About Table Hearth and Commons

Greetings --

The categories of "Table," "Hearth," and "Commons" for which this blog is named are drawn from Sharon Daloz Parks’ book, Big Questions/Worthy Dreams: Mentoring Young Adults in Their Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Faith. Parks argues that our prevailing conceptions of maturity fail to account for the developmental stages of traditionally-aged college students, particularly with regard to the nexus of the heart, spirit, and intellectual growth. Parks suggests that young adults, in particular, and all adults in actuality need a variety of contexts in which to receive spiritual and intellectual sustenance, to develop spiritual and intellectual maturity, and to sustain ongoing growth.

For Parks, "Table" signifies time and community in contexts in which colleagues, teachers and students, friends and mentors talk as they break bread together. "Hearth" signifies time and community in intimate contexts such as one-one-one conversations with trusted elders, mentors, or guides. "Commons" signifies time and community in contexts in which issues can be deliberated, debated, and in which critical engagement is encouraged and supported.

As Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, my hope in organizing CETL mission, vision, and goals around the themes of Table, Hearth, and Commons is to provide those sustaining contexts for the SCSU faculty community and to model the ways in which faculty might provide and the University might support those sustaining contexts for SCSU students.