Checking in on the Classical Christian Honors College | Dr. Ryan Griffith

Dr. Ryan Griffith, Dean and Associate Professor of the Classical Christian Honors College (CCHC), joins to share an update on the program’s first year. From engaging deeply with meaningful books to serving the community together, the CCHC equips students to grow not only academically, but spiritually—learning what it means to live out their faith.

Through it all, God’s faithfulness is seen in everything. Leaders have continued to improve and strengthen the curriculum along the way, creating an experience that only keeps getting better for students each semester. Hear how this program is shaping students, strengthening community, and pointing everything back to the Lord.

Learn more about the CCHC: Click here

🎧 Subscribe and leave a rating wherever you listen.

💬 Know an alum, faculty member, staff, or student of UNW doing amazing things out in the world? Let us know at alumni@unwsp.edu. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Julian has been highlighting the people in the purpose in the police of Northwestern. This is the Unwavering Pumpkin Mass.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Hey everybody, this is Monty.

SPEAKER_03 0:25

I'm Casey.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

And welcome to another episode of the Unwavering Podcast. And our guest today on a pulse episode is Dr. Ryan Griffith. Dr. Griffith, as you may remember from season one of the Unwavering Podcast, is the Dean for the Classical Christian Honors College here at Northwestern, as well as an associate professor of historical theology and great books. Ryan, it's great to have you back in the studio.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

I am really glad to be here. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

So let's start here. What are you reading right now? I know you I know you love your books, and so does Cassie, but what are you reading right now?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Yeah. Well, I just this week finished reading a biography of John Stott by Alistair Chapman. Uh it was called Godly Ambition. And uh, you know, Stott's a really fascinating figure in not in in recent history, in terms of his connection with Billy Graham and their vision for global evangelization. And so yeah, I like to read biographies. It's always inspiring and challenging, and uh, and a guy like uh Stott, who's been so significant in in uh church life and church history. So just finished that. And I just started this week Carl Truman's book that it kind of does something similar to his earlier book on confessionalism, but it's called The Crisis of Confidence. And uh yeah, he's fantastic. So it's been been great to get that started.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

You should read that, Monty.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Yeah. I'm gonna dive in. Just a couple light just a couple light. You don't have that crisis of confidence. Okay. Rats.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Cassie? Can you proof that book for me first? There you go.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

Send you the summary.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Well, whether it's on those topics, Ryan, or in a different area, what is something that the Lord's teaching you in this season?

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Yeah, you know, I um there's there have been several friends who've been struggling with some uh you know terminal diagnoses. And you know, I think you get to a certain point in life that you're you're just so in the middle of all the things that are going on in life, you don't think about the end of life. And so really recently I've been thinking just a lot about the good news of our limitations, the bad news of death and the curse, but just being reminded that having having that perspective about the end helps us think about how we ought to be living in the present. Uh, like the psalmist says in Psalm 90, uh, that, you know, asking the Lord to help us number our days, teach us to number our days in order that we might gain a heart of wisdom. So, you know, you just you you get to a certain point in life too, and you feel like I don't move as quickly, I can't touch my toes as easily. And uh, you know, you feel that reality of of your limits, and it's uh I don't know. That's that's what I've been sort of wrestling with, and and uh it's a good, good season to be asking for more of the Lord's help and recognizing the reality of our dependence, not our independence. That's a good word.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

Mm-hmm. Well, thank you for sharing that. Yeah. Okay, so we did have you on season one, which was great. We have you here again. Um so but for those who didn't hear you the first time, um, who don't know what the classical Christian honors college is, how would you describe it?

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Yeah, well, you know, if if I was to explain it to a parent, I would say this is the kind of education that you and I wish we had preached. Uh at the college level, uh, you know, this is the kind of education that where you where your student is getting your son or daughter is getting exposed to the great books and ideas that have shaped the world, and they're getting that from a fundamentally biblical perspective. And they're being all along the way, whether they know it implicitly or they realize it afterwards, they're also being uh intentionally discipled, you know, by our our faculty. So from a parent perspective, that's what I would say. I think if I was to say to a student, what's the honors college about? Uh it's about being part of a joyful learning community. So we basically over three years read through as many as of of the great works of of history as we can reasonably. And uh we do so in seminar and dialogue and discussion, and it's a great way for students to accomplish their core liberal arts requirements at Northwestern, but to do it uh with a bunch of other people who enjoy it. We're having fun, we have great discussions. They usually end up going longer than we, you know, have time for, which is awesome. Uh, but yeah, the Honors College is is is about that. It's a it's a it's a great books program.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

You were excited when we launched this program. You're even more excited now after year one.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Yeah, I am. I am because it's fun. I'm enjoying it. The students are enjoying it. I think the things that we dreamt about and we knew was true because of other experiences, because of great programs that we've been part of or looked at together. We knew that it would happen, but to actually see it happen has been incredibly satisfying and encouraging and fruitful and humbling. And it just makes me go, man, I know we're almost at the end of the semester, but how soon does the next semester start? You know, gonna get through that summer as fast as we can. So good.

