Message from the Dean
January 2021
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,
Happy New Year!
My December message included a look toward the future: Which of the many possible
paths will we pursue? With that question in mind, earlier this month over 70 faculty
and staff members from Arts & Sciences gathered for a half-day virtual New Year Workshop.
Aiming to foster community and a strong start to the New Year, the workshop was designed
with two intended outcomes. We explored the identity and distinctiveness of A&S now
and in the future. We also reflected upon integration as well as the “and” of “Arts
and Sciences.” This “and” signifies that we strive to be not simply a collection of
individuals but an integrated community.
Integration is an essential aspect of a liberal arts and sciences education, particularly
in a Catholic, Jesuit context. It refers to an interdisciplinary and holistic approach,
educating the whole person in light of the community and its needs. As Fr. Peter-Hans
Kolvenbach, SJ, noted: “Jesuit universities have stronger and different reasons than
many other academic and research institutions, for addressing the actual world as
it unjustly exists and for helping to reshape it in the light of the Gospel.” We are
called, according to Fr. Kolvenbach, to “serve the faith that does justice in a more
integral way.”
Prior to our New Year Workshop, co-organizer Dr. Heather Hathaway and I invited colleagues
to read a text about integration: Pope Francis’s Encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Particularly of interest is the chapter on Integral Ecology, which addresses both
our natural environment and the human world. At the workshop, four Arts & Sciences
faculty colleagues offered brief presentations on high-impact practices in teaching,
ranging from a community engagement trip to Detroit to curating museum exhibits to
reflective practices about vocation and careers. Inspired by these examples, we took
time for reflection, asking about our personal role in promoting integral ecology.
We then worked in breakout groups, each of which addressed a different question, such
as how to foster integration beyond the College, how to think in new and different
ways about the “and” in “Arts and Sciences” and how best to prepare students for life,
work and civic engagement after graduation. What followed was a robust conversation
that amply demonstrated the strengths of the College and some of our dreams for the
future.
I will share just a small selection of points from that conversation. We could provide
stronger incentives for interdisciplinary work and deepen the links across courses
and disciplines. Many community activists provide good models of integration. Our
teaching, advising and mentoring could make connections more visible to students and
help them to build community. Areas like social justice and the study of race, gender,
languages and cultures provide rich terrain for integral ecology. We should continue
to foster in students the ability to have respectful, productive conversations across
differences. Wherever Marquette University wants to go, the College of Arts & Sciences
must lead the way—given our size and centrality to the core liberal arts mission,
given our excellence and our unique position to foster interdisciplinary integration.
The ideas shared at this Workshop will inform our efforts in the College over the
coming months. During 2021, we will continue to pursue strategic priorities that build
upon our core strengths: outstanding teacher-scholars who create transformational
opportunities for students, innovative research that yields extramural funding and
prestigious publications, and tremendous public impact. All of our initiatives will
be guided by an ongoing commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.
Recent successes testify to these strengths and priorities. Generous benefactors have
pledged support for a wide array of areas and programs, including the Center for Peacemaking,
the Center for the Advancement of the Humanities, undergraduate research in chemistry,
faculty research in both computer science and psychology and a new initiative on civic
dialogues to be housed in the Department of Political Science. A team of colleagues
in the humanities and social sciences recently received a significant grant from the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to further the Educational Preparedness Program that benefits
currently and formerly incarcerated students. All of these endeavors aim to develop
the whole person and a flourishing community. We have much to celebrate.
Our New Year Workshop ended with a quotation from Theodore Roosevelt by way of Arthur
Ashe: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Inspired by this
statement, we invited participants to reflect: What are 3 goals you have for yourself
during the coming semester and the academic year 2021-22? Whether or not you attended
the workshop, you may be interested in writing a short email message to yourself with
responses to this question. Flag it to read again at mid-semester. Let’s continue
to explore together how we might foster integration in all that we do.
As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, concerns or suggestions. I appreciate hearing from you and exploring
ways we can all work together for the common good.
Sincerely,
Dr. Heidi Bostic Dean, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
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