How do Christian students approach their years at a Christian college or university? What are the connections between all those hours of study and the Christian life? A First Step into a Much Larger World invites students, parents, and educators into a broad conversation about faith and learning in a postmodern age. Students will explore how to respond to diversity while maintaining community, how to make learning sensible as an expression of faith, and how to move from passive recipients of education to active and engaged co-learners with others. In so doing, they can transform their undergraduate years into a springboard for engaging the culture beyond the university.

John W. Hawthorne (PhD, Purdue University) is professor of sociology at Spring Arbor University in Michigan. He has been active in Christian higher education for over thirty years, serving at five different institutions in both administrative and classroom roles.