SPEAKER_03 6:02

So it's you're wrapping up your first year. What are some of the highlights of this past year?

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Yeah. Well, I I think we've I mean, I have a I have a bunch. I mean, I think from the classroom perspective, you know, seeing students uh just come alive through some of the things that they read, wrestling with really important and deep and challenging questions. I think seeing students make their faith their own. And, you know, both through reading scripture, but also seeing how others have read and understood scripture, seeing how others have wrestled through the kinds of questions, the challenges of life that they're that they're wrestling through. And so there just have been some amazing moments both in the classroom and in the discussions that naturally sort of flow out of the classroom. But we've also had a lot of fun together. Um, you know, we've we've been able to serve together. I we just recently were uh working with the Union Gospel Mission during Northwestern's Project 297. I always get the number wrong there. Um so we were with the Union Gospel Mission and just to be able to serve the community, um, especially we were we were on the in their men's facility serving the homeless in St. Paul, and just to do that together and to see folks engaging with the men that are being served there and thinking about how how can I make this more part of my life? That was sweet. And then, you know, just on the community side of things, the other things that we get to do together, we regularly have open lunches and just have some fascinating discussions and really get into each other's lives and the kinds of challenges we're facing. And it's just been really sweet. So sorry. That was a lot more than you asked for, but there are a lot of I I just have had so many, so many things to be thankful for at the end of this year.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Aaron Powell No, I'm sure there's a million moments that stand out for this year, and I hope that they do stand out for a long time as this inaugural year. Was there a moment this year that made you stop and think this is exactly what we hoped it would be?

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Yeah, you know, sometimes it's the the moments that you don't expect. I I happened to be on my way out of the classroom, we had uh some visitors who were visiting class, and I just caught the conversation of one of our students with this prospective student explaining why this was so valuable to them and why it was so important and why this prospective student should I mean, not not not somebody we had assigned to, you know, meet with this prospective student, but just flowing right out of class. And I was like, okay, this is why we're this is why we're here. This is what this is about. So just their enthusiasm and encouragement, and also just their real sincere, the ways that the Lord has been shaping them through what we've been reading and discussing together, and the fact that they love one another and and and they're invested in each other's lives. That was kind of the moment that I was I was, you know, just said to the Lord in that moment, thank you. This is this is what we prayed for, this is what we've hoped for.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Aaron Powell You got to be a fly on the wall. That's right. Uh catching an organic moment of a student just sharing about their experience. Yeah. Yeah. That was awesome.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Aaron Powell I'm sure you had a lot of expectations going into the year, but were there any surprising moments with students or with the program in general?

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Aaron Ross Powell One of the things that I didn't expect out of m my own doctoral program was the relationships that I would build in that. I mean, you know that you're gonna have classmates and that you're gonna interact, but the lifelong implications of those times together, I still can't of all of the blessings of education for me in terms of life experiences, that experience was so valuable because of the relationships built there. And so for me, I think knowing that and yet seeing some of that happen in the classroom with these students, that still has come as a bit of a surprise to me. And one of the other things which was really fascinating was the way that this has sort of overflowed into the students' relationships with their roommates. And you know, to see some of their roommates come in and hang out and then listen to them talk about the conversation that they had late into the night. And, you know, this one particular student, I won't embarrass her uh by naming her, but was talking about reading out loud this really challenging text and you know, with her roommate having this conversation and how she's like, I just think this guy's totally crazy. And then she said she came back after you know the class discussion and went back to her mate and she was like, I was totally wrong. I've totally misread this part. But it was just to see the kind of the conversations that they're actually having with their classmates with their roommates and classmates outside of the Honors College. I don't know. That's something I should have expected, but you know, that's been a happy surprise.

SPEAKER_03 10:55

Aaron Powell It's rippling through campus.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

I hope so. I hope in a posit yeah, I hope in as positive a way as possible.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Yeah. Great books and great discussions. Taking over campus and then the world. Right? That's right. I hope so. That's right. Um so what did you learn in launching and leading this program in its first year?

