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University Ministry
The responsibility of University Ministry is to make visible
the religious identity of the institution and to nurture the
faith life of the students, faculty, administrators and staff.
At Loyola University Chicago, Ministry activities are integral
to the nature and mission of the university. In 1971, with
the intent of strengthening the religious character of Loyola,
President Raymond C. Baumhart, S.J. proposed the creation
of a division of University Ministry under the direction of
a vice president. The Board of Trustees amended the by-laws
of the university to approve this proposal and stipulated
that the position of Vice President for University Ministry
be filled only by a Jesuit. Since that time Loyola has supported
a strong ministry presence in each of its schools, on every
one of its campuses and in all of its residence halls.
Ministry is a partner, from a religious vantage point, in
the education of those it serves. Ministry is dedicated to
educating "persons for others" who put their learning into
action in the pursuit of justice. The climate and context
of justice is evident in the welcoming hospitality and personal
care Ministry provides to all members of university community
as they seek to grow in their own particular religious tradition.
Jews, Muslims, Protestants, Orthodox Christians and others
are at home alongside Roman Catholics as they seek to integrate
faith and life in practical ways.
Examples of specific justice-related endeavors sponsored
by University Ministry include the following:
- Hunger Week, begun in 1973, is a university-wide week-long
mix of educational efforts and fund raising to address the
issue of global hunger. More student organizations take
part in Hunger Week than in any other event in the academic
calendar. Each year approximately $35,000 is raised and
distributed to local, national and international agencies
directly engaged in combating hunger.
- Early in the first semester of each academic year Ministry
sponsors a Community Service Fair with representatives from
nearly 40 agencies seeking committed student involvement.
Hundreds of students dedicate themselves to year long service.
Hundreds more become involved on a project centered or short
term basis. Faculty rely on University Ministry to serve
as a broker in placing students in appropriate sites for
service learning. Ministry's annotated guide to over thirty-five
service sites is updated each year.
- Incoming students who have a background of service in
high school may apply to take part in the Freshman Urban
Plunge the week before school starts in August. In addition
there are many opportunities for alternative break immersions-locally
in Chicago neighborhoods, nationally in Appalachia, internationally
in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. Each of these
programs combine immersion in another culture with direct
opportunities for service to the poor. The programs are
sequential so that students ordinarily would begin with
a local program and progress to an international site. The
same possibilities are open to Loyola's graduate and professional
students. Students at the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine
have the opportunity to put newly developed skills into
service in Guatemala and Peru.
- Loyola4Chicago provides intensive leadership development
for a core of seasoned students. In addition to leadership
training, these student leaders commit themselves personally
to four hours a week of community service at a designated
site. The student leaders in turn recruit cohorts of students
to join them in service at that site for four hours a week
throughout the academic year.
In addition to promoting service for students during their
years at Loyola, Ministry is instrumental in assisting students
who wish to give a year or more of their lives in post graduate
volunteer service. From an information fair at the beginning
of the year to a commissioning ceremony at the time of graduation,
Ministry facilitates the placement of students with Jesuit
Volunteer Corps, the Peace Corps and many other agencies.
In each of these varied outreach programs, one constant component
is the incorporation of reflection upon one's experience of
community service. Only through reflection do the students
move from direct confrontation of public problems to realizing
the need for well-grounded complex political action. Only
through theological reflection do students develop the religious
motivation and sustained resolve to integrate justice into
their lives and careers.
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School of Business Administration
The School of Business endeavors to have a broader horizon
than other business schools, a horizon which stresses ethics
and service. In its MBA program, all core courses can be waived
(based on previous courses completed) with the exception of
the Business Ethics course. This course has as its goal the
increased awareness of ethical problems in business situations
and emphasis on learning ways to solve these problems. Within
economics, justice surfaces as an equity issue. Notions of
distributional equity are central to every principles and
intermediate theory course, as well as courses that make use
of welfare economics, such as environmental, labor, and urban
economics. In the Strategic Management course, in place of
the common practice of having students put together a "mock"
company and running it through a simulated environment, students
are required to work with an actual community client or non-profit
organization to craft a complete 3-year business plan for
that client. Client are able to obtain extremely valuable
business expertise they would not otherwise be able to afford.
