Boston College Receives Grant to Work with Underserved Students

Congratulations to the Lynch School of Education at Boston College for being rewarded a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation! This grant will “engage low-income high school students in a science and emerging agricultural technology project, designed to guide them in conducting scientific research and prepare them for post-secondary scientific study.” This project, called the “Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers,” will involve 30 Boston public school students from populations that are underrepresented in science.

This project will help prepare students for post-secondary education and will give them the opportunity to fulfill future career aspirations. Lynch School Professor of Science Education, Michael Barnett, notes “This program will build on the capacity of our youth participants to make potential scientific discoveries, as well as develop youth leaders who will become role models in their community through mentorship.”

To read more about the grant received by Boston College, visit Boston College news.

Boston College Hosts Singing Competition to Raise Money for Local Children

Boston College is finding unique and exciting ways to raise money to benefit the music program at under-resourced school in area. The 14^th annual event, Sing it to the Heights Competition, which is Boston College’s “American Idol”-inspired contest, attracted a larger number of students, faculty, and staff. The event raised about $4,200 to benefit the music program at St. Columbkille Partnership School, a Catholic school in Brighton operated by St. Columbkille Parish, the Archdiocese of Boston and Boston College.

The judges of the contest were two Jesuit brothers at the university. William Gartside, St. Columbkille Head of School, said that “in addition to the funds raised, the event gives our students an opportunity to not only showcase their own musical talents, but also to see the passionate and talented BC students who bring joy to the community through their performances.”

To read more about this event, visit Boston College news.

Boston College Host Forum on Recycling and Waste Diversion

Boston College recently hosted a major forum on recycling that focused on waste diversion efforts at Massachusetts colleges and universities. The event featured panel presentations on food recovery initiatives in order to find best practices. 40 people, including college and universities administrators, state environmental officials and representatives of organizations that promote sustainability were all in attendance to protect the environment. Boston College Dining Services Director Beth Emery noted that in the near future “we are excited to share some of the best practices we learned at the forum with interested students groups so that we can continue to work together towards zero waste.”

This forum is part of a regular series of programs sponsored by RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts, which helps businesses and institutions maximize recycling, reuse and composting opportunities to decrease environmental impact, cut costs, improve employee morale and meet customer demands for sustainable practices.”

To learn more about this programming, visit Boston College news.

Catholic Colleges and Universities Embody the Spirit of Thanksgiving

The season of Thanksgiving is a time when people gather together in unity to offer gratitude and reflect on the many ways that God has blessed them. Thanksgiving is also a time to offer one’s prayers, time, and energy to serve those living on the margins of society. Giving back to the local or global community is one way that you can show gratitude for the many blessings in your life. During this season of Thanksgiving, we look at how Catholic colleges and universities are living out this call by giving back to their local communities.

Creighton University is engaging the student body and citizens of the local Omaha community by coming together to support and aid people experiencing homelessness. According to the university, “On any given night in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area, approximately 1,500 people are experiencing homelessness.” Project Homeless Connect Omaha (PHCO) came about as a reaction to this issue. Creighton is the first college campus to use the Project Homeless Connect model, a unique campus-to-community effort that has seen major success throughout the nation. PHCO is “dedicated to serving individuals experiencing homelessness by providing health screenings and access to community resources in one convenient location,” notes the project’s website. It serves people experiencing homelessness through both immediate and long-term relief in order to help them overcome their homelessness rather than temporarily relieve their situation. Project staffers invite campus and community members to participate in this large-scale event. Students, faculty, staff, and other volunteers help with setting up before the event and cleaning up afterward, act as navigators assisting guests and offering directions, and serve in any other ways needed. PHCO allows for the entire campus community to serve those experiencing homelessness in an empowering and effective way.

The services provided through PHCO fall into two categories: programs and assistance, and health screenings. The programs and assistance offered include veterans programs; state, local, and federal assistance programs; housing programs; and legal, educational, and résumé help. Clients have the opportunity to meet with professionals in their field and schedule follow-up appointments. The health screenings include dental, physical and mental exams, vision assessments, and immunizations, as well as numerous other screenings and evaluations. PHCO gives clients access to necessary services that would otherwise not be available to them and are often times overlooked. For example, according to the PHCO 2017 guest survey results, of the 558 guests that attended PHCO, about 15 percent noted dental services as the most valuable screenings offered because they are normally among the more difficult services to access for those who are homeless. The flood of positive messages found among the survey results is an indication that the Omaha community is extremely grateful for this opportunity offered by Creighton University.

Gannon University students serve at the university’s annual Give Day.

