This session, Ignatian Pedagogy and Feminist Theory seeks to pick up from Orientation on the important influence of women on the life of Ignatius and the development of his Spiritual Exercises. The readings below, in connection with the previous module about Ignatian Pedagogy, will provide the foundation for our guest presenter, Julie Dowd, DMin. to share with us some of her researdh in these areas and to faciliate a conversation among participants. The session will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 via Zoom: https://Fairfield.zoom.us/j/2076274140
Read: The Intersections of Race, Class and Gender in jesuit and Feminist Education: Finding Trancendent Meaning in the Concrete
by: M. Shawn Copeland
Read: The Personal is Political: At the Intersections of Feminist and Jesuit Education
by: Jocelyn M. Boryczka and Elizabeth A. Petrino
Reflection Questions:
1) Boryczka & Petrino ask whether and how women’s lived experiences are reflected in the mission and identity of a Jesuit university. How would you answer this question from your experience??
2) Shawn Copeland concludes her article with the suggestion, “theological reflection can go a long way toward complementing individual and communal responses to situations of dis-grace–pointing out some of how structures and systems are disordered and deformed.” What are some ways you have noticed or participated in theological reflection at your university? What forms does it take? Is there opportunity for more theological reflection and conversation as we seek to “educate the imagination and discipline the heart?”
Julie Dowd Bio:
Julie Dowd, served as director of University Ministry at the University of San Francisco (USF) from 2010-2020 where she oversaw the spiritual, religious and pastoral needs of the USF community. She earned her doctor of ministry (D.Min.) degree from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. Her doctoral dissertation was on the intersection of women’s spirituality, the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and Jesuit education. Julie has a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, an MA in theology and religious studies from USF and a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration (MNA) also from USF. Before working in University Ministry, Julie served as the associate director of the USF Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought, the program development coordinator at the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, and the director of social ministries at St. Ignatius Parish in San Francisco. She served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps as a case manager at the Hamilton Family Center in San Francisco. Julie was a founding board member of the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN), and a member of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) Campus Ministry Directors’ Conference. She lives in Newburyport, MA with her husband Tim Freundlich and two sons, Milo and Gus.
Afterwards, we will post the video and transcript of the session below.