Complimenting what has just been mentioned, there are several
other expressions of Loyola's ongoing concern for social ethics
in business: the Raymond C. Baumhart, S.J. Professorship of
Business Ethics, the Center for Values in Business, and finally
the Business Partners Program. Each of these efforts makes
sure that an ethical horizon remains present throughout the
formation program. A recent outreach initiative was the establishment
of a warming shelter within the lobby of the Business School
for vendors of "Streetwise", a local newspaper produced and
sold by homeless people. The Summer Enrichment program brings
outstanding Hispanic high school freshman and sophomores to
the campus for six weeks of instruction in science, math,
business and computer classes.
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School of Education
In the Fall of 1997, the School of Education began a process
to identify a new conceptual framework for all their programs.
Two possible theoretical frameworks emerged: 1). reflective
practice and 2). education for justice. After a careful period
of dialogue and discernment, in March of 1998, education for
justice was selected and, henceforth, this will constitute
the unifying theme for all teaching, research and service
activities. Although the specific syllabi are still in the
development stage, courses and seminars will certainly focus
on the different dimensions of injustice (class, race, gender,
etc.) and on how these correlate with the educational process.
The goal is to develop a pedagogy for social justice that
is truly liberating and one that rests firmly on principles
of caring service, active solidarity, multi-cultural recognition
and learning across the lifespan. Financial resources of the
School are being directed towards the implementation of this
new pedagogical design.
But concern for an education that does justice is not something
entirely new in the School of Education. Faculty and students
have long engaged in a variety of service projects aimed at
promoting social justice. A cable TV math enrichment program
called "Countdown" has been developed to provide advanced
mathematics skills to Chicago children from diverse economic
and racial backgrounds. "Sciene 2001", an inter-departmental
effort of the School of Education and the College of Arts
and Sciences, teaches science to urban elementary school children.
"Science Leaders", an outgrowth of the Science 2001 program,
involves Loyola students in the educational process of urban
grade school students. These students, in turn, act as "science
ambassadors" for their classmates, families and communities,
especially through "Family Science Nights". Furthermore, the
"City as Resource Project", begun in 1993, Loyola student
teachers work with local high schools to recruit culturally
diverse students into teacher education, to fashion an educational
program that uses urban resources to produce higher levels
of competence in English, mathematics, history and science,
and to develop a curriculum focusing on the cultural resources
of the city. Finally, through another project called "SMART"
(Science and Math Achiever Teams), fifth and sixth grade pupils
are paired with undergraduate volunteers in an after-school
math and science mentoring program whose goal is to encourage
students to devote themselves more totally to their studies
while, at the same time, providing them with hands-on experiences
in science, math, and computers. Loyola University, in conjunction
with Roosevelt University, has collaborated on a program to
provide training for Chicago Public School system principals
when an early retirement program resulted in a serious shortage
of qualified principals.
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School of Law
In a very real sense, all of the education at the School
of Law is focused on justice, since its graduate will, for
the most part, be engaged in the actual practice of law. Within
this context, the School of Law demonstrates specific commitments
to justice in at least five areas: specialized centers, curriculum
innovations, service learning, co-curricular activities, and
student-initiated activities.
Specialized Centers: The Loyola University Community
Law Center provides representation to persons who cannot afford
an attorney. More than 2,000 indigent persons in the Chicago
area have been served there. The center combines an exceptional
blend of education and service, two of the primary goals of
LUC. The Loyola Childlaw and Family Law Center, on the other
hand, is designed to train law students in the area of children's
rights. The Childlaw Clinic employs law students, under the
supervision of clinical staff attorneys, to represent children
in Cook County Circuit Court. It also publishes, with the
American Bar Association, the Children's Legal Rights Journal.
The Childlaw Society, a student organization open to all
Loyola law students, organizes volunteer activities, discussion
roundtable's and field trips for those who share a common
interest in the welfare of children and families. The Center
for Public Service Law presents students with a range of options
for career opportunities to serve the public and to secure
the achievement of justice. It seeks to promote in students
their professional responsibilities as a lawyer in society.
The Employment Rights Clinic provides students with the opportunity
to represent clients in disputes involving employment benefits,
and the Federal Tax Clinic allows students to represent clients
in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service.
