What is Grand Conversations

This philosophical, comparative content inquiry explores how academic leadership might facilitate an opening for the convergence of scholarly inquiry with a fidelity to concerns that shape the values and experiences of faculty. Three components are explored: academic tradition in higher education (ideological world); the regulatory formation of institution (system world); and the integration of scholarship with personal values in life and work (life world). Tensions emerge at critical moments between what constitutes appropriate scholarly inquiry in a discipline field and the belief systems that form and inform the scholar's worldview. Reflective exploration considers the place of academic leadership in fostering views of tradition, conversation, and scholarship. Issues that seldom arise emerge, providing fresh insight into the practices of academic culture. In conclusion, it is suggested that further research on the need for administrators to provoke grand conversations around their mission and the scholarly tradition is warranted.