Frequently Asked Questions about IFL
To help explain the mission and purpose of IFL, including ways that you can connect to, get involved with, and support IFL, we've compiled some of the questions we've received over the years.
General Questions about IFL
The Institute for Faith and Learning (IFL) forms faculty and staff in their academic vocation for Baylor's mission as a Christian research university. For more in depth information, see our About IFL page.
Baylor founded IFL in 1997 to help faculty, academic-related staff, and students understand Baylor's Christian mission and how it relates to their teaching, research, learning, leadership, and service.
We use "faith and learning" as a shorthand to refer to how faith relates to the entirety of one's academic vocation, meaning teaching, research, learning, leadership, mentoring, and service within the academy.
IFL serves the entire Baylor campus—not only theology or humanities but also STEM, business, law, nursing, and professional programs. Our charge is to make faith-oriented academic life accessible, practical, and relevant to Baylor faculty and staff across disciplines, as well as to students who want to explore the academic vocation.
Baylor is a Christian research university with a Baptist heritage and maintains a historic relationship with Texas Baptists. IFL appreciates and draws upon this Baptist heritage while serving the broader Baylor community. IFL staff members themselves come from a variety of Christian traditions, including Baptist.
IFL supports Baylor's Christian mission and welcomes engagement with people from a wide range of Christian traditions as well as Jewish faculty, staff, and students and members of the Baylor community from other religious and non-religious backgrounds. Participation and intended audiences vary by program.
IFL serves the entire Baylor campus—not only theology or humanities but also STEM, business, law, nursing, and professional programs. Our charge is to make faith-oriented academic life accessible, practical, and relevant to Baylor faculty and staff across disciplines, as well as to graduate students preparing for academic careers.
Some programs or events are oriented toward particular disciplines—for example, an event on AI and theological education or an event on supporting STEM graduate students of faith. IFL strives to offer both a broad portfolio of interdisciplinary programming and opportunities to explore faith in relation to particular disciplines.
While Baylor’s Office of Spiritual Life serves the spiritual and pastoral needs of the campus community, IFL focuses on the professional and vocational dimensions of academic life. Our work is not centered on worship services, Bible studies, or pastoral care, but on questions such as:
- What does it mean to teach, research, lead, and serve faithfully within a Christian research university?
- How does my faith inform the way I teach in a classroom?
- How can faith inform scholarship, pedagogy, and professional practice across academic disciplines?
The Academy for Teaching and Learning (ATL) supports teaching best practices and pedagogy, whereas IFL addresses the broader relationship between Christian mission and the academic vocation. IFL’s work spans teaching, research, leadership, and service, offering space for reflection, collaboration, and integration within community that extends beyond skill development.
Programs, Events, and Resources
The Institute for Faith and Learning offers a variety of events, programs, and resources to assist faculty, staff, and students with integrating faith into their academic vocation.
We invite you to check out our Media and Resources and look at our upcoming events. Community is an important context for growing in faith integration practice, so we also encourage you to check out our programs, which offer more sustained opportunities for development than reading resources or attending one-off events.
If you want to hear more about upcoming events and program launches, we encourage you to connect with us, including by signing up for our monthly newsletter.
You can also reach out to us at ifl@baylor.edu.
Baylor faculty are welcome to participate in several different Missio groups, Christian Scholars Fellowship, the Communio retreat, as well as various unique programs or events.
Faculty interested in questions of science and faith are welcome to join the Faith and Science Colloquium, which meets every Friday on average during the academic year at the Baylor Science Building. The Christian Scholars Fellowship, which is for graduate students and early-career faculty, meets biweekly on average during the academic year.
The Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, which occurs in February each year, is free for Baylor faculty, staff, and students. We encourage you and your colleagues to come.
Check out our programs for an updated list, and connect with us to stay updated on opportunities.
Baylor staff can participate in Staff Missio or--for online staff--Online Missio. Staff interested in questions of science and faith are welcome to join the Faith and Science Colloquium, which meets every Friday on average during the academic year at the Baylor Science Building.
The Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, which occurs in February each year, is free for Baylor faculty, staff, and students. We encourage you and your colleagues to come.
Other unique programs or events are also available for staff, and the offerings change from year to year.
