ALLIANCE, Ohio — A total of 45 University of Mount Union employees continued their professional development as part of a book study during the months of December and January. The study was made possible as a result of grant funding from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) that the institution received to be used from 2019-2021. 

Participants read “This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women” (New York: Picador, 2006), which is described as, “A collection of short philosophical statements by well-known as well as unknown individuals, detailing their core beliefs about life and the wisdom they have gleaned from personal experience.”

Four small group conversations about the book were facilitated by Dr. Niki Johnson, professor of philosophy and religious studies at Mount Union, and Stephen Dages, the University’s interim chaplain. 

“I was pretty impressed that so many people wanted to engage intellectually and personally in the middle of a tough year,” said Johnson. 

The participants will be invited to reconvene in May after writing brief essays of their own modeled on the short personal philosophies included in the book.