Professionalism and Vocations Across the Professions

William M. Sullivan
November 17-18, 2005
Schedule of Events

Mercer Commons, the Walter F. George School of Law, and Mercer’s QEP are proud to host a colloquium/workshop by William M. Sullivan, Carnegie Senior Scholar, as a part of the Mercer Commons Symposium. Dr. Sullivan will present topics relating to professional programs, comparing education across professions, drawing out common themes, and identifying distinct practices in professional education. The Deans of the ten colleges and schools, as well as the libraries, have selected a number of participants for this event. However, the keynote address and workshop will be videotaped for those who are unable to attend. For more information, please contact Mark Jones at jones_ml@mercer.edu or (478) 301-2611.

The goals of this workshop are as follows:

1. To raise collective awareness, across Mercer University's colleges, schools, and other educational units and across the professional practice communities, regarding:
   1. How the concepts of professionalism and vocation are understood in the various professional fields
   2. How professionalism and vocation are promoted during the educational process, and in particular within the University's various colleges, schools, and other educational units 
      
2. To facilitate comparisons (the discovery of similarities and differences) across the professional fields regarding 1a and b; and thereby
   1. To create mutual insights that can enhance the professionalism efforts (including cross-professional collaboration) in the University's colleges, schools, and other educational units, and in the professional practitioner communities 
   2. To permit the drawing of systemic conclusions regarding professionalism and vocation issues across the various professional fields and across professional (and pre-professional) education.  

William M. Sullivan
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
51 Vista Lane
Stanford, CA 94305
Phone: 650-566-5118
sullivan@carnegiefoundation.org

William M. Sullivan is Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and has been Professor of Philosophy at La Salle University, where he is now Associate Faculty. He holds the Ph.D. in Philosophy from Fordham University. Sullivan directs the Foundation’s project on the Preparation for the Professions. This is a multi-year study comparing professional education for the law, engineering, and the clergy, nursing, and medicine. One of the special concerns of the program is the relationship between professional education and the liberal arts. Dr. Sullivan has been an active researcher in the areas of political and social theory, the philosophy of the social sciences, ethics, the study of American society and values, the professions, and education. He is co-author of Habits of the Heart (1985) and The Good Society (1991). He is author of Reconstructing Public Philosophy (1982) and, most recently, the Second Edition of Work and Integrity: The Crisis and Promise of Professionalism in America (2004).