Anderson University: "Orienting Part-Time Faculty to the Mission and Religious History of Anderson University"
Our small grant was awarded for the development of an adjunct and part-time faculty handbook. Our university previously had not provided any standard handbook or orientation to the university. Of particular focus for the handbook was a focus on university mission. The university’s founding denomination, the Church of God, does not endorse any creeds or have a formal statement of faith. The non-creedal nature of the Church of God is a central part of its identity, yet makes it especially difficult for newcomers to the university to understand its distinctive faith heritage. A small grant allowed the university to develop an orientation booklet to welcome new adjunct and part-time faculty and orient them to the faith heritage and mission of the university. A highlight of the project was the handbook’s collection of adjunct faculty written reflections. These reflections explore the faculty members’ motivations for teaching and their relationship to the university’s mission and ethos.
Saint Xavier University: "Core Beliefs in the Examined Life" and "Considering the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and Catholic Social Teaching”
Saint Xavier University received two small grants to fund programs in response to changes within the General Education Program, in an effort to promote our religious mission “across the curriculum.” Two first-year courses were pivotal to the success of these changes. The Examined Life and the First Year Seminar. The two programs were combined and designed to help faculty revise these two first-year courses to make them stewards of our specific requirements to promote ethical decision making and consider the history and charism of the Sisters of Mercy. The program brought together full-time and adjunct faculty to consider these characteristics. The program was a success. Full-time and Adjunct faculty felt more confident and connected to one another. Faculty had a stronger and more nuanced understanding of the requirements associated with these two courses and the shared responsibilities for the General Education Program, and the program led to demonstrable changes in course syllabi, course assignments, and student learning.
Xavier University: "Supporting Faculty Members Understanding of Ignatian Pedagogy: Developing a Video Resource"
Xavier University is generating new academic courses and programs or modifying existing programs to be delivered online or in locations other than the home campus. As a result, XU’s Center for Mission and Identity was searching for ways in which to help all faculty, but especially off-campus and/or adjunct faculty, connect to a Jesuit Catholic university and feel a stronger sense of belonging. This connection includes information on the mission, values, and characteristics on what it means to be a faculty member in a Jesuit Catholic institution with the critical component to teaching being Ignatian pedagogy, specifically, the Ignatian Pedagogy Paradigm which is a dynamic interplay of 5 key pedagogical components – Context, Experience, Reflection, Action, and Evaluation. Thus, we sought to develop a contemporary pedagogical tool, a light-hearted brief video, to post on Xavier’s website for easy dissemination, viewing and learning.
Whitworth University: “Basic Theology for the Christian Professor,”
Whitworth University developed a pilot workshop, “Basic Theology for the Christian Professor,” to run during the summers of 2021 and 2022, organized by Professors Meredith Shimizu (Art History) and Nathan King (Philosophy), and taught by Professor Adam Neder (Bruner-Welch chair of Theology). Discussions revealed that some faculty members sensed a gap in their theological training. The Whitworth community is dedicated to the integration of faith and learning, and has excellent programs in place to support such integration. However, several professors expressed a desire for a workshop with a dedicated focus on the “faith” in “faith and learning.” They wanted more clarity on the content that Christian scholars are supposed to integrate with teaching and research. Thus, given our ecumenical community, we sought to develop a workshop centered on the doctrines held in common by all Christians—Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. The workshop has as its focus the doctrines expressed in the Apostle’s Creed, and has three central goals:
- To spark discussions of Christian theology by providing a supportive environment and dedicated time;
- To provide participants with intentional opportunities to grow in their ability to articulate and apply their Christian faith; and
- To engage the broader Whitworth community in a discussion of central Christian doctrines via a follow-up event that includes both workshop participants and community members who did not attend the workshop.
The workshop itself takes place over two days during the summer, and one evening during the subsequent fall. We hope that the workshop—still in its pilot stage—will one day become a yearly event.
John Brown University: "Reimagining and Reinvigorating the Core Curriculum"
As John Brown University is undergoing a core curriculum revision, the academic departments, divisions, and colleges needed to develop or update curriculum in five areas: Intercultural Engagement, Christian Formation, Evangelical Theology, Whole Person Wellness, and Integrated Humanities. The faculty who would be teaching these classes met for a three-day workshop to develop course frameworks, outcomes, and assessments.
