Dr. Ian Gravagne, Professor and Associate Chair, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Many years ago, I was introduced to a 1984 essay by Wendell Berry entitled The Loss of the University, which I enjoy re-reading occasionally. Many of its main points are resoundingly relevant today. In the very first paragraph, Berry laments that “the various disciplines have ceased to speak to each other; they have become too specialized…”  Since 1984, the ship has clearly sailed on academic siloing. However, I have often wondered if Christian universities might retain some semblance of Berry’s missing lingua franca: the shared language of our faith; the language of gospel, grace, virtue, and a profound intellectual tradition.

Another reason I like Berry’s linguistic metaphor is that it reminds us language only lives as long as people speak it; an unspoken language dies in a single generation. And here lies the danger for Baylor, that parts of the university speak it freely and expertly, while other parts haltingly. It will come as no surprise that faculty in laboratory sciences, mathematics and engineering (STEM, for lack of a better acronym) sometimes struggle to imagine how Christian thought and practice meaningfully intersect with their work. I certainly did, at least initially. And yet even in the STEM disciplines, there are endlessly creative ways to richly engage with Christianity, and to help our students grow in wisdom and in faith. I hope we will continually renew our efforts in this hard but joyful work. After all, as with any other language, the more we speak it, the easier it becomes!