October, 2021
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students in the Klingler College of Arts & Sciences,
Midsemester has arrived! This point in the academic year can bring extra stress and
new obligations, making it all the more important to find space and time for reflection.
You may enjoy this short video created by Marquette’s Faber Center for Ignatian Spirituality, which offers a midterm
Examen in light of the Ignatian Year.
While reflection and discernment are often solitary practices, they can arise from
time spent in community. In my July message I mentioned participating in a reading
and discussion group on questions of self, world, work and human purpose. That group
is currently discussing Josef Pieper, Leisure the Basis of Culture. Pieper writes: “Culture depends for its very existence on leisure, and leisure,
in its turn, is not possible unless it has a durable and consequently living link
with […] divine worship.” As a recent essay from The Jesuit Post observes, his understanding of leisure entails a life not consumed by frenzied work,
but rather one in which we are receptive to deeper meaning and attuned to the call
of transcendence.
These conversations and the need for reflection call to mind the wonderful resource
we have in Marquette’s Haggerty Museum of Art. Many Arts & Sciences faculty avail
themselves of the Haggerty collection in assignments for their classes. For example,
one of our theology colleagues asks students to go to the museum, choose a piece on
exhibit, look at it for fifteen minutes and then write about it. Students repeat this
exercise, with the same piece of art, weekly over the course of the semester. What
they come away with is not only new insights about what they see. They also perceive
the value of deep looking and meditation that some call prayerful. In a serendipitous
twist, a psychology alum recently gave me a copy of Hisham Matar’s A Month in Siena, which extols the virtue of looking deeply at one artwork rather than rushing through
museum galleries trying to consume everything in sight. Of artists the author writes:
“By challenging the imagination they nudge our perception a little and, for an instant
at least, the world is remade.” Matar identifies the impetus that underlies the creation
of a work of art: hope. The relationship between artwork and viewer is hopeful in
part because it depends upon a fundamental sharing.
For me, a great source of hope as well as opportunities for discernment come from
conversations with colleagues across the College and our broader community. Recently
I have been reflecting upon a conversation I had with Fr. Greg Lucey SJ last October.
A former President of Spring Hill College, Fr. Lucey had a generous spirit along with
extensive leadership experience and practical knowledge about higher education. He
said: “Core values that give us an appreciation of truth, goodness and beauty are
at the heart of our becoming […] a full human being. That is really at the heart of
why we are in formation, why we are in education.” Emphasizing our task as “developing
the human person,” Fr. Lucey said: “Wholeness is holiness.” This is a wonderful summary
of the need for leisure, listening and life-giving integration.
This month has brought a wealth of opportunities for thought-provoking reflection
and discernment through interactions with many of you. I loved attending the research
poster session by undergraduates in chemistry and then, that same afternoon, the philosophy
department’s Aquinas Lecture by Dr. Sally Haslanger. The outstanding 2021 Summit on Poverty, co-sponsored by Marquette, included presentations by several of our colleagues,
including faculty members from history, philosophy, political science, social and
cultural sciences and beyond. Earlier this month I traveled to Washington, D.C. and
visited Marquette’s legendary Les Aspin Center for Government, located in the heart of the city on Capitol Hill. It was a delight to meet with
colleagues there including the trailblazing Director Fr. Tim O’Brien and to engage
with this semester’s Aspin students through a class discussion about their studies
and internships. We will continue to expand access for students to transformational
experiences like this. Such opportunities are a hallmark of an Arts & Sciences education
at Marquette. They prepare students to Be The Difference in life, work and civic engagement.
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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