Eric Hilker

My approach to advising is defined by the broader value I place on liberal arts education. At its core, liberal arts education develops critical and analytical habits of mind that cross disciplinary borders and extend into students’ lives as citizens. Advising often involves helping students navigate the system (enrolling in courses, meeting requirements, tracking progress). But more than that, I help students make connections between courses and engage in higher-level thinking about what they achieve in this process. The product of a student’s time at UVA is not a diploma—it is a person with a mind able to critically and analytically engage with the world. As an advisor, I partner with students in that venture. 

             In my own research and teaching in religion and ethics, I use encounters with others (other traditions, other ideas, alien life forms) to develop the the capacity to live in just relationships in society and with our world. Before completing a PhD in Religious Studies at UVA, I earned a Masters in Religious Ethics from Yale and a Bachelors degree from Gordon College. When I’m not working on Grounds, I like to spend time doing NYT puzzles with my wife, reading to my kids, hiking with my dog, and fishing by myself.