Beneath the Roar and Tumult - by Rachel Wheeler & Karen E Eifler (Paperback)

About the Book

"Beneath the Roar and the Tumult is a collection of essays from faculty in Catholic higher education who offer strategies that embolden students to utilize a prophetic lens to see the world as it is and to creatively imagine a better way forward"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

How do Catholic university faculty attend to and support the prophetic imaginations of their students?

Among the treasures of the Catholic intellectual tradition, two are especially vital for contemporary Catholic education: the sacramental imagination and prophetic imagination. A sacramental imagination, as illuminated in this book's companion Becoming Beholders, posits that God is made manifest in all the academic life. But that reality of beauty and goodness must be held in tension with the prophetic imagination--a worldview that is acutely attuned to injustices and looks with creative eyes towards a more peaceful and equitable world.

Composed of essays by faculty in Catholic higher education in various fields, Beneath the Roar and Tumult addresses this tension, with insight into practical strategies for attending to the prophetic imagination in the classroom. In the classroom, educators are called on to create spaces for their students to grapple with inequalities and to dream of an actionable way forward while cultivating a more wholistic vision of academic life in solidarity with the world outside of it. Beneath the Roar and Tumult offers practical guidance for fostering inclusion and belonging in college classrooms to provide a space where the prophetic imagination is embraced.

Review Quotes

"Has there been a more urgent time for cultivating the prophetic imagination in our teaching and learning spaces? Has the need for courage that emboldens us to better understand and accompany those we teach been greater? How deeply do we long to channel the kind of hope that attunes our students for the good amidst the 'roar and tumult' of these days and calls forth their gifts to grow it? If your pedagogical vocation, or even your weary soul, needs a shot of any of these, the wisdom curated here is sure to deliver."
Maureen O'Connell, PhD

-- (4/29/2025 12:00:00 AM)

"Right now, the academy needs this book to reinforce the enduring principles of Catholic social teaching and to give colleagues renewed license to anchor their pedagogy and leadership in these convictions. It reads like a conversation among colleagues, wrestling with how to translate the prophetic into the teachable. Beneath the Roar and Tumult is not just a toolkit for good practice. Its publication is in fact, a compelling example of the prophetic imagination in action."

Donna M. Carroll, President, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities

-- (4/29/2025 12:00:00 AM)

"At a time when colleges and universities are under extraordinary political pressure to be silent rather than prophetic, this volume makes the case for why and how the religious commitments of the institutions and faculty often compel prophetic education. Experienced and pedagogically thoughtful faculty share ways of teaching that help students see and face suffering and injustice, find their voices, and be active agents of hope in the world."
Thomas M. Landy, Director, Rev. Michael C. McFarland S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, College of the Holy Cross, and founder of Collegium, a colloquy on faith and intellectual life-- (4/29/2025 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Rachel Wheeler is associate professor of spirituality at the University of Portland and secretary of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality. She has a PhD in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union, an MA in theology, specializing in monastic studies, from Saint John's School of Theology, and an MA in English from Humboldt State University. She is the author of Desert Daughters, Desert Sons: Rethinking the Christian Desert Tradition (Liturgical Press, 2020). Her most recent book is Radical Kinship: A Christian Ecospirituality (Fortress Press, 2024).

Karen E. Eifler is director of Collegium, the national colloquy of faith and intellectual life, and professor emerita of education at the University of Portland. She co-edited this book's companion volume, Becoming Beholders: Cultivating Sacramental Imagination and Actions in College Classrooms.