Curriculum: Of the 180 law schools in the United States,
37 of which are religiously affiliated, only 12 emphasize
ethical values in their courses. Loyola University Chicago's
School of Law is one of those 12. The School of Law expects
each of its teachers to include in every course instruction
in issues of justice and professional responsibilities. In
fact, all students are required to take a course in Professional
Responsibility in their last year of school, focusing on ethical
questions in the practice of law. In addition to the courses
in the Childlaw curriculum, important courses are available
in Law and Poverty, Law and Aging, Law and Theology, Contemporary
Approaches to Law and Justice: The Catholic Social Tradition,
and Public Interest Law.
Service Learning: There are many opportunities for
service learning in several law school legal clinics. The
Community Law Center supervises students representing financially
poor clients in matters involving family law, government benefits,
and landlord-tenant disputes. The Childlaw Clinic provides
students with the opportunity to represent children in various
matters, in the Employment Rights Clinic students represent
clients in disputes involving employment benefits, and in
the Federal Tax Clinic students represent clients in disputes
involving employment benefits, and in the Federal Tax Clinic
students represent clients in disputes with the Internal Revenue
Service. In the law school's externship program, students
work with either the State's Attorney or Public Defender offices
in criminal justice externships. Students brief and argue
appeals for otherwise-unrepresented clients in the Practicum
Program. The Street Law Program trains law students in the
substantive law and the methodology to enable them to teach
law in the city high schools. The Minority Enrichment Program
brings high school minority students to the School of Law
for a semester in which they are exposed to aspects of the
legal profession and trained in critical thinking and writing
skills.
Co-curricular Activities: The School of Law supports
a number of academic journals, three of which are specifically
devoted to aspects of justice: the Children's Legal Rights
Journal, the Public Interest Law Reporter and the Consumer
Law Review. Additionally, the School of Law sponsors an annual
Public Interest Convocation, with mandatory participation
by first-year law students. This convocation acquaints students
with the urgent need for legal representation by poor and
middle-class citizens and their professional obligation to
fulfill a public interest commitment.
Student-initiated Activities: The Public Interest
Law Society sponsors programs every year to acquaint the law
school community with issues involving the public good. A
Public Interest Auction is held yearly, sponsored and run
by law students, the proceeds of which are used to support
law students in unpaid legal positions in public interest
agencies during the summer months. Salisbury Grants, provided
by a law school alumna, pay the tuition for part-time summer
courses for students who wish to gain additional academic
credit while they devote their working hours to serving the
public interest. Law students also undertake projects with
the School of Law chaplain or the Director of Student Services,
projects such as painting and cleaning senior citizens' center
and working at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Students
staff booths at child advocacy conferences, participate in
the Juvenile Court's annual holiday party and adoption fairs,
tutor at Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.
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School of Medicine
In 1993, the entire medical school curriculum was substantially
revised, moving from a predominantly lecture approach to a
problem-based learning curriculum. This process was followed
by the construction of a new medical school building to support
the requirements of this new curriculum. The implication from
a justice perspective would seem to be that, with this new
curriculum and facility, the Medical Center is better able
to provide an education based on the virtues of caring and
solidarity with a special emphasis on the dignity and uniqueness
of each patient as an individual.
In the course of their medical training, students are provided
with several opportunities to bring health care services to
impoverished areas whether these be in the Chicago area, in
Appalachia or in Guatemala. To underscore the need and just
obligation to serve the poor, students are provided with multiple
opportunities to serve the poor through the Maywood Clinic.
One example can be found in the "Special Friends Program"
which links medical students with pediatric oncology patients
in the big brother/big sister support structure. Likewise,
students participate in the "Shadow Mentoring Program" which
links them to members of the pastoral care staff so that the
students learn to provide care, beyond the clinical, to the
whole person. The Children's Hospital of Loyola recently launched
a Mobile Clinic, a 40-foot truck equipped with two examining
rooms and a laboratory, which brings a range of medical services
to children in underserved neighborhoods. Within a 5 mile
radius of the Medical Center, lack of prenatal care, drug
use and poor nutrition are significant problems. The Mobile
Clinic also visits local schools, churches, and park districts
where prearranged testing and exams are provided. Finally,
students participate in a variety of community service programs
that include AIDS Walk, Genesis House, Pilsen Homeless Health
Center, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Sarah's Inn (for
victims of domestic violence).
