Alvernia University Students Learn What It Is like “To Be a Refugee”

For the second year, Alvernia University students and the school’s department of Campus Ministry facilitated an interactive event aimed at offering participants a glimpse of what refugees might experience. “To Be a Refugee” is a simulation in which participants receive an identity card that lists the name, country of origin and background of a typical refugee. The students assume this role for the experience and move around the quad to learn about common problems refugees face when emigrating. Student participants were told disease, inadequate shelter, lack of nutrition and insufficient education for school-age children often riddle refugee camps. To raise awareness about these experiences, the facilitators offered interactive activities. In one of these activities, participants were encouraged to lie down on a tarp the same size as the tents many refugee families might occupy while in resettlement camps. The tarp, 5 feet wide and 7 feet long, could barely fit three people and when told that families with multiple children will often have to inhabit a tent this same size for months at a time- many students were struck.

“To Be a Refugee” was developed by an Alvernia alumna, and hosted for the first time, last year. One difference in this year’s program was that it incorporated a prayer vigil for all those affected by the recent violence at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Those gathered prayed for all who face religious violence and discrimination. This impactful event proved successful again and prompted students to think critically about what they can do to support refugees in their struggles.

To read more about “To Be a Refugee” click here. Also, please visit the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ office of Migration and Refugee Services to access additional information about the issues surrounding migration and resettlement.

 

ACCU Now Accepting 2018 CRS Global Solidarity Grant Applications

The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities welcomes applications for the 2018 CRS Global Solidarity Grants which awards up to $3,000 to ACCU member institutions to facilitate creative projects that advance Catholic mission through global solidarity. 2017 grants were awarded to Creighton University to raise awareness on the global refugee crisis and to the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University and John Carroll University for their work on preventing and combating human trafficking.

Deadline for grant applications is November 2, 2018 and grant recipients will be informed by mid-December.  Please visit the ACCU website for additional details and the grant application process.  For questions please contact njalandoni@accunet.org.

 

The Catholic University of America Announces New Master’s in Human Rights

Joining a limited number of schools to offer a Master of Arts in Human Rights, The Catholic University of America is the only one to have bolstered such a program with the teachings of the Catholic faith. The interdisciplinary degree will fall under the School of Arts and Sciences, but incorporate coursework from the schools of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Law and Canon Law as well. The program is being offered through Catholic’s Institute for Human Ecology, an academic institute aimed at “increasing scientific understanding of the economic, cultural, and social conditions vital for human flourishing.” To inaugurate the new program, expert in human rights, Robert George has been invited to lecture on the subject. This degree program will offer a strong “Catholic voice” in the field of human rights, says William Saunders, director of the new master’s program. The advent of such a program is timely, as 2018 marks the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

To learn more about the new Master of Arts in Human Rights program, click here. To inquire about admission to the program contact Sykeem Lewis, Graduate Admissions Coordinator for the School of Arts and Sciences at lewissy@cua.edu or by phone at 202-319-5253.

Loras College Wraps Up “Peace and Justice Week”

Continuing a 15 year tradition, Loras College hosted it’s annual “Peace and Justice Week” from September 21-28. This week long event offered a variety of programs aimed at helping faculty, staff, students, and visitors start to think of peacemaking in a comprehensive way and recognize that everyone can play a role in creating peace and justice on individual and communal levels. The week kicked-off with a keynote address from Paul Engler, author of “Non-Violent Alternatives to War.” From Iowa himself, Paul inspired the Loras College and Dubuque communities and helped participants envision a world free from violence. Throughout the week a historic poster exhibit was displayed, commemorating the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Other events included a group hike that aimed to raise money for refugees, and a workshop set on instructing how to communicate nonviolently based on Dr. Martin Luther King’s six principles of nonviolence.

One session of “Peace and Justice Week” was concentrated on the man who inspired the creation of the Father Ray Peace and Justice Center at Loras. The center hosts weekly meetings to discuss and raise awareness about local and global social justice issues. Fr. Ray Herman, was a priest in the Archdiocese of Dubuque who engaged in missionary work in Bolivia for thirteen years before being murdered in 1975. Students gathered to watch a short documentary of his life followed by the first person narrative of Fr. William Joensen, Dean of Spiritual Life, in which he recounted his own recent mission to Bolivia.

One Loras College student, Jenna Roskoph, said of the program- “The entire week helped me grow in my understanding of what it means to be an active peacemaker. I especially loved learning more about Fr. Ray Herman and his life of radical simplicity and dedication to the poor and vulnerable.”

To learn more about more about Peace and Justice at Loras click here.

University of St. Thomas hosts forum on Immigration

On September 25^th, University of St. Thomas hosted a public forum on immigration titled “The Gospel Transcending Borders.” The event, which was cosponsored by Catholic Charities and the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops, shed light on the current issues facing migrants. The Houston university hoped to offer a better understanding of “how to answer the Gospel call to welcome the stranger” in such a broken immigration system, a system which Cardinal Daniel Dinardo sought to understand better when he recently visited the border himself. The forum featured a diverse panel of speakers, including a representative from Catholic Charities, who shared her experience as an attorney for a center that provides legal assistance to immigrants. Other speakers included a woman who immigrated herself and now advocates for those with undocumented status. There was also a former refugee on the panel, who shared her insight from serving in both the Houston community as well as the community of Sierra Leone.

To learn more about this forum and other similar events happening at University of St. Thomas, click here.

University of Notre Dame to Host Summer Institute for Faculty Teaching Peace

The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at The University of Notre Dame and the The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) will co-host the 8th Annual Summer Institute for Faculty in Peace Studies Program Development, entitled Teaching Peace in the 21st Century from June 13-17, 2016.

The Summer Institute seeks to gather academics hoping to launch peace studies programs at their colleges or universities, strengthen or develop a new dimension to a peace studies program, or take a peace studies program to the next level of design and rigor.

Directed by George A. Lopez, former Vice President of USIP and the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC, Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at Notre Dame, the Summer Institute has hosted over 250 attendees since its inception.

The deadline to register for the Summer Institute is March 31, 2016, with early decision registrations due February 29, 2016. Register now to reserve your spot!

Summer Institute: Teaching Peace in the 21st Century

Save the date for the upcoming Summer Institute on ‘Teaching Peace in the 21^st Century’ at the University of Notre Dame. This event will take place on June 15-19, 2015 and it is a week-long program jointly sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and USIP.

Over the past six years, a large number of Catholic colleges and universities have attended. This Institute joins together denominational and public colleges and state universities so that faculty and staff can learn why and how to build quality programs in peace and justice.  Over the past few years the Institute has even welcomed colleagues from African and Latin American universities. This year, the Catholic University of Peru and Uganda Martyrs University are just two examples of the universities which plan to attend.

For more information, click here.