Seton Hall University for "Medical Humanities: Pedagogy and Praxis"
This project aimed to bring diverse faculty from across Seton Hall to explore the idea of the medical humanities through public lectures and faculty panel discussions. Questions that were considered included whether studying theology and philosophy is necessarily salient for the practice of medicine as well as what the study of literature and history might contribute to medical questions. These events provided opportunities for students and faculty to consider the larger reach of humanistic disciplines and challenged participants to think about the health fields as more than simply about scientific knowledge and technical expertise.
Sterling College: "Understanding Christian Faith"
Sterling College created new initiatives: a Faculty Fellows reading group and a Departmental Chapel program. These initiatives exist to further Sterling College’s mission, “to develop creative and thoughtful leaders who understand a maturing Christian faith.”
Villanova University for "Caritas Towards Unitas: Teaching African-American Literature in the Spirit of Augustine--A Faculty Dialogue at Villanova University"
The aim of Caritas toward Unitas was to invite faculty who teach in Villanova
University’s first-year Augustine & Culture Seminar Program (ACS) to discuss and meditate on select works of African American literature, and to do so in the spirit of Augustine and the central ACS question, “Who am I?” In the Fall semester 2018, different faculty gathered for four luncheons to engage and be challenged by James Baldwin’s famous letter to his nephew “My Dungeon Shook” (1963). Then in the Spring semester 2019, faculty gathered for two dinner and one lunch conversation on Toni Morrison’s essay “A Slow Talk of Trees” (1976).
Saint Louis University: "The Opioid Epidemic: What would Ignatius Do"
Saint Louis University held a Lunch and Learn series for its Health Sciences Campus to operationalize the Jesuit mission, professional formation, and action and advocacy to address the opioid epidemic. The opioid epidemic in the US can be overwhelming to university stakeholders. The problem seems too large and too intimidating to address. We developed a five-lesson lunch and learn series that ran during the Spring 2018 semester. The format of each session included watching a video prior to attending the session, an Examen, and a group discussion. One of our Jesuit faculty led participants through a guided Examen exercise, and guests from the criminal justice ministry led the small group discussion based on the video and Examen. Discussions were on topics such as, "Do I consider addiction a disease?" and "What does 'as long as it takes' therapy mean to you?"
Westmont College: "From All Tribes and Peoples and Languages"
The program "From All Tribes and Peoples and Languages" supported by the Lilly Fellows Small grant was designed to deepen Westmont faculty's understanding of diversity as an essential aspect of Christian and evangelical identity; it was also aimed at assisting faculty in developing cross-cultural communication skills. The program benefited our college in numerous ways. Specifically, four reading groups were formed in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years that created the opportunity for faculty to read and discuss seminal books on diversity, while the LARA Method workshop offered in the fall of 2018 equipped faculty with basics of successful cross-cultural communications. Biblical and theological foundations of diversity were discussed by the reading group participants and linked to everyday practices that support and enhance equity and inclusiveness on campus. The diversity activities of the 2017-2019 created momentum for collective learning and courageous conversations in the future. We believe that faculty learning about diversity will enhance Westmont student experiences embodying diversity as Christian identity in the classroom and beyond.
Gustavus Adolphus College, “Orientation Booklet on the Lutheran Heritage of Gustavus Adolphus College”
This project aimed to produce background material for newcomers and visitors to the school about the college’s mission, identity, and Lutheran Heritage. Thirty-three short essays by staff and faculty, along with an introduction and appendix, were collected and edited into the volume Rooted in Heritage, Open to the World: Reflections on the Distinctive Character of Gustavus Adolphus College (Lutheran University Press, 2017). The book provides information specific to Gustavus, but also serves as a model for those at other institutions who are looking to do something similar at their own schools. Especially noteworthy is the fact that this book articulates the school’s mission and religions heritage in language drawn from the whole campus community.
University of the Incarnate Word, “Conversations on Service Learning and Engaged Scholarship Considering the Mission of the Incarnate Word Founders to the Vulnerable”
At the University of the Incarnate Word, sixteen faculty members participated in a series of conversations on service learning and scholarship of engagement in regard to the Incarnate Word Sisters’ most recent corporate stance, a commitment to research, education, advocacy, and action against human trafficking. The Sisters, the founders of the university “were motivated by the love of God and their recognition of God's presence in each person.” The faculty conversations led them to information, methods, and then engagement of their students through research writing, advocacy, and/or service projects related to human slavery.
