Presbyterian College religion professor encourages students to explore ethics, faith, and community
For Dr. Kirk Nolan, professor of religion at Presbyterian College, teaching is more than just what students learn in the classroom. Nolan strives to help them grow, question their assumptions, and discover how this education applies to the world around them.
Now in year 18 at PC, Nolan finds the college’s close-knit community a place he can truly call home, where relationships with both students and colleagues have encouraged teaching approaches and aided in discovering his own sense of purpose.
An unexpected connection led Nolan to PC. While pursuing his Ph.D., he and his wife lived in graduate school housing across the hall from PC alumni who encouraged him to apply to the open spot at their alma mater. In 2009, he joined the college and has since come to enjoy the benefits of living and working in a small community.
“I think it’s getting to know students really well and also my colleagues, faculty, and also staff,” Nolan said. “You’re in an environment where people know each other and you build relationships over time.”
An Unexpected Path to Teaching
Since earning his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University, Nolan’s career has taken many turns. Post grad, he worked as a computer consultant but became frustrated by the unethical business practices he experienced.
Taking this experience, Nolan decided to reconsider his professional direction and explore ethics and character. Following this change of direction, Nolan pursued a degree in divinity, worked for five years at an international school in India as a teacher and a chaplain, and eventually earned his Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary.
For Nolan, ethical decision-making becomes exceedingly important when doing the right thing means challenging the expectations of others.
“Whereas with virtue ethics, it’s about your character and shaping your character in a certain way over time so that when you’re in those difficult situations, your character can kind of help you make the right choice,” Nolan said.
Nolan encourages students to approach their education with flexibility and understand that the clear idea you came to PC with may lead you to discover new interests along the way. This is what the strong values of liberal arts education provide.
“It’s not just about a particular academic discipline when you get a degree from PC,” Nolan said. “It really is kind of that liberal arts approach of being able to examine your own life and your place in the world and being able to be flexible about changing your mind.”
It’s not just about a particular academic discipline when you get a degree from PC. It really is kind of that liberal arts approach of being able to examine your own life and your place in the world and being able to be flexible about changing your mind.”
Dr. Kirk Nolan, Professor of Religion
A World of Civil Conversation Culture
Outside the classroom, Nolan serves as coordinator for PC’s Civil Conversations initiative, which encourages students to collaborate about current issues affecting their communities, the country, and the world.
Nolan strives to create an environment where students feel confident to express their opinions and converse with those who see things differently. Nolan is specifically interested in the growth of Bridge USA, a nonpartisan, student-led organization that hosts conversations and events on campus.
Nolan believes that education should go further than classroom material. Students need the opportunities to engage with difficult questions, listen to others, and learn how their beliefs can influence relationships and responsibilities in the world.
Nolan hopes, as a future goal, to make his Christian Ethics course a regular offering where students examine examples of people who have built community around shared values.
Beyond the Classroom
When he is not teaching or working on campus initiatives, Nolan enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. He enjoys riding his mountain bike to work each day and likes to take his road bike out for longer rides on the weekends.
On campus, he enjoys time in his office and visiting the library looking out of the large windows facing East Maple Street.
As Nolan continues his career at PC, he hopes to continue to help students connect with what they learn to how they live. He hopes that his students leave college better prepared to handle uncertainty, understand others and grasp what their place is in this world.
