Lilly Vocational Scholars
The Lilly Program created the position of the Lilly Vocational Scholar to encourage and enable published academic scholarship on the theological consideration of vocation. The following is the list of past Lilly Vocational Scholars and a description of their work.
Professor of English Carol Holly
Lilly Vocational Scholar 2007-08
Professor Holly's work included an expansion of her ongoing research into 19th-century New England writer Rose Terry Cooke. Holly examined, among other things, the vocation of writing and the role of religion in 19th-century literature. Holly also formalized some of her existing explorations into teaching as a vocation by reflecting on her own experiences, interviewing colleagues, and engaging the community in conversations about this important topic.
Associate Professor of Political Science Dan Hofrenning
Lilly Vocational Scholar 2007-08
Professor Hofrenning's work involved several related threads of inquiry. He replicated research from his earlier interim course on the vocation of citizenship and politics. He also expanded his preliminary research into the political participation and students' feelings of efficacy and cynicism. Both of these investigations will help inform scholarly inquiry and practical programming addressing ways in which St. Olaf fosters a vocation of citizenship and politics within its student body.
Professor of History James Farrell
Lilly Vocational Scholar 2006-07
Professor Farrell undertook two interrelated projects as part of his Vocational Scholar activities: a book, The Nature of College, to "help students discover what they value — personally and culturally — and why." Farrell also worked on an essay, "Consumption as Vocation," in which he expands the notion of vocation from the traditional understanding of being "called to serve" to include being "called to con-serve and pre-serve."
"Students are more likely to accept theological and philosophical considerations of vocation when they're embedded in the actual issues of everyday life," Farrell says.
Professor of Religion DeAne Lagerquist
Lilly Vocational Scholar 2005-06
As Lilly Vocational Scholar, Professor Lagerquist pursued two related projects. The first was "an article-length response to four studies of religion and higher education that include St. Olaf College." This project was an expansion of DeAne's Melby Lecture. She also continued work on a book-length manuscript that "offers a theological account of Lutheran higher education as a major example of Christian participation in the public arena."
Lagerquist has published numerous articles on the topic of vocation, including an article on vocation and graduation published in The Lutheran. She co-edited Called to Serve: St. Olaf and the Vocation of a Church College (St. Olaf College, 1999).
In addition to her scholarly work, Lagerquist served on the Lilly Program Committee and represented St. Olaf's Lilly Grant Program at local, regional, and national events.
Professor of Religion Douglas J. Schuurman
Lilly Vocational Scholar 2003-04 and 2004-05
Professor Schuurman's work as Vocational Scholar involved research and writing about the nature and history of Christendom and its significance for the social calling of the church in the modern world. His published work is the book Vocation: Discerning Our Callings In Life (2004).