The conversations provided an atmosphere in which faculty became comfortable enough to share deep feelings of compassion for those caught in trafficking, strong desires to motivate students to ethical action, and statements of how faith can give strength and courage beyond ourselves to confront these challenges. Faculty beautifully expressed that our community MUST research, learn, and act because we are “of the Incarnate Word.” God’s compassion has come to earth, has taken flesh. Faculty held the university mission statement “to educate men and women who will become concerned and enlightened citizens” as a serious responsibility.
Faculty also learned through on-line resources and helped develop a blog “Speaking for Human Dignity, Standing Against Human Slavery.” The strong commitment of the faculty from Business, Communication Arts, Education, Fashion Management, Interior Design, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Psychology, Religious Studies, and Spanish led students to develop education and advocacy programs in many fields. A Media Ethics teacher noted the value of this focus on human slavery “opening our eyes to issues whichneed much light shone upon them---be it Christ light, or the light that the media produces by way of knowledge.”
Grove City College, “Faith for the Common Good: Theoretical and Practical Considerations” Director, P.C. Kemeny
During the 2015-2016 academic year at Grove City College, nineteen faculty members participated in a multidisciplinary discussion on civic engagement. The grant had two phases. During the fall semester, participants gathered seven times to discuss readings and to formulate service-learning projects. The reading list included Jacques Maritain, The Person and the Common Good, Miroslav Volf, A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good, and Alasdair MacIntyre, “The Privatization of Good.” The executive director of the Pennsylvania Campus Compact also led a workshop that included a panel of community partners who shared their thoughts on what the idea of the “common good” meant to them as well as practical suggestions regarding service learning projects.
Early in the spring semester, participants met to discuss their plans for integrating a service-learning project into their classes. At the end of the semester, a follow-up meeting allowed participants to report on their project. One leader followed up with faculty in order to provide support in forming community partnerships and integrating service-learning into their courses. Some examples of service-learning projects include: 1) an information session regarding potential household chemical hazards at a local food pantry; 2) a session on fraud prevention for senior citizens at local churches, elderly housing units, and service providers frequented by the elderly; and 3) a five-day community film series, held at a local theater, that addressed social issues, including human trafficking, the electronic divide, food safety, and the power of music for individuals with dementia.
McMurry University, “Ubuntu: Scholarship and Pedagogy in Christian Community,” Director, Bryan Stewart
McMurry University’s small grant program was designed around its current university theme, “Ubuntu,” an African word emphasizing our communal nature, and roughly translated as “I am because we are.” Through a series of monthly dinner-conversations, eighteen faculty members explored what Christian scholarship and pedagogy might look like, not just for individuals, but as a community of scholars and teachers at a church-related institution. Participants gathered six times during the 2015-2016 academic year to discuss select chapters from two different books: Christianity and the Soul of the University: Faith as a Foundation for Intellectual Community, edited by Douglas V. Henry and Michael D. Beaty (Baker Academic, 2006); and Teaching and Christian Practices: Reshaping Faith and Learning, edited by David I. Smith and James K.A. Smith (Eerdmans, 2011). Additionally, a campus-wide colloquium was held at the end of each semester as a way to give the broader academic community a chance to hear about some of the ideas and issues discussed within the dinner conversations. As the first intentional, sustained program in McMurry’s history designed to engage faculty in conversations about Christian higher education, the Lilly-funded small grant has generated broad faculty and administrative enthusiasm and interest in continuing similar conversations and programs in the future.
