Faith–Learning Interaction in Graphic Design Courses in Protestant Evangelical Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Integration or connectedness between faith and learning is a core aim of Protestant evangelical colleges and universities. It is pursued in a number of different ways in the academic programs of these institutions, even in commercially oriented courses that they offer, such as graphic design. However, the different ways that practical and theoretical units of study are treated in graphic design courses highlights the sometimes inconsistent and fragmented way that institutions facilitate this interaction. The aim here is to demonstrate some of the ways that faith–learning interaction takes place in a selected number of graphic design programs, to reveal some of these inconsistencies, and to suggest ways that faith–learning interaction may be facilitated more successfully. I argue not for a more proscriptive approach, but a broader and more collaborative approach to connecting religious knowledge with that of graphic design.