This volume is a welcome contribution to the many conversations about pedagogy. It places in dialogue two groups deeply engaged in active, creative, and liberating educational strategies from feminist and Ignatian perspectives. Important background for this conversation is an inquiry into the lives of the women who were part of the early Jesuit mission. Who were they? What did they do? What were their gifts, virtues, and failings? How did they present themselves? What kinds of relationships did they have and how did these associations affect those involved? What hopes did they have for their lives and the world?¹ Detailed...

In the summer of 2006, we undertook a ten-day Ignatian pilgrimage along with several Jesuit university colleagues. Our intention when we began our journey was to write from a feminist perspective about our experiences learning about the history of a religious order of men. We set out to discover how women fit into the history of the early Jesuits to which we would be exposed, thinking that the focus would arise from the holes in the story—the places where women should have been found but were missing. What we encountered on the pilgrimage, however, differed from what we expected...

Having built one of the most prestigious and influential systems of education in the world, the Jesuits have been and continue to be well positioned to influence social and public life. Although theRatio Studiorum, the blueprint of studies published in 1599, is no longer the official guiding document for Jesuit educational institutions, still its influence in the curriculum remains, especially in the emphasis placed upon philosophy and theology in undergraduate programs and in the prominent position given to the history of philosophy and medieval philosophy in particular within the curricula of many philosophy graduate programs. My main question in...

Jesuit education, from its inception, has retained its vitality and relevance through its interaction with other faiths and philosophical traditions. It is a tribute to the early teachers of the Society of Jesus, led by Ignatius Loyola, that they maintained a core set of principles and beliefs informed by their sense of spirit and rigorous search for truth while contributing to many of the leading intellectual achievements that developed in different cultural and historical contexts. As in the past, social and cultural diversity still give rise to a range of opportunities and challenges for Jesuit universities. At the twenty-first century’s...

Pedagogies are not, at their best, disembodied theories to be applied prescriptively in any and every conceivable situation. The best of them are flexible methods with an internal sensitivity to the context out of which they initially emerged and the many and varied contexts in which they might profitably be applied. Flexibility is essential, given the number of variables at work in the educational process. Even within the classroom—which is by no means the only or perhaps even the most important component in education—instructor, student, institution, and social context are each a moving target, never still and always...

Many alternative or “liberatory” pedagogies share common or related philosophical roots and have evolved through decades (and in some cases centuries) of debate about the role of education in society, the appropriate curriculum, the ideal nature of classroom interaction, effective relationships among teachers and students, and the desired outcomes of education in a multicultural democracy. Three such pedagogies are explored in three usually divergent literatures: feminist pedagogy, Ignatian pedagogy, and service-learning pedagogy. This chapter brings these literatures together in an exploration of the commonalities among the three pedagogical traditions, in which their historical and philosophical roots are discussed, some shared...

In May of 2006, the board of trustees and the administration of Boston College announced their decision to invite then–U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to address the graduating class and to receive an honorary doctorate of laws. This decision provoked dissension within the university community. Kenneth Himes, chair of the Department of Theology, and David Hollenbach of the Society of Jesus wrote a measured letter objecting not to the address but to the conferral of the degree. Across the university’s colleges and schools, groups of faculty and students protested—signing the letter; distributing leaflets; organizing rallies, panel discussions,...

Jesuit and feminist educators, despite what ideological differences exist between them, embrace the moral necessity of teaching for social justice.¹ Teaching for social justice involves creating a pedagogy focused on improving the lives of those disenfranchised by the larger culture.² This common goal reflects similar core values and assumptions arrived at from two different ethical perspectives: Christian ethics and an ethic of care.³ While Jesuits and feminists share this common ground, they teach in a culture in which the moral concept of justice dominates. The concept of justice assumes independence, equality, and reason, while Christian ethics and an ethic of...

In a recent ethics class, my students and I were discussing the Civil Rights Act, in particular Title VII, on equal employment opportunity. This portion of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to discriminate in employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The class was considering whether or not sexual orientation ought to be added to the list. In some places it remains legal to fire someone simply because of his or her sexual orientation. We were considering whether or not this is fair and consistent with a principled commitment to the moral...

In the fall of 2004 I was a young history professor enjoying my second year of a postdoctoral fellowship at Valparaiso University, a Lutheran college in Indiana. I was given the opportunity to teach an honors course in my research area, a class I titled Faith and Feminism in America. Two weeks into the course I knew I had a problem. Naively, perhaps, I had crafted a straightforward history course, but after just a few class meetings, it was clear the subject matter would have an unintended impact on the course’s structure and purpose. A religiously diverse group of female...

I remember being an undergraduate at a fine Jesuit institution when a priest walked into a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender student meeting and offered to serve as a much-needed advisor. Many faculty members, awaiting tenure, swamped with teaching and research responsibilities, or simply uninterested, had previously turned us down, and the amicable Father was perhaps the one person on campus we hadn’t asked. This definitely wasn’t my parish priest from back home, and I remember distinctly, and perhaps understandably, being confused about how a man of the cloth could do what so many lay members of the campus community...

The year 2008 marked the tenth anniversary of the V-Day Campaign, an effort to promote the production of Eve Ensler’s playThe Vagina Monologuesin a variety of venues to raise awareness of and funds for groups opposing violence against women. While this annual event has clearly moved into the United States and international mainstreams (over 2,700 college performances were held in the United States as part of the 2006 V-Day Campaign, and numerous nations, including Hungary, Russia, and the United Kingdom, have launched their own V-Day organizations), participation in this movement has been the source of significant debate at...

“For hunchbacks, cripples, those with open sores and women in the church . . . we pray to the Lord.” This powerful petition, reportedly offered by theologian Josephine Massingberd Ford, faculty member from the University of Notre Dame Theology Department, stunned Catholic theologians gathered for their annual meeting in the early 1970s. As one might expect, some worshippers tittered at this proclamation and some were simply mortified.

More than thirty-five years later, the cause of women and their place in the Catholic Church remains of paramount interest. A recent Web search indicated more than 1.7 million sites devoted to the...

In 1999, I was asked to write an article for an issue ofConversations, the journal distributed to Jesuit colleges and universities, about the situation of women in these institutions.¹ Interestingly, that issue was titled “Dangerous Ideas.” I focused on the statement issued by the Society of Jesus’s General Congregation (GC) 34 on “Jesuits and the Situation of Women in Church and Civil Society,” and I was fairly critical of the ways that my institution, Loyola University Chicago, had responded to GC 34’s courageous statement, which called on the Jesuits to incorporate women more fully into their mission. I noted...