Reflection Circles

Reflection Circles are designed to help students, staff and faculty integrate their specific academic profession with their lives of faith. The model looks like this:

All graduate students (and their significant others) in an academic department or school are invited to partake in evenings of a shared meal, song and prayer, and discussion of matters of their academic discipline and faith. Meeting two times a month, participants bring a potluck supper to share and discuss a topic related to the life of faith. The topics may also relate to the particular discipline, but need not.

Examples might include:

• Bringing spirituality into the work we do as professionals
• What happens to us after we die?
• What is the place of faith in the classroom?
• How is our faith a critique of the culture we live in?
• How did my journey of faith bring me to this discipline and/or department?

A Reflection Circle in your school or department will very likely not resemble the model above in all aspects. The essential elements include these: Prayer, discussion or reflection of some sort together Meetings frequent enough to maintain a momentum and build community Student participation in the design of the program Recruitment of a core of regular participants

The VOICES Project will also invite feedback from participants on their experiences with Reflection Circles.