Carson- Newman Studies Vol

Carson- Newman Studies Vol. X, No. 1 Fall 2002 ISSN 1081-7727 Don H. Olive, Sr. Dean of Humanities and Professor of Philosophy Editor Michael E. Arrington Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Managing Editor Carson-Newman Studies is published annually by the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor, P.O. Box 71938, Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, TN 37760. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the editors or of Carson-Newman College. Statements fo fact are the responsibility of the individual contributors. Contents A Word from the Editors . iii Excellence Doesn’t Happen by Accident [Distinguished Faculty Award Address, August 17, 2001] James A. Coppock. 1 The Decline and Fall of the Supernatural: Peirce, Design and the Distinction between Natural and Supernatural D. Brian Austin . 11 Study of the Discrimination of Same and Different in Musical Statements Marshall P. Forrester . 22 “Tell me some such fiction . shew me examples ”: The Protestant “Word” and Saving Fictions Jennifer Wallace Hall . 30 True to Twelfth-Century Form: Gautier d’Arras’s Eracle David S. King . 52 Will There Always Be a South? Tradition, Modernity, and Memory [Carlyle Marney Lecture, Nov. 12, 2001] Wayne Flynt . 76 "Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary Revisited" [The Carlyle Marney Lecture, Sept. 13, 2001] Walter B. Shurden . 90 The Feminine Potential Calvin S. Metcalf . 102 From DNA to DEAN [Address at Carson-Newman College, Nov. 1, 2001] Arthur Peacocke . 107 i Distinguished Alumni 2001-02 Martha Cortner Pixley (C-N ’31) . 120 Joe E. Barnhart (C-N ’53) . 121 Mack F. Bingham (C-N ’55) . 125 Carrie Owen McConkey (C-N ’92) . 127 Contributors. 129 ii A Word from the Editors Carson-Newman Studies represents the fact that intellectual, scholarly activity is central to this academic community. This may ap- pear to be a strange claim for a small liberal arts institution with a pro- fessed emphasis on teaching rather than research. Closer examination of the concept of teaching, however, confirms that scholarly activity is neither unnecessary nor optional to faculty of an academic institution such as Carson-Newman College. The quality of teaching we seek at Carson-Newman College is marked by an intellectual liveliness that results from the engagement of thinkers with the concepts of their disciplines. The best teaching is ac- complished out of the overflow of masters of learning themselves. Ad- mittedly, different styles of learning and teaching exist. But teaching out of the overflow is necessary to energize all styles. The best presentation of external ideas never produces those amazing moments of learning where the teacher and student in a classroom discover the in- sights that change lives. Teachers must possess their own ideas in order to be guides to and in those moments. The content of many of the articles in this issue of Carson- Newman Studies is beyond the scope of baccalaureate students. But unless the teachers are and remain active at this level, their students soon know that they need only memorize what obviously the teachers have memorized. Students in such classes are never stretched, for mere memory work allows them to capsulate and manage the concepts being delivered. Memorization allows the students to dodge the bullets of new ideas. They can put class notes in safe places and never have to suffer the entertainment of new ideas. Only teachers who venture into new intellectual ground can impart the courage to be educated. In the final analysis scholarly activity is the expression of courage, for all attempts to learn, to truly learn, are threatening. Aca- demic freedom is not always provided. But the more grievous situation prevails when academic freedom is unused because of the lack of courage on the part of faculty members to do academic work that is necessary to bring the life of the mind to their classrooms and their students. Academic freedom is not freedom for its own sake. It is the freedom iii required to be an educator, one who “leads out” the best ideas. And in the process such educators model being challenged with new ideas. How much easier it is to be the authority than to be the model for con- tinual study and growth! So, this year’s issue, as all issues, stands as testimony to quality teachers. Scholarly papers are not the only testimonies to scholarly activity, but testimonies they are. Readers will delight in these evi- dences from a variety of disciplines and from a variety of teachers. The common element, however, is not far to find: an intellectual vigor that brings life to the learning experience. Readers are encouraged to sample what goes on before quality teachers step behind their lecterns, turn on their power point presenta- tions, or, in one case here, speak from the pulpit. The ongoing dynamic of scholarly activity is clearly what makes the difference of engagement and thus learning, which even the best of content alone cannot