Messiah College, Lilly Fellows Program Small Grant, Director, Peter Powers
Messiah College set out in its original proposal to dig deeper into our understanding of the liberal arts, church-related mission and education, and the world of work through readings, faculty discussions, and special speakers. The participants were especially concerned that they achieve a deeper understanding of Christian theologies of work, how those understandings affect our approach to liberal arts subjects and their curricula, how these connect to employment and contemporary conceptions of careers, and how we might make effective change so our students will better understand the relationship between their major fields of study—especially if they are in liberal arts majors--and the world of work in which many of them already participate even while pursuing their degrees. In order to pursue these goals, the organizers set up a series of group discussion that focused on David Jensen’s book, Responsive Labor: A Theology of Work. The book itself provided a wide-ranging overview of theologies of work, as well as opportunities for discussion of cultural ideologies of work in the West and especially in the United States. Discussions were led by Richard Crane, Associate Professor of Theology, who further provided theological contexts for understanding the specificity of Jensen’s approach. The book readings and discussions were accompanied by a group blog that Messiah set up as a means of disseminating some of the group's thinking to the rest of the community, and more broadly to the world at large. Finally, the program concluded with an invitation to David Jensen to visit Messiah College in the spring semester
Saint Louis University, “Stirring the Embers: Reconnecting Medical School Faculty to the Jesuit Mission of Saint Louis University,” Director, Kelly Everard
The purpose of the speaker series at Saint Louis University (SLU) was to reconnect medical school faculty with their vocation and the Jesuit mission of SLU. At SLU, the medical campus is 2 miles from the main campus, but more crucially, healthcare providers are faced with an astounding array of pressures not shared by their colleagues in the humanities that have been brought on by increasing the number of clinical hours, securing external funding for research, and teaching hundreds of medical students and residents. The external pressures of patient care, student mentoring, and the health care system can lead to burnout, apathy, and a loss of the ideals with which many entered their profession.
To help medical faculty reconnect, the program coordinators developed a six-session speaker series held on the medical campus. Speakers came from Campus Ministry, Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, Arts and Sciences, University Libraries, and the Center for Community Service and Engagement. The titles of the talks were: 1) Introduction to the Series: Why Am I Here Again? Reconnecting with Your Vocation; 2) Mission and Humanities: Broadening Our Lenses to Deepen the Understanding of Your Practice; 3) How Does Jesuit Identity Inform Health Professional Education in 2015?; 4) How Do We Mend the Divide? Understanding Service to Humanity in the Spotlight of Ferguson; 5) Transformative Learning and the Faculty Advisor; and 6) Building a Professional Network to Maintain Your Sanity. Ninety-three faculty total attended the talks. SLU will expand the series in 2015-2016 to include faculty from the college of health sciences and the school of public health.
Belmont University “Courage and Renewal: Circle of Trust® approach Program” Director, Judy Skeen
During the 2014-15 academic year at Belmont University, those faculty who chose to engage in retreats and reading groups were focused upon the central question: How can educators create classroom experiences where integrity is chosen from inside out? Building upon the work of Parker J. Palmer who commends the deep inner work of integrity building in educators, faculty were invited to consider how all education and academic disciplines coalesce to enable the formation of citizens who are engaged, informed, courageous and generous.
Duquesne University, “Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability: Explorations at a Spiritan Catholic University”
Directors, Darlene Fozard Weaver and Maureen O’Brien
Duquesne University is the only university in the United States sponsored by the Catholic Congregation of the Holy Spirit. Through this grant, the coordinators aimed to enhance interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration on ecological and sustainability initiatives by faculty across the university; integrate Spiritan Catholic mission for justice, peace and the integrity of creation more fully into faculty’s research and teaching; and provide faculty with a collegial setting in which to develop a specific area of their research or teaching related to environmental stewardship or sustainability. The project coordinators recruited six faculty from three DU schools--Liberal Arts, Business Administration, and Natural and Environmental Sciences. These faculty met with the coordinators for six sessions during the 2014-15 academic year. During the sessions, participants learned from several guest presenters on topics related to Catholic and Spiritan priorities for environmental stewardship and sustainability, as well as some current university researchers’ work on relevant projects. Each participant also developed an individual project consistent with his/her specific research and teaching interests as well as the small grant goals, and presented progress reports at various points for peer feedback. Individual projects included development of undergraduate courses on ecology and psychology; initiatives to make the campus more bike-friendly and encourage commuting by bicycle; an article describing an undergraduate honors course on sustainability team-taught by nine faculty from a variety of disciplines; a mathematics research design to predict patterns of feral cat population growth in conjunction with a local neutering and release program; outreach to small businesses in the Pittsburgh region, to analyze their recovery and management issues as an aftermath of recent flooding and develop tools to support them in future natural disasters; and a journal article, short book and new teaching initiatives in an MBA program.
