Cultivating hope in the Christian university classroom

Today’s postsecondary students struggle with increasing depression and anxiety, in part influenced by the troubling state of the world. Our students desperately need hope; yet, too often, their university classes diminish rather than increase hope. A key role of the Christian educator is to teach students to live in biblical hope, rooted in the transformational work of God in human history. Drawing on the work of diverse scholars and educators, this article lays out a theological framework for hope and uses it to outline orientations and practices for the classroom that equip students to live faithfully into that hope.