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Mission and Identity Reading Group

The Mission and Identity Reading Group’s first meeting is Wednesday, September 25 at 4:30 p.m. in Loyola Hall. Wine and cheese will be provided. Faculty interested in joining the group should contact Marshelle Woodward, assistant professor of English, at  woodwar3@canisius.edu, or Rev. Patrick Lynch, S.J., professor emeritus of religious studies, at lynchp@canisius.edu, to ensure that we have enough food and drink for the occasion.

Texts can be found on D2L in the Canisius Colleagues & Companions Group under Reading Group 2019-20.

Reading Group Description: What does it mean to be an educator at a Jesuit institution? What are the roots of Jesuit ideals like magis, cura personalis and eloquentia perfecta, and how might we engage meaningfully with these ideals in our classrooms? What is the Ignatian Pedagogigcal Paradigm, and how does it resonate across the disciplines? How might Jesuit values intersect with, amplify, or, in some instances, disrupt our established pedagogies?

Our goal: To develop a deeper and more dynamic engagement with Canisius’ Jesuit mission.

Reading Selections: For our first meeting, we will read selections from the 1599 Ratio Studiorum, the document that standardized early Jesuit curriculum and pedagogy. We will also read Philip Shano’s short article on “Dining with St. Ignatius Loyola: Rules for Regulating One’s Eating.”

The group’s yearlong direction will be determined at our first meeting; however, each session is likely to include at least one primary text and one scholarly article, the latter of which will generally be tied to pedagogy. We are interested in centering one upcoming meeting on the topic of Educating for Justice, focusing especially on the topic of sustainability. Selected readings might include excerpts from Fr. Pedro Arrupe’s foundational “Promotion of Justice and Education for Justice” and Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si.

Submitted by: Marshelle Woodward, PhD, assistant professor, English

Online Faculty Development Course Begins Next Week

The Center for Online Learning & Innovation (COLI) offers a five-week mini-course for Canisius College faculty that prepares professors to teach online and hybrid courses.  This course provides many practical tips for teaching online, but more importantly, helps faculty explore new pedagogies for active learning, social presence and community building in courses on the Internet. The core of COLI’s approach to online teaching and learning is that the professor is the single most important element in successful student learning. The Online Faculty Development Course (OFDC) helps professors achieve a strong teaching presence within their online and hybrid courses.  The OFDC also simulates a quality online course, so participating faculty get a sense of what it’s like to be an online student.

All Canisius College faculty are eligible to participate in the OFDC.  Whether you plan to teach an online or hybrid course in the future, aren’t yet sure you’ll teach online, or would just like to know more about online courses and coursework, this is an excellent opportunity.  The next OFDC begins next week – enroll by contacting coli@canisius.edu!

Submitted by: Mark Gallimore, director, COLI