Academically Speaking

A personal odyssey through the world of Christian higher education, narrated by a professional who has worked on both sides of the faculty-administrative divide.

What is the world of Christian higher education really like? Rick Ostrander’s thirty-year career in Christian academia equips him to provide an insider’s perspective on the field and its future.

Ostrander cut his teeth as an undergraduate at Moody Bible Institute and the University of Michigan before completing his PhD with George Marsden at Notre Dame. From there he worked as a professor and administrator at various Christian colleges, a vice president at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and an independent academic consultant. Throughout, he witnessed the many dramatic transformations of Christian higher education. Ostrander traces an attempt to cultivate evangelical intellectualism in the ’90s to the political and economic forces that shake Christian colleges today.

Through lively storytelling, Ostrander highlights the qualities and quirks of Christian higher education. His experiences offer readers insight into how Christian colleges can flourish in an age of uncertainty.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Bible College Beginnings

Corporate Interlude

2. Academic Awakening

European Interlude

3. A Community of Scholars

Desert Interlude

4. Loosening the Bible Belt

5. Academic Leadership

6. Plot Twist

Landscaping Interlude

7. Back in Business

Mountain Interlude

8. The Long Way Home

Epilogue: A Second-Mountain College