Life, Learning, and Virtue in Today’s Complex World A podcast featuring Asbury University President, Dr. Kevin Brown
Belonging and Becoming is a podcast featuring Asbury University President, Dr. Kevin Brown. You’ll hear insights about life, learning, and virtue, as well as Christian higher education. Episodes feature interviews with Asbury graduates whose lives and careers uniquely reflect virtue and continued learning. Our hope is that each episode will encourage you in your life journey as we seek to live well.
Asbury University President Kevin Brown talks about his book, “Designed for Good: Rediscovering the Idea, Language, and Practice of Virtue.” What does a principle Aristotle discussed more than 2,000 years ago have to say to us today? Dr. Brown discusses that and what the study of virtue can mean for students entering a university like Asbury.
On this Christmas episode, Asbury President Kevin Brown and family share some of their treasured Christmas traditions and memories. Children Campbell, Ada and Oliver will make you smile with their perspectives; they’re followed by Kevin and Maria Brown’s thoughtful Christmas reflections. The podcast concludes with the singing of Silent Night by the Asbury Chorale. It’s from the music department’s 2019 Songs of the Season concert. The opening flute melody was played by student Robyn Cook, and the flute descant was written by Asbury faculty member Dr. Vicki Bell. Pianist for this performance was Celeste Letchworth.
Asbury University President Dr. Kevin Brown, quoting E. Stanley Jones, says education at its core should be about what we love, not simply what we know. Brown discusses why an education at a Christian liberal arts institution like Asbury is so valuable, pointing to the university’s new honors program and future of work initiative, as well as success stories of recent graduates. The show concludes with student body president Demarion Johnson discussing why listening is so vital in these challenging times.
In this conversation with Asbury President Kevin Brown, Andrew Coleman ’98 shares about a life-changing encounter during an Asbury chapel service. The senior vice president and general manager of GE Aviation Digital also talks about what it means to be a wingman, serving others, even while working as a manager at a high tech Fortune 500 company. Then, he shares what we can learn about preparing for the future by the ways GE has learned to take data off of aircraft to gain insights that make air travel the safest in the world.
Asbury University President Kevin Brown says significant changes in higher education will soon impact our economy, our political world and our individual lives. But Dr. Brown says universities like Asbury can learn to adapt to what he calls a creativity economy. He argues that the faith-based liberal arts paradigm will continue to uniquely prepare students for a vastly different future job world. The podcast ends with a look at Asbury’s radio version of It’s a Wonderful Life, through interviews with director Carol Anderson and student actor Jackson Wilhelmi.
Part 2: A journey from St. Andrews, Scotland to Wilmore, Kentucky. That’s part of what you’ll hear about in this second episode. Part two of this interview with Asbury President Dr. Kevin Brown, looks at his graduate school years in Scotland and the surprise connection that brought him to Asbury. It also features some lighter moments, including a look at some of the things he loves to do with his children, and on his own.
Part 1: On today’s episode Dr. Brown shares how Asbury’s fall 2020 semester is off to a good start, despite the modifications required during the pandemic. Dr. Brown also talks about his early life growing up in Louisville, how he met his wife Maria, and the important role his parents and parents-in-law played in who he is today. Along the way, you’ll learn the power of a book and a word to change someone’s life.