| Community is a much used and yet unclearly defined term that often conjures positive feelings. Many Christian institutions of higher learning state their desire to be a community that fosters learning and development of students. As students are increasingly influenced by postmodern thought, which promotes new ideas of community, so students may have fresh conceptualizations of what community is and how it functions. This study explored students' conceptions of community.;Student development theory points to community as a worthy context for promoting student growth. It follows that creating community is a goal for academic and non-academic realms of campus. Historically, three models of community have been the only acceptable forms of association: (1) atomistic/contractarian, (2) organic/functional, (3) mutual personal. As contemporary culture becomes more influenced by postmodernism, these models may prove insufficient for contemporary students. As Christians define community, new emphases and categories surface. Literature reviewed indicated the need for further inquiry into the way Christian college students, who are influenced by postmodernism, and whose environment is shaped by those who uphold student development theory, understand community.;Thirty undergraduate senior students at two Christian colleges were interviewed in February 2000. A semistructured interview protocol was designed to gain a better understanding of students' conceptions, experiences, and ideals of community since they became college students.;Analysis provided several recurrent categories. Within these categories, subcategories could be determined that further defined students' conceptions. The seven most common themes, which became the main categories, were: commonality, diversity, authenticity, living together, leadership, interaction, and activities. Two additional categories were probed directly, theology and learning. Students' conceptions, drawn from these categories, were then integrated with main points in the historical, postmodern, and Christian community literature.;Some practical applications, suggested from the findings, included: diversifying the faculty, staff, and student body on campus, introducing a sense of mission to students, teaching about conflict, teaching theology to include life reflection and dialogue. Limitations of this study were related to the narrow sample of Caucasian, American, English speakers. Directions were recommended for further research. |
