Christians and the Academy

Responsibility Towards Our University

1. politicization of the university (academic freedom, autonomy);
2. discrimination;
3. ragging, physical harassment; and
4. poor facilities and infrastructure.

Tips
- have people around who encourage you.
- find a place where you are accepted.
- inter-personal relationships are very important.

Responsibility Towards Our Society

"change the university and you change the world."
- Charles Habib Malik, A Christian Critique of the University

Universities give intellectual leadership.
Identify such universities.

Public intellectuals:
- Shashi Tharoor,
- Ramachandran Guha,
- Martin Luther King,
- Noam Chomsky.

Christian public intellectuals:
- address public issues as a Christian;
- influence public policies;
- use public forums (blog, newspapers, TV);
- challenge popular terminology and language (e.g. nationalism, leftist, liberal, )
- question common assumptions (e.g. imperialism in Western, conversion is unethical, technological advancement is progress)
- be sensitive to other's ideologies, be gentle, be wise, be bold

How to engage in productive discussion?
How do we communicate so that everyone understand?

Response - 1

Response - 2
- wrote an article on sexism, bias in algorithms;
- decided to write an article once every 3 months.

Response - 3
- encourages students to snap out of rote-learning mentality;
- considers the classroom as a sacred space for learning;
- feels that students have a utilitarian idea of education;
- encourages students to think beyond grades and placements.