Gordon College, “Young Scholars and Vocation” Discussion Group
Director: Bruce G. Webb
Under the umbrella of the Center for Faith and Inquiry at Gordon College, this grant brought three groups of “already-not-yets” together into fellowship through periodic discussion sessions and dinners during 2014-15. These groups were: 1) New and younger faculty, who already have their PhD but are still figuring out how to think well about the relationship between their discipline and Christian faith; 2) Capable seniors or recent graduates of Gordon College (still in the area), who possess (or almost possess) a B.A. but remain uncertain of what steps to take next, although they are open to a vocation within church-related higher education; and 3) Christian scholars who are enrolled in or completing graduate programs in the greater Boston area, who feel called/open to a church-related academic vocation but are short on role models and conversation partners in their various academic departments. Our broad goal was to help “resource” the aforementioned groups with a vocabulary, with bibliographies and with friendships/professional networks as they discern and take the next steps on their respective academic/faith journeys. Over the course of this project, we had a total of 15 participants take part in 6 gatherings. Participants completed short reading assignments before our discussion, and dinner followed at a nearby restaurant.
Hope College, “Robust Ecumenism at Hope College”
Director: Steven Bouma-Prediger
With this grant the main goal was to create a community of faculty who would explore the meaning of robust ecumenism at Hope College. Robust ecumenism, as we defined it, is the attempt to describe what is needed at an academic institution for people to be willing to speak from their particular Christian perspective, ask for clarification when others’ ways of speaking need translation, and work at genuine understanding, which may include informed disagreement.
The grant has three phases. Phase one was academic year 2013-14 during which a core group of four faculty met regularly (usually twice a month) to read and discuss together a variety of books and essays. Some of the questions we discussed were: What does robust ecumenism actually look like? Have we embodied it at Hope? If so, how and under what circumstances? On what issues do we find general agreement? On what do we disagree and how do and how should we model respectful disagreement?
The academic year 2014-15 was phase two. During this year a group of 9 faculty met twice a month over lunch for about 90 minutes each time. In addition to reading books and essays, we also drafted working definitions of robust ecumenism and outlined both the challenges and the opportunities for robust ecumenism at Hope College. In addition to the bimonthly lunch meetings throughout the school year we organized and led a very successful one-day weekend retreat.
Phase 3 is academic year 2015-16 and the summer of 2016. During this year a number of the core faculty intend to work on research papers on the topic of robust ecumenism and we hope to plan a conference as part of Hope’s sesquicentennial celebration next summer.
Mount St. Mary’s University, “Gaudium et Spes, Then and Now: A Faculty Dialogue,” Director, Joshua Peter Hochschild
During the 2014-2015 academic year, faculty at Mount St. Mary’s University engaged in a series of discussions centered on the themes and the legacy of Gaudium et Spes fifty years after its promulgation. One of the most important documents of the Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes reflects the vision of St. Pope John XXIII for the Church to engage the modern world. Through four planned discussions, the faculty explored the influences of this and related Papal documents and their relevance to curriculum and teaching. Faculty were especially eager to explore these themes since our core curriculum, The Veritas Program, gives central attention to the Catholic vision of the human person and is intended to help prepare students for a life of responsibility in the modern world. Overall approximately a quarter of Mount faculty participated in the discussion series, supported by this LFP grant.
Benedictine University - Benedictine Faculty Forum (BFF)
Benedictine University’s Small Grant Program consisted of a two-year program pairing senior and new faculty in a mentoring relationship, which began with the 2012-2013 academic year. The program was designed to build a supportive community at Benedictine University, provide professional development, and give time for faculty to reflect on individual goals and to consider “spirituality and contemplation as valuable tools in life.” The Benedictine Faculty Forum, centered in the Benedictine tradition, gave participants an opportunity to consider leadership roles at the university. The program continued for a third year beginning the fall 2014.
Bethel University - The Pietist Idea of a Christian College
Bethel University (St. Paul, MN) designed its Small Grant Program to explore what its pietist identity meant to its faculty. In June 2013 a group of current and former Bethel faculty held a two-day workshop on “The Pietist Idea of a Christian College,” discussing the history of Pietism and its implications for teaching, scholarship, mentoring, service, and life together at Bethel. Coming out of that workshop, most participants then spent the summer and fall writing chapters for The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons, edited by Christopher Gehrz and published in 2014.
East Texas Baptist University - Human Rights, Reconciliation and Restorative Justice: East Texas and the World
Starting in the spring of 2013, East Texas Baptist University began preparation for its yearlong Small Grants Program, Human Rights, Reconciliation and Restorative Justice: East Texas and the World, with a lecture series. This was followed by a yearlong schedule of events, from lectures, to roundtables and chapel events that brought the community, local Baptist churches, and East Texas Baptist University together in dialogue about racial and economic justice in the classroom and beyond. The director reports a real impact from the program on the campus/community ties and the classroom.
