<p> This study attempts to show a relationship between being spiritual and choosing a college major. Using one public research institution, this quantitative, longitudinal study used secondary data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program from the years 2000-2011. The survey included items that asked students about their spiritual preference, their confidence in choosing a major, philosophy of life, and participation in community service. Results indicated direct effects from choosing a major and being involved in community service. The study also showed direct effects of choosing a major and developing a meaningful philosophy of life. The strongest finding in this study was the gap in students changing their major (90% of college students from this institution say that they will change their major).</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112).

<p> The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to explore the lived-experiences of students participating in interfaith dialogue at the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) Interfaith Leadership Institute (ILI) in Atlanta. The lived-experiences of the participants were explored though the following research questions: (1) How do participants define interfaith dialogue in their own words? (2) How do participants experience interfaith dialogue? (3) What do participants perceive that they learn or gain through participation in interfaith dialogue? A purposive sample of eleven participants who self-selected to attend the ILI were recruited through the assistance of the IFYC staff. The researcher conducted a brief face-to-face screening in Atlanta with each participant, followed by a semi-structured interview via Skype or phone. Data was analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological approach, inductively looking for themes to emerge. Results demonstrated that the lived-experience of interfaith dialogue was characterized by: (1) the role of the environment, (2) the value of individual relationships through sharing and storytelling, (3) holding an ecumenical worldview, which led to the (4) strengthening of the individual's faith or non-faith tradition. The results of this study support past research on curricular intergroup dialogue and serves as a vehicle to translate similar outcomes to a co-curricular format. Recommendations include: intentionally creating environments to foster interfaith dialogue, expanding formats of interfaith dialogue to include co-curricular options and experiential opportunities, and increasing religious literacy through education and training. In addition, expanding the faith discussion to include the secular and others that do not fit with the current paradigm of religion must be explored. </p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2361. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 299-318).

<p> The current study tested the hypothesis that student spirituality would relate positively to the construct of calling and that these constructs together would lead toward career decidedness. To test this model, a sample consisting of 1139 students from a large Midwest university was surveyed. Results supported these hypotheses only in part. The results suggest the spirituality construct to consist of spiritual identity, spiritual quest, and equanimity consistent with the Astin, Astin, and Lindholm spirituality study. Both search for calling and presence of calling consisted of three parts consistent with Dik and Duffy's concept of calling: transcendent summons, purposeful work, and prosocial orientation. The career decidedness construct also consisted of three domains in accordance with Savickas' formulation: career path, academic major, and occupation. </p><p> Spirituality, in general, highly correlated with search for calling. Correlations were also high between search for calling and presence of calling. Because of this, search for calling was found to mediate an indirect influence of spirituality on presence of calling. However, the manner in which career decidedness related to the model was not expected. According to the data, career decidedness weakly but directly correlated with presence of calling and was determined to be a predicting influence, contrary to the hypothesis. Although no meaningful correlations were discovered between spirituality and career decidedness, equanimity was discovered to meaningfully associate with both spirituality and career decidedness. Theoretical and practical implications are explored.</p>

Seven percent of the national four year college population is involved in Greek Life (Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2008, ~5) with over sixty percent on some campuses (Finkel, 201 0). An often unexamined aspect of collegiate learning pertaining to this context is students' spiritual development, yet this is a vital part of a student's life throughout college and critical to whole student learning (Love & Talbot, 2005). Students report a high level of interest in spiritual activities while struggling with existential questions on a regular basis (Higher Education Research Institute, 2003). Most social fraternities and sororities embrace Christian ideals, making the spiritual development of non-Christian students involved in Greek Life a unique challenge. Focusing on the spiritual development of Jewish students within these social organizations is important because until the mid-twentieth century, there were restrictive membership clauses barring Jewish students from becoming active members of multiple fraternities and sororities founded on Christian ideals (Callais, 2002). The purpose of this study was to examine the unique dichotomy created by students who do not participate in the systemic religious views of a majority of Greek Life organizations; specifically focusing on students of Jewish faith in primarily Christian based Greek letter organizations. The students interviewed show a richness of experiences and information finding that Jewish students (1) identification as spiritually or culturally Jewish defines college experiences, (2) find sanctuary and community with other Jewish students and in groups such as Hillel, (3) who interact with faculty and staff that identify with their heritage feel a sense of belonging on campus, (4) struggle with campus dining practices, (5) face academic penalties due to practice of faith traditions, (6) did not feel welcome or comfortable at the local places of worship, and (7) in Greek letter organizations felt · excluded or challenged because of the founding ideals.