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Aaron Powell One thing that I've seen, again, probably should have uh anticipated this more in coming in, but I just have been so blessed by our campus community. I think there's been so much support from the faculty and staff, not just not nominal support, but uh praying and advising and investing. There's just a a lot of our faculty invested in the mentorship of the students in the honors college. Uh and so I think that was one very happy thing to see and a bit of a surprise. I think I've learned a lot more about Northwestern and Northwestern's commitments in the midst of all this. There's uh a real authenticity there, which I've appreciated.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Aaron Powell Speak to me a little bit more about that, as far as like Northwestern's commitments and the authenticity that you've found.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Well, yeah, you know, we we say and and in many universities say that um you know, Christian, private Christian universities say that we're committed to discipleship. But to hear from students how they're being impacted outside the classroom by their faculty, you know, you don't always hear that even in Christian campuses. And so just the sort of the depth of that commitment has been what one what I would hope for and has been has been really encouraging. So you know, you do the best in planning in advance. But I I look back and I think I had no idea what the Lord was gonna do. And and if it hadn't been for several very key specific things that he brought at just the right time, I don't know how it wouldn't have it wouldn't have happened. So I think particularly, you know, of of my colleague Clinton Collister, Dr. Collister, just what a provision from the Lord he is, both to me and to what we're doing in the honors college. Like I we could not have done it without him. And I just I'm super thankful in God's perfect timing that uh that Clinton came when he did. And uh it's been great to learn from him and to learn alongside him and to to be with these students, facilitating discussion and and uh and leading together. So that's been really sweet.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Oh, praise God for that provision. Well, it was it was year one, and I'm sure like anything that we do in life for the first time, it was probably perfect, right? Yeah. No. Oftentimes our our first attempt is a first attempt in learning. Yeah, right. What are some adjustments or refinements or tweaks that you make or that you plan to make going into year two now that you've had year one under your belt?

SPEAKER_00 13:43

We're doing a lot of development as we go. And so we make adjustments to the to the readings. I think one of the things that it's been fun to watch the the students experience what they're reading, and you you're you're anticipating how much in terms of page count and also depth is reasonable for students to be able to actually absorb and have discussions about. Um but we're always refining that. That's really important. But also the people who are part of the conversation. You know, we you know, along the fall, you know, we made some choices about what some of the texts that we read that at the end of the semester, we're like, you know what, this person needs to be part of that conversation and this other person needs to come out of it, you know. So we make those kinds of things on the curricular side. But also I think as it relates to, I mean, we're Lord willing, we are growing and looking to the future and we're thinking about, okay, how do we see a second set of students coming in and the relationship between the first year and the second year students, and what kinds of events and activities can we plan to bring those groups together? And how can we serve together, how can we worship together? That's been a really big part of what we've done this year, where we meet on Tuesday mornings together in Nash Chapel. I want to be able to bring all of those. So so we're kind of figuring out how to make refinements even in the structure of the classes, so that we can benefit from those experiences all together.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Aaron Powell So for the students that are coming in in their first year this fall, do they take the classes that the that this cohort just took, or does everybody, year one, year two, all take a new course together? How does that kind of work?

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Aaron Powell Yeah. So the the program's three years and it's uh it's sequential. So the incoming students will take the courses that the students who are just completing this year did. And there's uh some real beauty in that uh because now the the students who are returning will have the opportunity to say, hey, we read through those things, and they'll have you know other conversation partners, they'll have some slightly older uh, you know, mentors to come walk alongside them in the reading of the texts. So I'm hopeful for the way that that'll sort of we'll see some cascading conversations uh over time with that approach.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

Aaron Powell Yeah, it's gonna be a really interesting dynamic to add.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Yeah, it's gonna r just rekindle the conversations all over again and and really lock it in and engage. So you've been working through just is it the right page content, is it the right books, the flow, the space? Everything about it was new. And it sounds like it's just been a great experience with some tweaks and some new experiences adding another cohort here in in year two. So how is how is year two shaping up so far?

SPEAKER_00 16:31

There's a lot to be thankful for, and I mean we're super excited about the coming year. The you know, the hope had been that we would be, you know, there's not an expectation that we go to two cohorts in the fall, but but we're hoping to sort of build the student body in that respect. And uh I mean, we've been really pleased with the interest and um the plan and kind of what it looks like right now, that we are gonna have two full cohorts for the for the fall. And so uh it's kind of awesome in a little bit of a terrifying kind of sense, too, that uh, you know, you're gonna increase the population of the honors college substantially. But you know, we look at every single student that's in that in our current cohort, and you're just so thankful for the ways that God has sort of crossed our paths in this moment. And you know, he's in all of that. So we're trusting him for whomever he brings us. But it it's yeah, it's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Aaron Powell So you're adding two new cohorts to go alongside with the first cohort that started this year. Oh, that's awesome. Um, what else are you excited about as you look ahead to the to season two per se of the CCHC?