University of St. Francis - USF San Damiano Scholars
At a time when the presence of Franciscan Sisters at the University of St. Francis declines, the university sought with its Small Grant Program to enliven its connection to the Catholic and Franciscan identity and connect to other Franciscan institutions sharing a common mission by revising its San Damiano Scholars program. With the Lilly Small Grants program, the University of St. Francis with a core group of ten to twelve faculty and administrators have now broadened the impact of the San Damiano Scholars, who are “are called to support and lead” the effort to enliven the Catholic mission and Franciscan identity on the campus of the University of St. Francis. One way the directors of this Small Grants Program wished to strengthen the Franciscan identity of the campus was to encourage more faculty to participate in the Association of Franciscan Colleges and University Franciscan pilgrimage to Assisi and to sharing the fruits of the experience. To help accomplish this goal, the Lilly Small Grant funded two faculty members’ pilgrimage to Assisi and Rome. Those who participated in the pilgrimage returned to campus and hosted a forum and led discussions related to their experiences and the Franciscan mission. As a result of the program, Franciscan spirit is more tangible on campus, stimulating conversation around the campus’ Catholic, Franciscan identity. By participating in the San Damiano Scholars and the AFCU pilgrimage, the University of St. Francis participates in collaborative efforts with other Franciscan colleges and universities, which further develops the Catholic and Franciscan identity on campus.
Villanova – Faculty Dialogue Luncheon
Villanova University’s Faculty Dialogue Luncheon began with the 2013-2014 academic year and continues into 2014-2015. Participants gathered eight times throughout the course of the 2013-2014 academic year around one of two themes: Exploring our Faith and Teaching as a Vocation. The luncheons brought together diverse populations across the campus, but also each lunch drew together people from similar points in their careers at Villanova. For example, one included Deans of colleges while another luncheon was for newer faculty. The lunches also gave faculty an opportunity to participate and build community in ways that they had not had at Villanova.
Westmont College – Faith-Learning Faculty Roundtable
Westmont College’s Faith-Learning Faculty Roundtable was designed to survey a representative sample of students to determine the extent of understanding and incorporation of the institutions mission. Faculty roundtables, then, studied and discussed the findings of the survey. These roundtable meetings helped faculty to identify, discuss, address, and assess recurrent issues and deficiencies in student faith learning.
Azusa Pacific University: Creating a Sustainable Faith Integration Training Program for Adjunct Faculty at Azusa Pacific University
Azusa Pacific University developed its small grant to help incorporate its large adjunct faculty population into the mission of the school. While all incoming full-time faculty take “a six-session ‘Foundations of Faith Integration’ training, with numerous training, presentations, and seminars offered for further growth in these skills,” part-time or adjunct faculty did not get this orientation. Through a series of training seminars across the university and at satellite locations beginning in 2011, the program was able to reach a sample number of adjunct faculty and provide them with tools to integrate the mission of the institution into their courses. APU also developed a durable on-line training program and plans for four cohorts of fifteen adjunct faculty to take this course in the 2012-2013 academic year. After evaluating this experience, the program will then be made available for all the over 800 adjunct faculty employed by APU. The University found that the program helped adjuncts engage more in the university, had a better understanding of how to engage the institution’s mission, and an awareness of APU’s Wesleyan/Holiness tradition.
Hope College: Cultivating Hope and Other Virtues
The goal of Hope College’s small grant was to engage faculty over the course of an academic year in deeper conversation about its aims with regard to “academic and co-curricular programs in the liberal arts and in the context of the historic Christian faith.” To do this, the director of the program, Curtis Gruenler, conducted reading groups where faculty discussed first Christian Smith’s Souls in Transition and then James K.A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom. Coupled with these texts were shorter readings that were intended to probe first the classical and medieval formation of the tradition of virtues and then in second term the development of virtues within a modern higher education context. One of the more immediate positive outcomes was that the program brought new voices to this conversation. The meetings, which brought faculty together to talk over food, books, and with speakers, did much to foster community.
