Vocation Is Something that Happens to You: Freedom, Education, and the American Literary Tradition

Abstract

This chapter suggests that A.J. Conyers’s representation of vocation may help students to eschew the solipsism of their time and to gain an understanding of this concept gleaned from the Christian tradition. His discussion of vocation draws upon a definition of freedom that recalls pre-Reformation ideas, often unwelcome in a culture that equates freedom with choice and self-determination. By expanding upon Conyers’ discussion of vocation, I hope to challenge stewards of the academy to help students recognize and revise their definitions of freedom. I believe that by investigating definitions of freedom in Christian history and in American culture, and by bringing pre-Reformation ideas into these conversations, educators can support and illuminate the integrated and expansive definition of vocation that Conyers offers.