Beyond Citizenship to Vocation: Literature, Writing, and Service

Abstract

This article analyzes the experience of teaching and learning in a “Literature of Service” course in its attempt to utilize the best of civic learning and faith-based reflection to make sense of social inequality. The language of students’ final portfolios for the course suggests a direct connection between their classroom talk about literary texts and questions of vocation, their writing about these issues, and their service in the community. The concept of vocation allows students to reframe their perception of community engagement from a duty of citizenship to a spiritual calling that clarifies their relationship to the broader world.