Synopses & Reviews
Transforming the World and Being Transformed will challenge the reader as it articulates how Jesuit colleges and universities create an educational community inspired to transform the lives of our students and ourselves. This volume will contribute to our shared commitment to Fr. Pedro Arrupe's ideal of forming men and women for others, guided by a passion to seek justice in an unjust world.
In his October 2000 Santa Clara address, Fr. Kolvenbach identified three areas in which the promotion of justice may be manifested in our institutions: formation and learning, research and teaching, and our way of proceeding.
In regard to Formation and Learning Fr. Kolvenbach said:
"Tomorrow's 'whole person' cannot be whole without an educated awareness of society and culture with which to contribute socially, generously, in the real world. . . . Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering and engage it constructively. They should learn to perceive, think, judge, choose and act for the rights of others, especially the disadvantaged and the oppressed."
With regard to Research and Teaching, Fr. Kolvenbach said:
"The faculty's research . . . not only obeys the canons of each discipline, but ultimately embraces human reality in order to help make the world a more fitting place for six billion of us to inhabit. . .[Needed is] a sustained interdisciplinary dialogue of research and reflection, a continuous pooling of expertise. . .every discipline, beyond its necessary specialization, must engage with human society, human life, and the environment in appropriate ways, cultivating moral concern about how people ought to live together."
In considering Our Way of Proceeding, Fr. Kolvenbach declares,
"The first way, historically, that our universities began living out their faith-justice commitment was through their admissions policies, affirmative action for minorities, and scholarships for disadvantaged students; and these continue to be effective means. An even more telling expression of the Jesuit University's nature is found in policies concerning hiring and tenure. As a university it is necessary to respect the established academic, professional and labor norms, but as Jesuit it is essential to go beyond them and find ways of attracting, hiring and promoting those who actively share the mission."
Review
"It must be stressed that Transforming Ourselves, Transforming the World: Justice in Jesuit Higher Education is one of a few books that approaches social justice in such an informative, honest, and mission-centered fashion."--Journal of Catholic Education
Synopsis
Transforming Ourselves, Transforming the World is an insightful collection that articulates how Jesuit colleges and universities create an educational community energized to transform the lives of its students, faculty, and administrators and to equip them to transform a broken world. The essays are rooted in Pedro Arrupe's ideal of forming men and women for others and inspired by Peter-Hans Kolvenbach's October 2000 address at Santa Clara in which he identified three areas where the promotion of justice may be manifested in our institutions: formation and learning, research and teaching, and our way of proceeding.
Using the three areas laid out in Fr. Kolvenbach's address as its organizing structure, this stimulating volume addresses the following challenges: How do we promote student life experiences and service? How does interdisciplinary collaborative research promote teaching and reflection? How do our institutions exemplify justice in their daily practices? Introductory pieces by internationally acclaimed authors such as Rev. Dean Brackley, S.J.; David J. O'Brien; Lisa Sowle Cahill; and Rev. Stephen A. Privett, S.J., pave the way for a range of smart and highly creative essays that illustrate and honor the scholarship, teaching, and service that have developed out of a commitment to the ideals of Jesuit higher education. The topics covered span disciplines and fields from the arts to engineering, from nursing to political science and law. The essays offer numerous examples of engaged pedagogy, which as Rev. Brackley points out fits squarely with Jesuit pedagogy: insertion programs, community-based learning, study abroad, internships, clinical placements, and other forms of interacting with the poor and with cultures other than our own. This book not only illustrates the dynamic growth of Jesuit education but critically identifies key challenges for educators, such as: How can we better address issues of race in our teaching and learning? Are we educating in nonviolence? How can we make the college or university "greener"? How can we evoke a desire for the faith that does justice?
Transforming Ourselves, Transforming the World is an indispensable volume that has the potential to act as an academic facilitator for the promotion of justice within not only Jesuit schools but all schools of higher education.
About the Author
Mary Beth Combs is an Associate Professor of Economics at Fordham University, where she specializes in economic history. Her research on nineteenth married women's property rights has been published in a number of journals including The Journal of Economic History, Continuity and Change, and Feminist Economics.
Patricia Ruggiano Schmidt is a Professor of Education at Le Moyne College. Her recent publications include Practicing What We Teach: How Culturally Responsive Literacy Classrooms Make a Difference.
Table of Contents
Introduction: "A Fruitful New Branch" Rev. Dean Brackley, S. J.,
Part I: Formation and Learning
Introduction to Formation and Learning, "Tomorrow's Whole Person': David J. O'Brien
"Beauty Limmed in Violence: Experimenting with Protest Music in the Ignatian Classroom." Christopher Pramuk
"Teaching Poverty in America Through the Arts." Carol Kelly
"Encuentro Dominicano: Creighton University's Commitment to Education for Transformation." Tom Kelly
"Bringing More than Good Intentions to New Orleans after Katrina: Teaching Social Analysis through an Academic Immersion Experience." Gary Perry, and Madeline Lovell
"An Uncertain Journey: Adopting the Mission of Social Justice in A Political Science Department." John F. Freie and Susan M Behuniak
Part II: Research and Teaching
Introduction to Research and Teaching, 'An Active Hope': Lisa Sowle Cahill
"Social Justice Themes in the Foreign Language Classroom: Successes and Challenges." Mary Zampini
"Coffee for Justice: Chemistry and Engineering in Service to the Jesuit Mission with Small-holder Coffee Farmers of Nicaragua." Susan, Jackels, Charles Jackels, Carlos Vallejos, and Michael Marsolek
"Personal Transformation and Curricula Change" Suzanne Hetzel Campbell, Philip Greiner, Sheila Grossman, Alison Kris, Laurence Miners, and Joyce Shea
"Doing Well by Doing Good: The Application of Ignatian Principles to Legal Education." David Koelsch,
"The Promotion of Social Justice: Closing the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality." Molly B. Pepper, Raymond Reyes, and Linda Tredennick
Part III: Our Way of Proceeding
Introduction to Our Way of Proceeding, 'Humanly in Today's World': Rev. Stephen A. Privett, S.J.
"Jesuit Justice Conference, June 18 2009, Opening Remarks," Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, S.J.
"Transforming Ourselves in Order to Transform the World: A Local Immersion Program for Faculty and Staff in Jesuit Universities." Kent Koth
"Nonviolently Transforming the Road to Jericho: How Can We Live This Work at Jesuit Colleges and Universities?" Anna Brown
"The Ethic of Environmental Concern and the Jesuit Mission." Jennifer Tilghman-Havens
"Companions, Prophets, Martyrs: Jesuit Education as Justice Education." Jeannine Hill Fletcher
Conclusion: "Further and Deeper: The Future of the Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education." David McMenamin