In addition to these year-long learning communities,
about 55 faculty and administrators are involved in the Sustenance
Program. These smaller learning communities meet four times a year
around a topic proposed by the convener. The Sustenance Program
is supported by the Academic Vice President’s Office, the
Graduate School, the College of Arts and Science, the Boler School
of Business, the Shula Endowment, the Program in Applied Ethics,
the Vice President for Student Affairs’ Office, and the Center
for Teaching and Learning. In May, members of the learning communities
will meet to discuss their activities and to evaluate the viability
of this pilot program. Here’s an update on their activities:
Economic Growth and Social Change in
China
Convener: Susan Long (SOC)
Members: Robert Bloom (AC), Larry Cima(EC), Pamela Mason (PO), Keiko
Nakano (CLML), Paul Nietupski (RL), and Roger Purdy (HS)
The China Learning Community has met to read background pieces and
articles submitted to the group by members. Over a Chinese carry-out
supper, we discussed China's increasing political clout in the international
arena, competition for energy resources, and what the American foreign
policy response to China should be. In particular, we spoke about
Chinese violations of western standards of human rights and workplace
environment, and how these relate to the lack of focus on the individual
in the Chinese intellectual heritage.
We plan three meetings this semester, one of which will be arranged
with this year's Mitsui lecturer. Some of us will also be meeting
with Greg Saverese, the recruiter from the Jesuit Beijing Center,
where we send our China study abroad students.
American Studies
Convener: Debra Rosenthal (EN)
Members: Peter Kvidera (EN), Phil Metres (EN), David Robson (HS),
Mindy Peden (PO), Marvin Richards (CLML), Daniel Kilbride (HS),
Liz Stiles (PO)
The American Studies Sustenance group met in December at Anatolia's
Turkish Café to discuss two works in progress: Debby Rosenthal’s
essay, “How to Do Things with a Letter: The Scarlet Letter
and Performative Speech” and David Robson’s, "'The
Singularities of Their Behavior': Rev. Charles Nisbet's 1790s Critique
of Methodism.” The group met again at the Saffron Patch to
talk about Dan Kilbride's current work on mid-nineteenth century
American travelers’ reactions to 1848 European revolutions.
In February we will discuss Mindy Peden’s “Situating
Race and Nation in the U.S. context.”
Hate Crimes
Convener: Richard Clark (SOC)
Participants: Marcy Milota (Lib), Mary Ball (Coun), Jennifer Wells
(SA), Sheri Crahen (Dean of Students) Doris Donnelly (RL)
Two goals for this learning community have emerged from our discussions.
First, there was a desire to learn more about hate crimes, such
as the origins of intolerance and disrespect, and the various mechanisms
that others-- particularly universities-- have used to control this
behavior. Second, there was a desire to pick a project with a distinct
outcome such as a program or a paper. While we did not reach a consensus
on a particular project, an extensive discussion was held regarding
Women’s Centers and their possible value to women at John
Carroll. Our discussion also involved the number of Jesuit Universities
with Women’s Centers and some possible problems such Centers
may face in Jesuit institutions.
Caring Faculty
Convener: Krystyna Fabrykowski Nowak (ED)
Participants: Sophie Kus-Patena (Asst.Dean) Tom Kelly (ED),
Sophie Romack (MML) Robert Windle (Career Services), John Mack (SA),
John Scarano, (Dir.Campus Min.) Ben Forbes (MML)
In our first meeting, we came up with questions that will be guiding
our discussions and the actions that we are planning to undertake.
We pondered two major questions: What do students need to become
more caring? How can John Carroll be a more caring community?
In our first discussion, we explored preliminary ideas related to
an ethos of a caring educational environment, including how students
learn empathy, tolerance, courage, prudence, and honesty; how they
recognize and accept their own flaws; and how they can learn to
accept constructive feedback. Faculty discussed the idea that caring
can be a complex and contested phenomena. Among the more than a
dozen insights generated during this interchange, several emphasized
that students need experiences through which they comprehend how
their caring for others can make a difference; students need to
learn empathy; and students need to experience community expectations
about care and concern. We are also planning to organize an Advisory
Group around creating a more caring institution. Our reading for
the next meeting is Justice and Caring by Katz, Noddings and Strike.
Leadership
Convener: Jon Smith, MML
Sophie Romack (MML), Nathan Hartman (MML), Hilary Flanagan (Dir.
Career Ser.), Ben Forbes(MML), Duane Dukes (Soc), Paula Fitzgerald
(Cam. Min), Kyle O’Dell (SA), Ryan Knotts (SA), Lisa Ramsey
(SA), Cynthia Scanlon (Career Ser,).
The Leadership Learning Community has two objectives related to
leadership. The first is to provide an opportunity for those interested
in leadership to share their perspectives on leadership and to explore
ways that they might collaborate and learn from each other. Some
possibilities are in research, student development and staff/ faculty
development. A second objective has emerged recently. Because some
members of the learning community are also participating in the
Leadership Development Team Committee (sponsored by Student Affairs)
which focuses on the development of student leadership, the learning
community will consider how they might support and enhance this
program.
The Role of the Intellectual in the 21st Century
Convener: Brenda Wirkus (PL)
Marian Morton (HS), Jeanne Colleran (EN), Dianna Taylor (PL), Joe
Kelly (RL), Jay Newhard (PL), Barbel Such (CLML), Leslie Curtis
(AH), Paul Lauritzen (RL)
In her recent book, Precarious Lives, Judith Butler poses the question
that will be the focus of the group’s first discussion: “If
we are interested in arresting the cycles of violence to produce
less violent outcomes, it is no doubt important to ask what, politically,
might be made of grief besides a cry for war.” Among issues
to be discussed are: 1) how loss is related to renewed violence;
2) the means by which some lives become grief-worthy, while others
are perceived as undeserving of grief or even incomprehensible as
lives; 3) the political implications of sovereignty in light of
the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay; and 4) the anti-intellectual current
of contemporary US patriotism and the power of censorship during
times of war.
On-Line Learning
Convener: Mary Beadle (Dean, Graduate School)
Participants: Chris Faiver (ED), Kathy Roskos (ED), Jeanne Jenkins
(ED), Kathleen Manning (ED), Sheila McGinn (RL), Doug Norris(MT),
Jerry Moreno (MT), Ed Peck (Associate Dean)
At our first meeting, the group decided that it would be helpful
to have a demonstration of what can be done on line. We have since
planned some demonstrations by faculty who have received the Faculty
Development Grant for Distant Education. The first demonstration
will be by Jeanne Jenkins. The FLC members will also be discussing:
“Harnessing Technology to Improve Liberal Learning,”
published by Peer Review: Emerging Trends and Key Issues in Undergraduate
Education.