Another university that continually emphasizes its commitment to giving back to the local community is Gannon University. The university program Erie-Gannon Alliances to Improve Neighborhood Sustainability (Erie-GAINS) has intensified Gannon’s commitment to the Erie community. Established in 2010, Erie-GAINS “is a long-term, mutually beneficial community initiative designed to expand Gannon’s efforts to support the common good of surrounding neighborhoods [and] aids the university in focusing efforts to maximize impact in a well-defined, contiguous and manageable area,” as noted on the website. The five primary urban development issues Erie-GAINS focuses on are education, health and wellness, business and economy, environmental sustainability, and quality of life. Students participate in Erie-GAINS through a variety of ways, such as by creating a comprehensive, online Human Services Directory, which is a resource to showcase services provided in Erie County; by providing free physicals for residents and neighbors of the Housing Authority of the City of Erie’s John E. Horan Garden Apartments and MidCity Towers; and by creating a county garden to grow produce that is then donated to local food pantries and organizations. Gannon’s annual “Give Day” also allows for students from different majors who participate in Erie-GAINS to come together as a community for one day to give back to the town of Erie. Many other examples of service can be found by viewing the Erie-Gains Viewbook 2016. Gannon University’s dedication to a value-centered education allows for the campus to develop a partnership with the local Erie community as a way to give back in a variety of ways.

Another university actively responding to the call of action during the season of Thanksgiving is Boston College. The Boston College student organization Rallying Against Contemporary Human Trafficking (R.E.A.C.T) seeks to “raise awareness about human trafficking and how it is one of the most egregious social justice problems of our time,” explains the group on its Facebook page. R.E.A.C.T. notes that its “focus in particular is on human trafficking within the city of Boston, so to connect students with direct action within the anti-trafficking movement in Boston.” One way that R.E.A.C.T. lived this mission out was by partnering with local Boston outreach ministry Bags of Hope Ministries. According to founder Jasmine Grace, Bags of Hope was founded “as a way to reach out in a practical way to women living on the streets or in programs serving women affected by trafficking, prostitution, addiction and homelessness.” Boston College partnered with Bags of Hope by collecting necessary items such as socks, toothpaste, and toothbrushes and packing them into bags for the women.  This partnership allowed students to aid those in their local community in a direct and immediate way.

In Florida, Saint Leo University is acting on its mission to be a “living-learning-serving community” by giving back to people with disabilities in the local community. The university partnered with local Florida non-profit Caps of Love, which uses recycling in order to provide valuable resources for people with disabilities. According to founder Valerie Mathieu, Caps of Love is dedicated to “educating the public on how to identify and recycle correctly in order to provide wheelchairs to the physically challenged under the age of 21.” One day last spring, Saint Leo University collected 12,000 pounds of plastic bottle caps, filling 21 pallets. Students, faculty, staff, and local community members gathered together to sort the caps and then loaded a truck that delivered them to a Tampa recycling center. The proceeds received from the recycling center were then donated to Caps of Love, where the funds ultimately will aid those in the community seeking access to wheelchairs. Senior coordinator for residence life Heidi D’Ambrosio commented, “Saint Leo University participates in this program to promote giving of our time and realizing that together as a community we can make a difference.”

Another university dedicated to giving back is Mount Mercy University. One way that Mount Mercy gives back to the local Cedar Rapids community is through its partnership with Foundation 2 Youth Shelter. According to the goals of Foundation 2 Youth Shelter, it is “designed to restore appropriate parent-child roles; explore solutions to troubling issues and build skills in order to prevent or resolve future conflicts; and focus on preventing runaway behavior, suicide attempts, child abuse, family breakup, school failure, or the placement of a runaway or homeless youth.” Students who volunteer at the shelter give their time each week by spending evenings with youth mentoring, playing games, and getting to know each other. The partnership between Mount Mercy and Foundation 2 Youth Shelter allows those at the shelter to see the possibilities that life offers. It also encourages them to grow in their values, dream, and envision their future.

It is important to reflect on different ways that Catholic colleges and universities are giving back to their local communities because it leads us to reflect on how we are servings the needs of those in our communities. Thanksgiving offers the perfect opportunity to do this, as a season of unity and a time to reflect on our many blessings.

Food for Thought Friday: Archbishop Gomez on Immigration

Food for Thought Friday: Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez spoke at Boston College on immigration last month. He stressed the need to remember the people amid the statistics. Amid considerations on immigration policies, the Archbishop pointed out how “it’s also important to remember that behind every “statistic” is a soul — a soul who has dignity as a child of God, a soul who has rights and needs that are both spiritual and material.”

Read the full remarks here.

Leaders in Catholic Higher Education Contribute to Vatican Conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace

Amidst a period of devastating violence throughout the world, people of faith are called to reflect, discern,and act. Following this call, in spring 2016, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Pax Christi International, and other international organizations held a conference on “Nonviolence and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to Nonviolence” in Rome. The conference, attended by lay people, theologians, and consecrated individuals from all over the world, explored the call of the Church to renew its commitment to “take a clear stand for active nonviolence and against all forms of violence”.

