2003 Dr. Libby Tisdell Publishes a Book on Spirituality in Higher Education
Dr. Libby Tisdell, professor of adult education, published Exploring Spirituality and Culture in Adult and Higher Education in 2003, a book for which she interviewed educators about religion’s role in the classroom.
The same year, she spoke on spirituality at the Minority Academic Excellence Program. The following spring she spoke at the Women, Culture, and Spirituality event on campus, which was one of seven free events in the Women and Society: Current Issues and Topics series. Over 60 people joined the conversation on spirituality, religion, and culture and how they intersect with women’s history. Tisdell helped students and other participants define spirituality and understand its link to culture. She also teaches a course on spirituality in higher education and the health professions.
Tisdell’s research and publication list is extensive and impressive, so in 2008 she won Penn State Harrisburg’s Excellence in Research and Scholarly Activity Award. Her nominators called her a “consummate scholar” and lauded her for bringing gender, race, diversity, and equity issues to the doctoral program in adult education.
At the time of the award, her major research focus was on how spiritual commitments motivate and influence the educational practices of a multicultural group of women educators who teach across borders of race, class, gender, and culture for social action and transformation.
She is the former co-chair of the Outreach Subcommittee of the Diversity and Educational Equity Committee at Penn State Harrisburg (among other Penn State Harrisburg and discipline-specific committees) and serves on the editorial boards of numerous international journals relating to adult and higher education.
Education
• Ed.D. Adult Education, University of Georgia
• M.A. Religion and Religious Education, Fordham University