Loyola Marymount University: The Lilly Seminar on Mission
Throughout the 2011-2012 academic year, the Loyola Marymount University engaged in a “Lilly Seminar on Mission” in which members of the faculty and administration gathered and participated in directed dialogue designed to engage the Jesuit and Marymount traditions. (No administrators directly involved in tenure and promotion were involved in the seminars.) This program was designed to be as broadly interdisciplinary as possible in an attempt to bring together representatives from across the university to combat “silo-ing” on campus. The program continues into the 2012-2013 academic year and the faculty participants have appreciated the depth of information and preparedness of the presenters. They hope to expand the subject matter to social justice commitments during the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican II and an interfaith dialogue between other faith traditions, especially Judaism and Islam. They also hope to broaden interest in the University’s service projects. They also hope to continue to build this program by “seeking the support of other foundations” with the possibility of focusing “primarily on faculty at the advanced associate professor level and those who have mid-level leadership roles within the university.”
St. Olaf College: Faculty Life at St. Olaf: More than a Livelihood
Throughout the fall of 2011, St. Olaf conducted its small grant program, “Faculty Life at St. Olaf: More than a Livelihood,” intended to foster conversation on the college’s identity and mission among faculty at all levels with a special emphasis on relating their individual experiences to work life at a church-related, liberal arts institution. The program began in September with a lecture given by Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen based upon their book Religion Matters: Higher Education in the 21st Century. Following this lecture, two other events were held, which included a two-day faculty seminar and lunch meetings facilitated by participants of seminars. Since the faculty who participated in each of the events came from departments and disciplines across the campus, the program directors found that many valued and appreciated having a set time and place for focused discussions of this nature. Many commented that they appreciated the way the outside perspective provided by the Jacobsens made conversations easier. St. Olaf incorporated material from small grant program into its new faculty orientation as of August 2012 and the Provost and Assistant to the President for institutional diversity have moved towards encouraging new tenured faculty search committees to stress the importance of the college’s mission.
Saint Xavier University: Mercy Book Club
In the fall of 2011, Saint Xavier University began its Mercy Book Club, and as a result of this year-long program, the institution will continue to support it in the ensuing years. The first year’s meetings began with members of the School of Nursing who read various texts designed to knit this school outside the College of Arts and Sciences closer to the mission of the university. Participants read two books, Daniel Sulmasy’s Balm for Gilead: Meditations on Spirituality and the Healing Arts and Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Discussion of the texts were enhanced by lectures by Daniel Sulmasy and a viewing of film Miss Evers’ Boys. Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, is now one of the texts assigned to all in-coming students since 2012. As a result of the success of this program, the School of Education will take leadership of it in the next round of readings. The texts selected for the next year’s reading are: Parker Palmer’s The Courage to Teach and Brian Schultz’s Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way: Lessons from an Urban Classroom.
Whitworth University: Vocation of a Christian Public Intellectual
Whitworth University conducted its small grant, “Vocation of a Christian Public Intellectual,” in the 2011-2012 academic year. The program was designed to engage faculty and students from Whitworth University (a Protestant institution) and Gonzaga University (a Catholic institution) in an ecumenical conversation about what constitutes the Christian public intellectual. Faculty from both institutions met in the fall 2011 and developed a course for the spring 2012 based upon their discussions and readings. Nine students were invited to participate in a seminar drawing on Reinhold Niebuhr and Charles Taylor. The program and course will help as Whitworth University develop its Honor Program and contribute to the faculty’s understanding of themselves as Christian public intellectuals. Furthermore, faculty members at Whitworth University hope to tie the aims of the small grant program to Whitworth’s Weyerhaeuser Center for Christian Faith and Learning.
Xavier University: Xavier Mission Academy
Xavier University’s recent efforts towards mission enhancement and mentoring are continued with the addition of this small grant, Xavier Mission Academy. David Burns, the director of the institution’s small grant, identified the need for further education among its faculty of all levels in the Jesuit mission. As the number of Jesuit-teachers declines at Xavier University, the need for lay Catholic and non-Catholic faculty to sustain and continue the Ignatian identity of faculty becomes more immediate. The director and his staff created the Xavier Mission Academy to address this need and help faculty, especially senior faculty, integrate mission into their classrooms. Participants in the Academy incorporated mission into one of their classes after a series of meetings with readings and discussions. Participants gave a poster presentation at Xavier’s Celebration of Excellence to explain the results of the program. The Academy enabled faculty who participated in this program to take time to think about larger ideas of the school’s mission and the purpose of a Catholic institution in general.