produce. Don H. Olive, Editor Michael E. Arrington, Managing Editor iv Excellence Does Not Happen by Accident [Distinguished Faculty Award Address, August 17, 2001] James A. Coppock [This presentation was supported by PowerPoint visuals.] The year 2001 is a special time in the history of Carson- Newman College for many reasons. This is our sesquicentennial anni- versary, 1851-2001. The College has a new administrative team. Two thousand and one is the first year of the institution-wide self-study. Additionally, the results of the recent changes in the College’s relation- ship with the Tennessee Baptist Convention are still being assessed. As we celebrate this important year in Carson-Newman’s history, we also note that the sesquicentennial motto is “A Heritage of Faith, A Future of Excellence.” The temptation is for those of us who have been part of the Carson-Newman family for many years to spend this year looking backward. This presentation, however, looks forward to “A Future of Excellence.” Ultimately, the task here is to blend the leadership tool of strategic management with key strategic issues facing Carson-Newman College today. What Is Strategic Management? Institutional excellence is not achieved by isolated individual action. Good people with good intentions are not enough to propel an entire organization to its full potential. Instead, a future of excellence requires a clearly articulated vision and an integrated process for achieving that vision. Strategic management is a universally applicable process for aligning an institution’s resources with its pursuit of a clear vision. First, strategic management is comprehensive, for the strategic management process embraces the entire institution--its vision, mis- 2 sion, values, students, faculty, staff, structure, culture, finance and fa- cilities. Second, strategic management includes planning and implementing. In fact, strategic management must include both the creation of a strategic plan and the implementation of that plan. Unfortunately, developing the strategic plan is sometimes seen as an end in itself. On the contrary, implementation of the plan is often the hardest component to achieve and the most frequently neglected one. Third, strategic management is a continuous process. It is not an annual retreat or material stuffed away in a bulky binder. To be effective, strategic management must be dynamic and adaptive. It must play an active role in daily life throughout the organization. Finally, strategic management is the key tool of leadership, for, as a recent Wall Street Journal reported, executives rate strategic management as the most valuable of management tools. When properly employed, it acts as an umbrella under which all other organizational programs and activities are aligned and are made to function effec- tively. The Five-Circle Model for Strategic Management Someone once claimed, “All models are wrong; some are use- ful.” There are many good models for strategic management. Break- downs in implementation are seldom the fault of the model itself, but of the enormously difficult task of implementing any model in the real world of organizational politics and fragile egos. Some models are, however, more promising than others. The five-circle model [see be- low] is the foundation for the strategic management course at Carson- Newman and will serve as the framework for this presentation and for the vision it hopes to support. 3 The Leadership Circle: CEO, Team, Continuity Effective executive leadership is essential to achieving institutional excellence. Organizations seldom advance beyond the effective- ness of their leadership. Outsiders (consultants) may contribute, but strategic management is an inside job. Ownership of this process re- sides squarely with the CEO, the leadership team, and the governing board whose principal role may be to ask pertinent questions at the ap- propriate time. First and foremost, the CEO must be the vision-focused chief executive. The CEO orchestrates the key elements of the institution’s performance and strives to close the gap between the current situation and the institution’s potential. The CEO must work closely with the Leadership Team or the group of senior executives who actively par- ticipate in the strategic management process. A CEO, acting alone, can rarely plan and execute an effective strategic management process in the modern organization. Strategic leadership requires the collaboration of several key people. Effective CEOs build productive leadership teams by surrounding themselves with strong people–sometimes people stronger than themselves. As Peter Drucker insists, The conscious function of giving vision, of setting standards, and of auditing against these standards is basically a top- management function. But it has to work within the entire management group. While the CEO and the Leadership Team are crucial to the success of an institution, continuity may be even more crucial.

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