2017 National Conference

Twenty-seventh Annual National Conference

Discernment, Engagement, Reflection

Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California

October 27-29, 2017


The 27th National Conference, Discernment, Engagement, Reflection, took place on October 27 through 27 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. Drawing on the work of writers from across the spectrum of Christian higher education, the conference focused on the ways in which the education of the whole person can be addressed through a focus on the head, the heart, and the hands.

Discernment
For several decades, educational theorists from both within and outside the spectrum of Christian higher education have stressed the importance of moving beyond the notion of education as a content delivery system. How can discernment — within and beyond Ignatian spiritual practices — provide an invitation to deeper questioning, deeper searching? 

Engagement
"The opposite of contemplation is not action — it is reaction" (Richard Rohr). Indeed, the relationship between contemplation and action is symbiotic and especially relevant to twenty-first century education. How can engagement (related to the Ignatian magis) enable students to experience this deepening — locally, globally, and from within? How might technology, which is sometimes blamed for what Adolfo Nicolás has termed "the globalization of superficiality," become an instrument in making the process of engagement more authentic?

Reflection
If contemplation and action are truly complementary, the final step would involve the return to the quiet. How can reflection allow students to feel more connected to the educational missions of their own universities and more attentive to the spiritual directions of their own lives?

The conference began with a plenary address by Dr. Stephanie Paulsell, the Susan Shallcross Swartz Professor of the Practice of Christian Studies at Harvard Divinity School, entitled, “A ‘whole made of shivering fragments’: Contemplation, Creativity, and Education.” On Saturday, conferees heard a second plenary conversation between Dr. Douglas Christie and Dr. Rubén Martínez, both at Loyola Marymount University, on “Mystics, Migrants: Desert Practices in an Age of Exile. Drs. Christie and Martínez were joined by Dr. Paulsell for a third session that explored the pedagogical implications of the first two plenary sessions. Dr. Herbert A. Medina and Dr. Paul Humphreys, both also of Loyola Marymount University, led conferees on a contemplative walk and contemplative listening exercise respectively.  Conferees were also treated to the Loyola Marymount university Gospel Choir under the direction of Dr. Diane White-Clayton.

You can still visit Loyola Marymount's conference website!

Noteworthy News

May LFP Update

The Current LFP Update for May 2023 is now available. Click here.


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Registration is now open for the 2023 National Conference, "Contemplating Integral Ecology for the Common Good," on October 20-22 at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. Click here for more information and to register. 


Registration is now open for the 2023 Administrators Workshop

Registration is now open for the 2023 Workshop for Senior Administrators on the topic, "Fostering Hope in a Polarized Age," October 19-20, at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. Click here for more information and to register.


Announcing the winner of the 2022 Arlin G. Meyer Prize

We are pleased to announce Gordon Johnston, Professor of Creative Writing at Mercer University, as the winner of the 2022 Arlin G. Meyer Prize in Imaginative Writing for his book of poetry, Scaring the Bears. For more information and to see the finalist for this prize, click here.


Lilly Network of Church- Related Colleges and Universities

If you are interested in learning more about membership in the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities, please contact us here.


New edition of Leading Lives that Matter released

In their second edition of Leading Lives That Matter, editors Mark Schwehn and Dorothy Bass compile a wide range of texts—from ancient and contemporary literature, social commentary, and philosophy—related to questions of vital interest for those who are trying to decide what to do with their lives and what kind of human beings they hope to become. Leading Lives that Matter has been an important text in many of our fellowship and grant programs, and it contains excellent resources. Click here for more information and an excerpt.