Among the the five scholarly works chosen to serve as background papers for the conference, three were written by professors of Catholic higher education. These papers and their authors include:

• “Official Catholic Social Thought on Gospel Nonviolence,” by Dr. Lisa Sowle Cahill, Boston College
• “Our Nonviolence Tradition,” by Dr. Ken Butigan, DePaul University and Pace e Bene; Fr. John Dear, Campaign Nonviolence
• “Contemporary Scriptural Exegesis Ethics on Jesus’ Nonviolence,” by Dr. Terrence Rynne, Marquette University

The conference’s closing statement urges to be attentive to the signs of the times, and “to invoke, pray over, teach and take action” in response to our current age of violence.

How does your college or university work towards building a culture of peace? Let us know! 

Ford Foundation Study Shows Link Between Higher Education and Social Justice

The Ford Foundation, a secular philanthropic organization that seeks to promote the full human dignity of all persons through equitable sharing in knowledge, wealth, and resources, recently released a report studying the impact of their International Fellowship Program, finding that many of the IFP alumni returned to their home countries to either begin a new social justice program organization or expand upon the work of existing organizations.

In the report, entitled Social Justice and Sustainable Change: The Impacts of Higher Education, the Foundation shows their findings from their 2015 International Fellowships Program Alumni Tracking Study Report. The International Fellowships Program (IFP) supported “advanced studies for social change leaders from the worlds’ most vulnerable populations” through scholarships for higher education, offering fellowships to students from 2001 – 2013.  Some of these students studied at Catholic higher education institutions, including Boston College and Georgetown University.

Read more about the key findings here.

What does your college or university do to increase access to higher education and social justice around the world? Let us know! 

Fordham University to Host Catholic Social Teaching Conference

This week, Fordham University will host a conference titled, “Building Good Economies: An Interdisciplinary Conference Celebrating Catholic Social Teaching at 125.” In a convergence of higher education scholars, prominent experts in Catholic Social Teaching, and more, the conference will explore themes of economic justice, environmental justice, public health, and the 2016 presidential race.

Many speakers from Catholic higher education will present, including:

• Professor Juliet Schor of Boston College, who will be giving a talk titled, “Toward a New Economy: Time, Creativity and Community”.
• Professor Christiana Peppard  of Fordham University will be joining a panel on “Laudato Si, Ecology, and Sustainable Business” along with Carolyn Woo, President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services.
• Professors Maureen O’Connell of LaSalle University, John Carr of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, Rev. Bryan Massingale of Marquette University, and Gregory Acevedo of the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service will comprise a panel titled, “Economy, Ecology, & Exclusion in an Election Year”.

Additionally, the opening panel will feature Hernando de Soto, President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy in Lima, Peru. Responses will be given by Daniel Finn of Saint John’s University (MN) and Carolyn Woo.

The conference will take place Wednesday, April 20 to Friday, April 22, 2016 at the Fordham University Lincoln Center campus. Plenary sessions are free and open to the public. Register now to reserve a seat!

How does your college or university engage in dialogue on Catholic Social Teaching? Let us know! 

Catholic Higher Education Contributes to Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Lenten Reflections

Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) has recently published their Lenten reflections for the upcoming season, including some daily devotionals authored by representatives of Catholic higher education.

Lift Every Voice: A Lenten Journey Toward Racial Justice is this year’s ISN Lenten blog; it seeks to address “America’s original sin of racism through the lens of Ignatian spirituality and the daily readings.” Throughout the season of Lent, ISN will email subscribers reflections on “how the Gospel calls us to repent, pray, and act in solidarity with those affected by an enduring legacy of systemic and personal racial discrimination.”

The writers of the blog from Catholic higher education include:

• M. Shawn Copeland, Ph.D., a Theology Professor at Boston College, specializing in the theological understanding of the human body, gender, and race; the African American Catholic experience, and political or praxis based theologies.
• Fred Pestello, Ph.D., President of St. Louis University, who is known for a strong commitment to Jesuit values in higher education.
• Maureen O’Connell, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at LaSalle University, specializing in racial identity formation, racism, and racial justice in Catholic higher education.

Be sure to sign up for Lift Up Every Voice to receive daily email updates!

How does your college or university reflect on racial justice? Let us know! 

Catholic Higher Education Programs on Peace and Justice

Did you know that a number of Catholic higher education institutions feature degree programs focused on peacebuilding and peace studies? If you’re interested in an academic approach to social issues, then take a look at what various Catholic colleges and universities have to offer you!

