Centers of Distinction

 

Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies

The Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies (MXIBS) provides cultural, educational, and social programs designed to help its members develop leadership skills. It also educates the entire Wabash and Crawfordsville communities about the African-American experience. The Institute maintains an African-American studies library and contains classroom, study, and recreational areas. Institute programs include musical, artistic and literary presentations, speakers, films, forums, and community service projects. The MXI's membership and leadership are open to all Wabash students.

 

 

  

Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts

Founded in 2000 by a $20 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts collaborates with colleges and universities from all over the country to gather and use evidence to strengthen liberal arts education. The Center of Inquiry also developed and implemented the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education and a subsequent follow-up study, the Wabash Study 2010. The studies’ findings have been used across the country to bring about institutional change to improve student learning, and are frequently cited at national assessment conferences and published in national journals.

 

Thanks to generous support from the Teagle Foundation, the Center of Inquiry also developed the Teagle Assessment Scholar Program to identify and develop individuals with the capacity to help colleges and universities use evidence to strengthen the impact of liberal arts education for students.

 

 

Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS)

The Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) is an organization of 125 private colleges and universities that supports institutional research, decision-support, assessment, and the advancement of liberal learning. HEDS fulfills its mission by assembling, analyzing, and sharing data of all kinds, by offering professional development opportunities, and by providing other services including special studies, research reports, member conferences and workshops, and advisory services.

 

 

Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion

The Wabash Center supports teachers of religion and theology in higher education through meetings and workshops, grants, consultants, a journal and other resources to make accessible the scholarship of teaching and learning. All Wabash Center programs are funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., which since the founding of the Wabash Center in 1996 has supported its work with eight grants totaling over $40 million.

 

Since its founding, over 900 faculty members have participated in workshops and colloquies on the Wabash campus, and the Wabash Center has awarded over 1,000 grants to more than 275 institutions and 500 individuals totaling nearly $12 million. It has held over 90 conferences on issues of teaching and learning and held 135 pedagogical consultations on higher education campuses across the United States and Canada. The Wabash Center’s peer-reviewed journal, Teaching Theology and Religion, has published 374 articles from 479 authors.

 

 

Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program

The Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program selects 18 Indiana pastors who in their first five to ten years have demonstrated high potential for significant leadership. They participate in a series of meetings, conversations with outstanding leaders, and two study tours over a two-year period. The program provides occasions for the pastors to reflect and discuss how they proclaim the gospel effectively in contemporary culture and in their local contexts; to engage Indiana leaders about the challenges and opportunities in the state, exploring with them resources in Christian thought and practice for ethical analysis and effective response to such challenges and opportunities; and to be honored for their calling and potential through reflection, renewal, stimulation, and leadership development as they build friendships and relationships across the state. The program is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.