and Higher Education
Contact Information
Questions about the NetVUE Big Read may be directed to Rachael Baker, NetVUE director of professional development, at rbaker@cic.edu or (616) 526-7939.