The Medical Humanities Program offers students the opportunity
to explore the social, historical and religious dimension
of their profession. Among others, students can choose a significant
number of courses in medical ethics, including Ethics in Medical
Practice: Competing Rights of the Individual and Society,
Women and Medicine, Ethical Issues in Pediatric Care, Ethical
Dilemmas in Medical Genetics, and Wrestling with Life Choices.
Furthermore, a "Ethics Grand Rounds Program" invites students
to grapple with complex ethical dilemmas such as Physicians
Against Land Mines, Domestic Violence and the Physician's
Response, Ethical Issues in Human Gene Therapy, and Orchestrating
Death: Doctors' Duties and the End of Life.
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School of Nursing
The Neihoff School of Nursing, established over 65 years
ago, educates nurses not only to address the patient's need
for physical care, but emphasizes concern for the patient's
spiritual and psychological well-being. A concrete manifestation
of this multi-dimensional view of health is the existence
of a master's degree program that combines pastoral theology
and nursing. It is the first program of its kinds in the nation
to integrate (or re-integrate) the vocations of nursing and
ministry.
The Loyola University Nursing Center and Home Care Services
was established over 15 years ago to serve free of charge
the needy members of the local community. This care is provided
by community health care nursing students under the supervision
of faculty. In the same spirit, home care is made available
to the elderly, the chronically ill, the medically unstable
or disabled persons, and to new mothers and their babies.
The Center performs screenings on a variety of health problems
and conducts health fairs directed towards vulnerable sectors
of the population. Two years ago, the School of Nursing established
a health clinic in conjunction with a new Jesuit high school,
Cristo Rey, located within Chicago's Hispanic community. This
clinic functions inside the school, providing health services
for these high school's students, the majority of whom have
very limited access to good health services and their families
have little or no health insurance coverage.
In 1994, the Nursing School began a "Healthy Teens 2000 Program",
a health advocacy initiative for teenagers from a lower-income
area of Chicago. In addition, nursing faculty and students
regularly organize activities in support of a shelter for
abused women and children, for pediatric AIDS research, for
improved nutrition at local food pantries, and for periodic
blood pressure testing. These "practica" are chosen by the
faculty for their "justice potential" and because they instill
a spirit of solidarity into the professional training of the
students.
School of Social Work
The mission of the School of Social Work is congruent with
the mission of Loyola University. This mission is expressed
in terms of respect for the person, caring for and with others,
and action in the service of faith and justice. The School
of Social Work prepares students for service to others as
professional social workers and scholars of social work practice.
The mission of the School of Social Work is a characteristically
urban one which educates students to understand the diversity
of the city and to respond to human needs within that context.
This mission is articulated at three program levels: at the
baccalaureate level, the School of Social Work prepares students
for generalist social work practice in order that they may
work competently within systems of various sizes and complexity,
be these individual, group, community, organization, or institution;
at the master's level, the School prepares students for advanced
practice in clinical social work with individuals, families
and groups but within a particular focus area such as children
or the mentally ill; and at the doctoral level, the School
prepares clinical social workers, through scholarly research,
for leadership and administrative roles.
Social work practice at Loyola also includes the assessment
of community needs, participation in the development and evaluation
of community services, and the learning of skills for the
purpose of advocacy and social change. Each student participates
in one or more field placements where students learn social
work by doing it. Placements include child welfare agencies,
mental health placements, hospitals and other medical settings,
school social work settings, older adult facilities, domestic
abuse settings, and courts and legal clinics - all providing
multiple opportunities for reflection and action on behalf
of justice. In 1994 a new graduate course entitled "Seminar
in Social Work and Social Justice" was created and taught
by a Jesuit professor from Loyola's Department of Theology.
The course has strong enrollments and is frequently audited
by faculty.
In 1983 an Alumni Minority Recruitment Committee (MARC) was
formed to recruit, enroll and support persons of color in
the School of Social Work. Due to the fine work of this committee,
the enrollment of minorities during the past 16 years has
increased by over 350%. In the undergraduate social work program,
nearly 50% of the program's 142 students are students of color.