Boston College (Certificate)​

Boston College’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice addresses the increasingly interdisciplinary needs of human rights work with students from graduate and professional programs across the university. The Center offers an interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Human Rights and International Justice, with students drawn from MA and PhD programs in sociology, psychology, political science, economics, philosophy, and theology, and from post-graduate professional programs in education, law, social work, and others. Through multidisciplinary training programs, applied research, and the interaction of scholars with practitioners, the Center aims to nurture a new generation of scholars and practitioners in the United States and abroad who draw upon the strengths of many disciplines, and the wisdom of rigorous ethical training, in the attainment of human rights and international justice.

 

The Catholic University of America (​M.A., Ph.D.)

The Center for Social Development offers a program in conjunction with the Religion and Culture academic area emphasizing analysis of the ways that religious expressions have transformed cultures and have been transformed by them.  Both the M.A. and Ph.D. are offered.  The area’s programs utilize the methods of the social sciences and humanities in the study of religion, emphasizing the human and cultural dimensions of religious life. These methods may include anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary theory, history, phenomenology, ritual studies, and others.

Emmanuel College​ (B.A. majors, minor)​

The Political Science and International Studies department offers several majors designed to prepare students for work and life in an increasingly inter-connected world. International Studies provides a broad-based foundation in world history, culture, politics, and economics. The major is well-suited to students interested in a career in such rapidly growing sectors as international business, law, media, and governmental and non-governmental organizations concerned with diplomacy, policy making, public health, peace, relief operations, immigration, and the environment. Concentrations within the major include diplomacy & security and sustainability & global justice. An interdisciplinary Peace Studies minor, drawing on theology, philosophy, sociology, history, and political science, is also offered.

Georgetown University​ (B.A. certificate, M.A.)​

The two-year M.A. in Conflict Resolution is an intensive, theoretically- and practically-oriented, multidisciplinary degree. It is housed in the Government Department, with core courses offered also in the Department of Psychology and the McDonough School of Business.  Elective courses may be selected from departments across campus, including courses in dispute resolution offered at the Georgetown University Law Center.  Students can also participate in activities of the Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. Georgetown also has an undergraduate Program on Justice and Peace, with a suggested concentration in Catholic Social Teaching. The School of Foreign Service in collaboration with the Berkeley Center now offers the Religion, Ethics, and World Affairs certificate program in which undergraduate students can explore the faith-related dimension of global issues.

Marquette University (B.A. major, minors)​

Marquette offers an interdisciplinary major in peace studies and minors in peace studies and in justice and peace.  Courses focusing on conceptualizing justice and peace, bridging social communities, promoting social and economic justice, and resolving violent conflict.

University of Dayton (B.A. major)​

Through the International Studies major, a Peace and Global Security concentration is offered at the undergraduate level. International Studies is a multidisciplinary major designed to meet the needs of students seeking the broadly based international perspective required for successful careers in education, government, international business, law, national and homeland security, humanitarian relief, and social entrepreneurship. The curriculum includes a core of required courses, a concentration, a foreign language requirement, an international and/or cross-cultural experiential component, and a senior capstone seminar. The experiential component may be satisfied through study abroad, internship, language immersion, service, or work experience.

University of Notre Dame (Fellowship; ​B.A. major, minor; M.A.; Ph.D.)​

Beginning in Fall 2017, Notre Dame’s new Keough School of Global Affairs will offer International Peace Studies as an important feature of the new Master’s in Global Affairs.The Kroc Institute’s Ph.D. program trains scholars in interdisciplinary peace research and history, political science, psychology, sociology or theology.  Students apply for admission in one of these five areas.  Graduates are prepared for research and teaching positions that contribute to solving the global challenges of violent conflict and peace.The Kroc Institute also has an undergraduate program in peace studies, and the University of Notre Dame has a program in Catholic Social Tradition.

University of San Diego (B.A. minor, one- and two-year M.A. programs)​

The Master of Arts in Peace and Justice Studies is an interdisciplinary program emphasizing peace as human development. The goals of the program are: 1) to produce graduates who are capable of relating disciplinary and cross-disciplinary theories of peace and justice to real world problem-solving involving regional and international conflict; 2) to foster scholarly agendas that examine the dynamics of justice and peacebuilding; and, 3) to facilitate faculty and student interaction and development across disciplines and academic units at USD, along with outreach to the community and the larger society. The Program takes full advantage of the School of Peace Studies’ two institutes: the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice and the Trans-Border Institute.  USD also has an undergraduate minor in peace and justice.

University of St. Thomas (MN) (B.A. major, minor)​

The Justice and Peace Studies major offers a revised curriculum with three concentrations, offering skill sets for a variety of career tracks, and a minor, which has been revised as well.  The three concentrations are Leadership for Social Justice, Conflict Transformation, and Public Policy Analysis & Advocacy.

Does your college or university offer a program on peace and justice? Let us know!