SPEAKER_00 17:37

Yeah. Well, I mean, I look forward to the uh the things that we're gonna read together. So when I think about the second year, you know, we're we're getting into the medieval period, we're kind of ending this semester with Augustine, and then we pick up at the beginning of the next semester with Augustine because and I even brought Augustine with me. That's how much uh Augustine is is uh is a key figure. Um so so that I I'm excited about what the students are gonna get to read together and discuss together for the fall in that second year. I think also one of the wonderful benefits of this particular inaugural class is obviously as pilots, you know, they've they've experienced the the the good and the challenge, and they're helping me think through like, okay, how do we bless the incoming students? How do we make their experience exceptional? What kinds of things can you do as do you want to do as students to come alongside them? How can we provide them a better experience than what you experienced? And so I'm looking forward, you know, we're we've got ideas and plans kind of in the works uh to make this next year really special for both classes, but I'm I'm looking forward to you know continuing to refine and devise experiences that'll that'll bless them.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

That's good. Uh speaking of the first cohort and all they're they're speaking into the second cohort, I was gonna ask, is cohort one sticking? Like are they sticking around? Like what's you know, how many of them are coming back for year two? Like, are you encouraged by that?

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yeah, I mean, we're in the tail end of registration for first, you know, for current freshmen at this point, and all of our students are planning to return in the fall. So that's fantastic and yeah, thrilled about that. It's hard for me to imagine what it would be, you know, any anytime you experience in a a setting like that, a student having to move on or do other things, it's it it you you aggrieve it, you know, because you've become you become close. Uh so yeah, it's exciting to to see them all return next year.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

All right. Well, we opened with a book question. And I'm gonna close with a book question. Um so as we go into summer, what are some recommendations that you would have for books that people could read during the summer and consider the audience that they may be at my reading level, not like Cassie's, you know? Um but what are a few maybe timeless good books that we should consider uh reading throughout this summer season?

SPEAKER_00 20:02

Yeah. Oh boy. It's like asking, you know, somebody who really likes ice cream. Like what are your ten favorite flavors, I guess? Um you know, one book that I I think is just a a perennial um classic, a blessing, um, especially in the for the moment that we're in, is uh Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together. That's a book that's really special for for me in terms of a sort of level setting, community sort of vision. Um and and so I we actually give that, don't I'm spoiling the surprise, I suppose, but we give that as a gift to our incoming students because I think it is actually it is that important and thinking through both our expectations, which are sometimes a little bit over the top for what community should be, and then things that we should expect that we don't even think about. So that's that's a good one. You know, I'm a big biography guy, um, and I think spiritual biographies particularly are important, and so you know, a great summer read that's super challenging just in terms of personal conviction is uh the biography of of Hudson Taylor, the one that was published by Moody's called uh Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. And uh just a profoundly moving book about a man who's and uh and a family fully devoted to the calling of Christ and um and watching him wrestle through the the challenges, of course, that that came with that. So I'm a I'm a big fan of those those kinds of things.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Those are two great books selections. I as you were sharing those, I was just thinking ahead. As an alumni director, like someday there's gonna be alums from the C C H C and I think a staple email that they get throughout the year is gonna be summer reads with Dr. Griffith or uh spring reads, and alums can I'll read it together and find a way to keep that thinking and conversation going. But we have we have a couple years to figure that out. So well, thank you for taking some time out of the out of your day and out of the end of your semester here as you're wrapping up to join us again. And I'm sure I'm sure we'll get you back in here again. But we're we're excited for what the Lord is doing in the CCHC. We're big fans. We're cheering you on as you head into season two and just praying for the Lord's blessing on this place and also in the program that you get to oversee.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Thanks for having me. Good to see you all. You too.

SPEAKER_04 22:32

Holding on to your promises.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Holding on to your famous. Thank you for listening. To hear more, subscribe and leave a rating wherever you listen. And if you know an alum, faculty member, staff, or student of Northwestern doing amazing things out in the world, let us know at alumni at unwsp.edu. The unwavering podcast, highlighting the people, the purpose, and the pulse of Northwestern.

SPEAKER_04 23:00

Your love is a wavering.