Faculty and students of the School of Social Work are regular
participants and contributors to university-wide programs
on social justice such as the 1997 Welfare Reform Symposium,
the Forum on the Child, and the 1998 symposium on Altruism,
Charity and Social Change. An annual essay contest for social
work students focuses on the critique and application of innovative
programs concerning social policy and social justice, particularly
in the Chicago metropolitan area.
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Institute of Pastoral Studies
The Institute of Pastoral Studies has been educating adults
for ministry within a social justice perspective for over
thirty years. Since social justice is so very prevalent in
the Institute's self-understanding and formation of pastoral
ministers, it is hard to isolate a few examples.
In addition to it Master of Pastoral Studies and Master of
Divinity Program, it has recently instituted two dual degree
programs: M.Div/Master of Social Work and M.Div/Master of
Nursing. Both of these programs encourage students to pursue
social justice, human dignity and the common good. A simple
list of courses being offered in IPS indicates how strong
the social justice dimension is: Ethical Issues in Race and
Gender, Justice and Belief in God, Justice in the Gospel of
John, Social Justice in the Catholic Tradition, and Passing
on the Values of Jesus. Field placements for ministry students
include the Chicago Archdiocesan Office of Social Justice,
Howard Area Community Center, Bonaventure House for HIV/AIDS
patients, and St. Benedict's African Parish.
The "Instituto Hispano", a creation of Mundelein College,
now forms part of the Institute of Pastoral Studies. The Hispanic
Institute is designed to prepare persons to minister in the
Hispanic community, providing courses, seminars and workshops
both on campus and at different parishes around the city.
Moreover, the Institute has served as participant, organizer
and host at several local, regional and national forums regarding
social justice for Hispanics. By contributing in these ways
to the education and training of Hispanic ministers, the Hispanic
Institute helps the Hispanic community to assume its rightful
role within the church.
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College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the undergraduate setting
where students develop a deeper awareness of history and the
human condition, confirm their dedication to others, and strengthen
their courage to build a more just future for the human family.
A large number of courses are taught all across the curriculum
to help students become personally informed and invested in
matters of social justice.
To begin with, the "core curriculum" encourages all Loyola
students to reflect in a systematic way upon basic human questions,
including those directly and indirectly related to social
justice. Theology core requirements are taken from one of
four concentrations. Biblical: Courses focus on the
centrality of justice in the Bible, with special emphasis
on the prophets and on the gospels. Doctrinal: Courses
focus both on the church's teachings and on the church's concrete
record in responding to human rights violations, third world
hunger, debt, poverty, disease and the plight of refugees.
Special attention is given to "heroes" in the area of justice
such as Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, Desmond Tutu, Helen
Prejean, Jane Addams and Nelson Mandela. History and Traditions:
Courses are notably inclusionary, including offerings that
deal with the Catholic tradition but also with others on Buddhism,
Judaism, Islam and the African American religious experience.
Life and Practice: These courses discuss "moral problems"
such as violence, war, human rights, ethical business practices,
sexism, racism, sexual ethics, bioethics, economic exploitation,
hunger. Similarly, many of the core courses in Philosophy
touch upon social justice, especially the course in social
ethics (e.g., Action and Value: Society), which focuses specifically
on issues of poverty and wealth, just distribution of health
care resources, and ethical questions of foreign policy. The
students pursuing an M.A. in Social Philosophy, in addition
to their courses in moral and social philosophy, are required
to work in social service agencies each semester. Among these
agencies are the Catholic Worker House, American Indian Health
Service, St. Francis Hospice, Asian Human Services, and Cook
County Jail.
Several departments provide a notable range of courses with
a strong service-learning component: in the Communication
Department, faculty have developed a process-based and
praxis-based curriculum that focuses critically on the relationship
between communication, culture and social justice; in the
English Department, faculty have participated over
the past two decades in the discovery of a new vision of what
constitutes literature, expanding the reading lists to include
voices and texts that have previously been submerged; in the
Psychology Department, a special sensitivity towards
just relationships and human dignity is emphasized, focusing
attention on problems such as violence toward women, the psychology
of race relations, and the impact of mass media on psychological
development; in Sociology, students focus on inequality,
homelessness and social welfare policy as they prepare themselves
for a life of social service.