Check out our programs for an updated list, and connect with us to stay updated on opportunities.
IFL's main offering for graduate and professional students is Conyers Scholars. This program--a joint partnership with the Graduate School--is for doctoral students who are either residential or online. Graduate students interested in questions of science and faith are welcome to join the Faith and Science Colloquium, which meets every Friday on average during the academic year at the Baylor Science Building.
The Christian Scholars Fellowship, which is for graduate students and early-career faculty, meets biweekly on average during the academic year.
The Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, which occurs in February each year, is free for Baylor faculty, staff, and students. IFL hosts other events for graduate students periodically.
Connect with us to stay updated on opportunities.
Crane Scholars is IFL's program for high-achieving undergraduates interested in exploring questions of faith and learning.
IFL welcomes undergraduates to most events we host. The Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, which occurs in February each year, is free for Baylor faculty, staff, and students. The Symposium often has an undergraduate social and welcomes undergraduates to submit presentation proposals.
IFL hosts events and programs for undergraduates (such as those associated with Vocare regularly. Connect with us to stay updated on events and opportunities.
IFL hosts a variety of conferences, lectures, and public events. For the most updated list, see this listing. Following us on social media or signing up for our monthly newsletter are also great ways to stay updated on upcoming events.
IFL's biggest event of the year is the Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, which is typically in February and has a different theme each year. In addition to that Symposium, IFL typically hosts a mini-Symposium once per semester in addition to several book launches or other events.
The Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture seeks to address any significant person, problem, text, or question, and to do so in a way that constructively appropriates Christian faith and intellect in relation to the selected topic. The Symposium is the largest annual conference at Baylor and typically occurs in February. The Symposium is free for Baylor faculty, staff, and students, and it draws from a significant number of other colleges, universities, and organizations.
Missio is a program that brings together faculty and staff to talk about what it means to teach, research, and serve at a Christian university. Most Missio groups meet on average once per month over lunch and follow a one-year discussion program developed by IFL. Many Missio members deepen their exploration of faith and learning by participating in Communio as a capstone to their cohort year.
Research cohorts are special invitation-only Missio groups that discuss research on a specific topic in relation to faith. Such cohorts often involve faculty presentations of their research followed by discussion.
For the most updated list of Missio cohorts, check out this page.
For the most updated information, see this listing of programs or this listing of events. Following us on social media or signing up for our monthly newsletter are also great ways to stay updated on upcoming events.
IFL welcomes members of the public to attend most of the events that we host. Most of those events are free. The Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture is open to the public and requires a registration fee for non-Baylor participants. IFL hosts some events that are only open to one group, such as faculty, but those restrictions are clear on the event promotional materials.
Following us on social media or signing up for our monthly newsletter are great ways to stay updated on upcoming events.
If you have any questions about a specific event, please email us at ifl@baylor.edu.
IFL posts videos of select events and resources in the Media and Resources page of the website. You can also view the videos on our YouTube channel.
Partnering with IFL
IFL is happy to lead a workshop at your department on integrating faith and learning. We also work with partners across campus to co-sponsor events and programming that is aligned with IFL's mission.
If you have an event or program in mind, please email ifl@baylor.edu, and we can begin the conversation to see if it would be a good partnership opportunity.
We love to help spread the word about faith and learning announcements or projects around Baylor. You can fill out this form for announcements and this form for faith and learning work, teaching, and research. We can help spread the word through our monthly newsletter, social media, or other means.
IFL is happy to work with partners across campus to co-sponsor events and programming that is aligned with IFL's mission.
If you have an event or program in mind, please email ifl@baylor.edu, and we can begin the conversation to see if it would be a good partnership opportunity.
Connecting with and Supporting IFL
You can support IFL through our Giving Page.
Gifts to the Institute for Faith and Learning Excellence Fund fuel the Symposium on Faith and Culture, Communio: A Retreat for Baylor Educators, Missio: A Reflection on Baylor's Special Mission and Identity, Crane Scholars Program, and multiple other opportunities for faculty and staff growth and development.
The IFL offices are located in Brooks Residential College, offices 157–165. The easiest way to reach us is by emailing ifl@baylor.edu, but you can also call at (254) 710-4805.