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Steven C. Bahls

Steven C. Bahls

President

Augustana College

Steven C. Bahls is president of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He was the dean of the Capital University Law School until the summer of 2003.

Published Articles

Article

Liberal Arts and Professional Education: A Call for Philosopher-Servants

Steven C. Bahls

No. 24 · Fall 2006

Bahls, President of Augustana College (Rock Island), calls for a renewed commitment at Lutheran colleges to form “philosopher-servants” — graduates whose grounding in the liberal arts and the liberating gospel equips them for thoughtful service in business, education, nursing, and the other professions. Their impact, he argues, is “a good thing and a fact that we can be proud of as those who labor in Lutheran higher education.”
Article

Leading Students to Distinguish Between Career and Vocation: Reflections from a Lutheran Law School

Steven C. Bahls

No. 20 · Fall 2004

Bahls, writing as former dean of the Capital University Law School, argues that most law students and many legal educators confuse vocation with career—asking “what kind of lawyer do you want to be?” rather than “who do I want to be?” Drawing on John O. Mudd’s five attributes of a well-prepared lawyer and Susan Daicoff’s empirical research on lawyer dissatisfaction and the “amoral professional role,” he turns to Ernest L. Simmons’s and Darrel Jodock’s articulations of Luther’s understanding of vocation and proposes five steps—reflection, assessment, vision, integrative thinking, and reassessment—along with explicit leadership from law school deans, engagement of career services offices, and leadership within the profession (illustrated by Capital’s joint venture with the Columbus Bar Association).

Steven C. Bahls

Published Articles

Liberal Arts and Professional Education: A Call for Philosopher-Servants

Leading Students to Distinguish Between Career and Vocation: Reflections from a Lutheran Law School