The Center for Interdisciplinary Programs (CIP) of the College
of Arts and Sciences offers several undergraduate minors encompassing
course work in the humanities and social sciences with a focus
on social justice: Environmental Studies, International Studies,
Peace Studies, Women's Studies, Black World Studies, Asian
and Asian American Studies and Latin American Studies. These
interdisciplinary programs make it possible for students to
pursue course work across departmental lines and to make inter-connections.
Each of these programs sponsors lecture series and special
events during the academic year that raise issues of justice
and fairness for the entire university community. In these
and other important ways, the Center for Interdisciplinary
Programs helps students frame and prioritize certain social
sensitive issues as well as to explore theoretical and practical
alternatives.
WLUW, Loyola's own radio station, deserves special mention
because its broadcasts clearly reveal a social justice orientation.
Priority is given to programs that raise social consciousness
by asking difficult questions about the distribution of wealth,
power and knowledge in society. The Lake Shore Community Media
Project provides the opportunity for community organizations
to gain access to the airwaves; students, faculty and community
leaders work together to produce programs highlighting community
issues.
Many of the service options available to undergraduate students
are coordinated though University Ministry or through Student
Affairs. Other initiatives, however, emerge from within specific
departments. For example, the Athletics Department participates
in a program called "Athletes Committed to Educating Students",
an after-school tutoring-mentoring organization for inner-city
children. The program involves student athletes and also staff.
Although their contribution may sometimes be overlooked, coaches
work hard to instill the virtue of solidarity in the student-athletes
by creating an environment where teamwork predominates over
individualism. Sports can certainly contribute to the formation
of character and values.
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Mundelein College
As the adult education and continuing studies division of
Loyola, Mundelein helps working people to complete their undergraduate
studies or to otherwise enhance their professional development.
Recognizing that adult learners have demanding lifestyles,
Mundelein organizes its offerings around the needs and possibilities
of the adult learners. More recently, Mundelein College has
developed a program called "The Emeritus Connection" which
attempts providing stimulating courses especially for retired
persons and senior citizens from the neighborhood.
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Center for Urban Research and Learning
The Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) is a non-traditional
university research center. It promotes an innovative model
of teaching and research through the development of equal
partnerships between the university and Chicago's communities.
By working closely with activists outside the university,
the Center recognizes and values the knowledge and experience
found in non-academic settings, challenging the deeply held
idea that superior knowledge is held within the university.
At CURL, community practitioners sit down at the same research
table with faculty and students. Community practitioners are
involved in all stages of research, from developing the research
questions, based on the needs of their neighborhood, to the
design of projects, the analysis of information and, finally,
the reporting of findings. CURL projects are developed in
coordination with community -based organizations across the
city. The projects relate to a wide range of issues: care
networks for homeless people, the impact of welfare reform
upon children, housing security in low-income housing developments,
a day-care feasibility study, the effectiveness of job training
programs, the prevalence of domestic violence, etc.
Within the University, CURL seeks to alter the way in which
faculty and students think about community research. Within
the community, it seeks to change the way the community approaches
the resources of the university and the way activists see
themselves impacting social, economical, and political inequalities.
CURL helps community groups to arm themselves with the research
they need to effectively lobby for change. At the government
level, CURL seeks to alter the way government sees community
problem solving.
An Urban Semester Program provides an excellent context for
service learning by placing students into areas where they
learn first hand how the city works, how people daily negotiate
life in an urban environment, and how solutions are created
to meet pressing urban problems. Students not only become
aware of the complexity of community issues but they also
learn to discover the resources and hope present within the
community. The program consists of 9 credit hours (three courses).
CURL is also the home for PRAG (Policy Research Action Group),
a collaborative partnership between faculty from four local
universities: Loyola University Chicago, University of Illinois
at Chicago, De Paul University, and Chicago State University.
PRAG has become nationally recognized for its collaborative
focus and publishes a quarterly journal (PRAGmatics) which
reports on the entire range of research conducted.
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Center for Ethics and Social Justice
The Center for Ethics was founded in 1991 and has become
a recognized leader in promoting ethics education both within
the university and throughout the local business and professional
community. Prior to its founding, an extensive inventory of
ethics activities and programs across the university was conducted
in 1990-91. The focus of this inventory was academic - pertaining
to teaching, learning or research. The inventory revealed
a few hundred courses at Loyola containing ethics material.
