Why go to University? Forming academic friendships at Tyndale University, a private Christian university in Ontario, Canada
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rst.26908Keywords:
Academic Friendship, alternative moral narrative, institutional differentiation, diversityAbstract
This paper considers why Christian Higher Education could offer a hopeful, if metaphysical, answer to the question, “Why go to university”? The paper draws on two examples to argue that a greater diversity of higher education institutions in Ontario would tell a bigger story about what going to university is for. The first example is historic and introduces four female philosophers whose academic friendship impacted postwar moral philosophy in Britain and North America. The second example is contemporary: Tyndale
University is a private Christian university in Toronto. The paper argues that Tyndale University is an example of the kind of small to mid-size universities capable of fostering the academic friendships necessary to preserve diversity, resilience and alternate imaginations during times of global disruption.
References
City of Toronto 2019. “Population demographics” T.O. Health Check: An Overview of Toronto’s Population Health Status. https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/99b4-TOHealthCheck_2019Chapter1.pdf
Clark, I., G. Moran, M. Skolnik and D. Trick. 2009. Academic Transformation: The Forces Reshaping Higher Education in Ontario. Kingston: Queen’s University.
Conradi, P. 2021. Iris Murdoch. W. W. Norton. Ebook.
Frost, Jasmine. 2023. Unpublished Convocation Address, Tyndale University, May 27, Toronto.
Green, B. 2021. “Present tense: Christian education in secular time.” Innovating Christian Education Research: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, edited by J.M. Luetz & B. Green. Springer.
Heal, J. 2018. “Mary Midgely obituary.” The Guardian, October 2018. www.the-guardian.com/education/2018/oct/12/mary-midgley-obituary.
Lipscomb, B. 2022. The Women Are Up to Something: How Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgely, and Iris Murdoch Revolutionized Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lewis, C. S. 1939. “Learning in war time.” A sermon preached in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, Autumn, 1939. www.christendom.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Learning-In-Wartime-C.S.-Lewis-1939.pdf
———. 1950. “Personal letter to Stella Aldwinckle, June 12.” The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Narnia, Cambridge and Joy, 1950—1963, edited by Walter Hooper. San Francisco, CA: HarperOne.
Mac Cumhaill, C. and R. Wiseman. 2023. Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life. New York: Vintage.
Macleans 2022. “Christian schools in Canada: Seven Christian universities with 500 or more full-time degree students.” Macleans. March 23, 2022. macleans.ca/education/university/christian-schools-in-canada/
Meinzer, C. 2022. “ATS schools report fall enrolment numbers.” Association of Theological Schools. www.ats.edu/files/galleries/ats-schools-report-fall-enrollment-data.pdf
Midgley, M. 2005. The Owl of Minerva: A Memoir. Routledge.
Murdoch, I. 1970. The Sovereignty of Good. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
NAIITS: An Indigenous learning community. 2022. “Pathways for tomorrow grant builds on NAIITS strengths.” naiits.com/news/pathways-for-tomorrow-grant-builds-on-naiits-strengths. Accessed July 23, 2023.
Porter, S. and B. Fawcett, eds. 2020. Christian Higher Education in Canada: Challenges and Opportunities. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications.
Soliday, J. and M. Lombardi, M. 2019. Pivot: A Vision for the New University. Advantage Media Group.
Smith, C. and P. Snell. 2009. Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Spooner, M. 2023. “What are universities for? Canadian higher education is at a critical cross roads.” Canada: The Conversation. theconversation.com/what-are-universities-for-canadian-higher-education-is-at-a-critical-cross-roads-196549. Accessed July 23, 2023.
Statistics Canada. 2021. “Study: Gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the proportion of youth neither in employment nor education at the start of the school year.” Statistics Canada. Accessed July 23, 2023.
———. 2022. “Number of students in regular programs for youth, public, elementary and secondary schools by grade and sex.” Statistics Canada.www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710000701&pickMembers%5B0%5D=2.15&pickMembers%5B1%5D=3.1&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2019+%2F+2020&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2020+%2F+2021&referencePeriods=20190101%2C20200101
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015. The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Volume 1: Summary. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future. James Lorimer and Company.
Tyndale University. 2022. Flourishing Like Trees Planted by Streams of Water: 5 Year Strategic Plan 2022–2027. Toronto: Tyndale University.
———. 2023. Tyndale University webpage: Our History. Toronto: Tyndale University. www.tyndale.ca/about/history
Usher, A. 2016. “Why don’t we have private universities in Canada?” Highered-strategy.com/why-dont-we-have-private-universities-in-canada.
Usher, A. (2022) “Fun with university enrolment data.” Higher Education Strategy Associates.higheredstrategy.com/fun-with-university-enrollment-data. Accessed July 23, 2023.