FCHP seminar to address spirituality in higher education

January 5, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Center for Health Promotion will shed some light on the debate about implementing spiritual health into college curricula. According to the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, student spirituality and spiritual development have been ignored by many higher education student affairs professionals.

Jennifer Lindholm, associate director of the Office of Undergraduate Education and Research for the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Los Angeles, will present her recent findings on the spiritual growth of undergraduate students during a seminar sponsored by FCHP at 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, in the Reitz Student Union Auditorium.

“Understanding undergraduate students’ spirituality and their related developmental paths during college is important to health education because ‘wellness’ is predicated on balance and the healthy integration of mind, body, and spirit,” Lindholm said.

Lindholm’s research primarily focuses on spirituality in higher education. Her present study attempts to answer questions regarding the level of spiritual experiences among college students, spiritual behavior on campus, and what this behavior means for higher education institutions.

FCHP and the Department of Health Education and Behavior in the College of Health and Human Performance promote health through behavior change that will lead to wellness. Wellness is a dimension of health beyond the absence of disease including social, emotional and spiritual aspects of health.