Within the Center for Ethics, the Faculty Fellow Program
awards a semester relieved of teaching duties to Loyola faculty,
during which time the fellows engage in cross-disciplinary
research in the application of ethics to their respective
fields. Former Faculty Fellows have also been surveyed with
a goal of developing self-contained Ethics Modules that will
be made available to faculty for use in their classes throughout
the university. Each spring, Faculty Ethics Workshops are
conducted on such topics as Ethics Across the Curriculum,
Professional Ethics, Social Justice, How to Address Your Students'
Moral Relativism Effectively. Annually, a short course in
Health Care Ethics is taught for health care professionals
serving on institutional ethics committees in the Chicago
area. A series of Corporate Values Breakfasts are hosted at
the Water Tower Campus with notable speakers addressing current
issues in ethics. Closely related to the Center for Ethics
is the Frank W. Considine Chair in Applied Ethics, established
in 1994. The Considine Chair is appointed for two years with
a mission of addressing current ethical issues with outreach
activities directed toward the Chicago community as well as
within the university itself. Recent chair-holders have held
a symposia on welfare reform issues, on political campaigns,
and on social justice in higher education. Moreover, the Considine
Chair, in cooperation with Loyola's Information Technology
Department, has made possible a program of computer classes
for the surrounding community.
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Center for Faith and Mission
The Center for Faith & Culture was established in 1992
(and changed its name to Faith & Mission in 1997) to focus
on the Jesuit Catholic mission and identity of the university
with faculty and staff. Its goals are to assist faculty and
staff to grow in the appreciation of the diverse Ignatian
heritage, to develop a sense of community, to foster appreciation
of the diverse contributions of faculty and staff and to support
lectures and conferences on issues of faith and culture. The
Center presents Jesuit Orientation Seminars for staff and
faculty, as well as a wide variety of lectures and meetings
throughout the academic year. A sample of topics presented
in recent years: Loyola's Service to the Chicago Community,
Paradigms of Justice and Love, Being a Person for Others,
Aspects of Welfare Reform, Hiring for Mission, Is Tolerance
Enough?, and Faculty/Staff Relationships.
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The Center for the Advanced Study
of Christianity and Culture was founded in 1997 to stimulate,
coordinate, and accomplish interdisciplinary research on the
relation between the Christian heritage and key issues of
contemporary society and culture. It endeavors to help scholars
recover a sense of the mutual relevance of Christianity and
Western thought and to nurture a new generation of scholars
capable of relating their Christian faith to their academic
pursuits. Since its founding in 1997, which was preceded by
two years of discussion among interested faculty on the relation
between Christianity and academia, the Center has organized
symposia on Christianity in Academia (1997) and Altruism-Social
Change-Charity (1998); monthly seminars on the mutual relevance
of Christian faith and various academic disciplines; and research
groups on Mysticism, Health/Faith/Well-Being, Philosophy and
Theology, and the Relations between Israel, Greece, Christianity
and Islam.
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Gannon Center for Women and Leadership
Created in 1993, the Gannon Center began full-time operation
in July 1997, as an outgrowth of the affiliation of Mundelein
College with Loyola University Chicago. Mundelein College,
the last all women's college in Illinois, joined LUC in June
1991. The Memorandum of Agreement signed by the institutions
brought justice related programs from Mundelein College to
Loyola, in particular the Hispanic Institute and the Peace
Studies program. Faculty and staff who joined the Loyola community
brought their commitment of justice to their new academic
setting. The Gannon Center's mission is to celebrate, research,
criticize, and nurture the roles of women in positions of
leadership - past, present and future. It's focus is one of
justice, of right relationship: women's place in society.
The work of the center moves forward through its component
parts: Loyola's Women's Studies program, the Women and Leadership
Archives, and the Institute of Women and Leadership which
provides the direct programming of the Gannon Center. At present,
the centerpiece of programming is the annual women's conference
whose 1999 theme is "Environmental Justice: Women's Experience."
The center reaches out to students, faculty, staff and women
off campus through its various courses, research projects
and activities. At Thanksgiving, Gannon Scholars provide low-income
neighborhood families with packages of staple food for the
holidays and, in that process, foster a sense of connection
and caring within the community.
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