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TABLE OF CONTENTS Since the inception of the order, the Jesuits have been well known for their contributions as teachers and founders of educational institutions. Today, the Jesuits maintain over 600 colleges, universities, technical schools, seminaries, primary schools and high schools in more than 40 countries. Over half of these schools are in India. A typical statement of the mission of a Jesuit school will often contain concepts such as the pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning and life-long spiritual and intellectual growth. Under General Superior Pedro Arrupe (1965-1983), the Jesuit’s commitment to social justice and the preferential option for the poor was revitalized and has emerged as a dominant theme of the Jesuits’ work. Before this time, assisting the poor and marginalized had been assigned to those Jesuits who worked in the “social apostolate.” But in its new incarnation, Arrupe intended the commitment to social justice to infiltrate every area of Jesuit ministry, including education. Arrupe suggested that the primary goal of educational institutions is to form students who would have the skills and intelligence to change the world for the better, particularly for those who are poor. “Today our prime educational objective must be to form men-and-women-for others; … men and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.”2 - Pedro Arrupe, S.J. In this spirit, the mission statement of John Carroll University reflects the traditional themes of Jesuit education as well as the emphasis on the promotion of justice: Several of our Core Values at John Carroll also mention this dedication to service:
For this reason, the Office of Campus Ministry and the Center for Service and Social Action strive to create opportunities for students and the John Carroll community to engage the issues of poverty and social injustice. “John Carroll University exists in order to provide our students with the skills to analyze the real needs of our world and to open their hearts to the many individuals in our world who live lives of struggle, in situations which seem intractable as the result both of human action and inaction – hunger, disease, human rights abuses, illiteracy, discrimination or violence – and often lead to a lack of hope.”3 - Robert Niehoff, S.J. At the Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education Conference at Santa Clara University (2000), Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach suggested that the most effective way to learn about the issues of poverty and injustice is to build solidarity with those who suffer. This involves more than just learning “concepts” about the poor and marginalized but actually having meaningful “contact” with them.4 Immersion experiences, then, which expose students to real people who are facing issues of poverty and injustice, are an ideal environment for fostering this sort of contact. Interaction with those who suffer can often develop into relationship and sometimes friendship. This is “solidarity” at its most profound level because we are most likely to have compassion and advocate for those we consider our friends. Fr. Niehoff has noted that immersion experiences which foster these personal connections move “from powerful personal tourism experiences to a reflective learning experience which challenges our values, personal commitments and ultimately our world view.” “When the heart is touched by direct experience, the mind may be challenged to change. Personal involvement with innocent suffering, with the injustice other suffer, is the catalyst for solidarity which then gives rise to intellectual inquiry and moral reflection. Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of the world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering and engage it constructively,”5 These are the foundational principles of the John Carroll immersion program. For the furtherance of our University mission, we hope that every student and member of the John Carroll community will have the opportunity to engage in one of these intensive service learning experiences. RETURN TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS Through extended discussion, our offices have developed a set of five values that we hope will characterize all of the immersion experiences. Education Immersion experiences are rich learning environments. Interaction with different people and different cultures offers the opportunity for invaluable learning, although this is not easily quantifiable. For example, visiting an elementary school classroom in Mexico can illustrate the intangible aspects of the country’s educational system much better than reading a book on the subject. There is also a great deal of qualitative learning that takes place as students develop leadership skills and the ability to navigate in a different culture. In addition, there are certainly many opportunities for students to quantitatively increase their knowledge about a variety of subjects. Below is a list of topics which have very obvious correlations with the immersion experiences that are offered: History Economics We desire to work collaboratively with the faculty of John Carroll to provide experiences which supplement and enhance the classroom education that students are receiving. We hope to integrate our immersion experiences with existing classes and courses of study and to offer course credit when possible. Currently, students can choose to receive one AR credit for most of our immersions when they complete assigned work in response to their experience. Service One of the most important lessons that students learn through immersion experiences is how to be of service to others. Service often requires that we put our own agendas and ideas on hold so that we can respond to the actual needs of people, rather than the needs that we perceive them to have. Service requires listening and a great deal of work in building relationships. Without these, the people we serve are likely to feel as though we have used them for the purpose of feeling good about ourselves. Service is something that cannot be taught from a book. It must be lived and explored. As students learn to serve, they are likely to discover personal gifts, talents and leadership abilities. When they serve well, they find that they are able to do some definite good, and to improve the situation of others. This is true even when they are only able to serve for a short period of time. As students return to campus, we hope that they will continue their service by sharing their experiences with others in the university community. Students who have participated in an immersion experience are uniquely equipped to educate others about the issues facing the poor and they are key promoters of the social justice culture at John Carroll. Social Justice With direct service as a starting point for students, a deeper purpose of immersion experiences is to help students to consider issues of social justice. Although service may contribute to the short-term needs of a community, students need to ask the bigger questions about the causes of poverty and the possible solutions. Immersion experiences should foster the following questions: What are the reasons that people are in this situation? Community Guided by Christian values, we recognize that we are all part of a global community. No matter how rich or how poor, all people are brothers and sisters under one Creator who gives dignity to all without partiality. Because of this understanding, we are not permitted to isolate ourselves from others or to ignore the suffering of any member of the human family. Immersion experiences are a vehicle to introduce members of the John Carroll Community to other segments of this human family with the hope of generating friendship and solidarity. Students can then discover what resources they have which they can access to serve others. In addition, students are often surprised to find that they are being served by our hosts who are often extremely talented and generous. Students have often reported that they felt that they had received much more than they were able to give. In this way, immersion experiences are truly and “equal exchange” of gifts which empowers both parties. We hope that the entire immersion process will also foster community among the immersion participants and consequently enhance the campus environment. In addition, we expect that this process will help participants to appreciate the greater Cleveland community and consider how they might participate more fully. Spirituality As a Jesuit Catholic University we provide the opportunity for students to explore the intersections between faith and service. Many of the organizations we partner with at our immersion destinations cite faith and spirituality as motivating factors for their work. We encourage our hosts and the immersion participants to speak freely about their faith and convictions. Certain immersion experiences will have a more intentional retreat atmosphere and faith components while others may have less. The spirituality of each trip will be clearly described in the application materials. People of all faiths or no faith are welcome to participate in the immersion program, and all are invited to investigate the spiritual underpinnings which inform the Jesuit commitments to social justice and human dignity. RETURN TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS Working with different groups of people in very different locations can generate a wide range issues for students to explore. Through a diversity of immersion sites we attempt to address the full spectrum of social justice issues. Below is a list of the themes that we try to incorporate within the different immersion experiences:
RETURN TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS IV. DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITES A chart describing the distribution of responsibilities amongst the coordinating office, partnering organization, FSA Leader, Student Coordinator, and Participant can be viewed by click here. |
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