CAS News

CAS Highlights

CAS Senior Toast

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20160412_164142The third annual College of Arts & Sciences Senior toast was held on Founder’s Day, April 12th in St. Mary’s Lounge. Hosted by the Dean of CAS and the Student Leadership Advisory Council, CAS faculty and graduating seniors gathered to celebrate the Class of 2018’s journey.

Among the acknowledgements was the announcement of the first Kay Toran CAS Student Award for Excellence in Service, created in honor of 1964 CAS alum Kay Toran. Toran has been continuously living a life of service; she currently serves on the UP Board of Regents and is president of Volunteers for America, a non-profit organization that supports men, women, and children in various stages of transition, including the homeless, from New York to Portland. Three CAS students received this honor, representing the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, respectively.

Dean Andrews made the following remarks in presenting the awards to the honorees:

Ana Fonseca is an English major who exudes a habit of service that challenges and changes structures within the local community here in North Portland. Whether working with Youth and the Law or the Portland Police organization, or the Mayor’s office, Ana had devoted many hundreds of hours serving youth, including as a tutor at Roosevelt High School.  Ms. Fonseca epitomizes the kind of service towards structural change that reflects Kay Toran’s own passion. She will be joining Jesuit Volunteers Corps after graduation.

Gianna Carducci-Huchingson is a Psychology major who personifies a sense of service as mission, as envisioned by the Congregation of Holy Cross in which serving others means serving the compassionate Christ. In particular, Ms. Carducci has worked extensively with refugees from Congo, Ukraine, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan resettling in the City of Portland. Gianna is expecting to be placed next year with the Lutheran Community Services of as a director of Refugee Care Collective.

Noah Forrest is a Chemistry major who possesses a global and international sense of service that lovingly reflects Kate Regan’s own spirit. Mr. Forrest has worked extensively with issues from Rural Immersion in Yakima, WA; immigrant communities in Tucson, AR affected by harsh immigration policies; Friends of Trees here in Portland; and volunteers three hours every Friday with Spanish-speaking children in his capacity as a bilingual volunteer. Mr. Forrest was a Nicaraguan Immersion Coordinator for the Moreau Center and will be working with an organization called Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos at an orphanage in Latin America next year.

Dean Andrews also recognized two retiring faculty with respect and gratitude, Dr. Robert Butler, a professor of Environmental Science, and Fr. Tom Hosinki, professor of Theology.  Graduating senior Ms. Jacqui Howard toasted Dr. Butler. Theology junior Mr. James Paul Gumataotao’s toasted Fr. Hosinki. Both men leave the UP community with contributions of outstanding service, scholarship, and a fantastic inspiration for knowledge.

Dean’s Welcome: Spring 2016

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Staff and faculty portraits
Staff and faculty portraits

Dear Friends of the College of Arts and Sciences,

As the anticipation of spring approaches and we near the conclusion of another successful school year, faculty and staff are recognized for their hard work and innovation, graduating seniors look forward to their future, and the University’s community continues to grow in size and spirit. While we are also in the beginning of the season of Lent, the coming of Easter provides University members a time for reflection and self-examination. During Lent and with the growth of a new year we are called to acknowledge the progress and enterprise of the College by commending several professors and accomplishments.

Congratulations to the seven CAS professors awarded tenure: Bradley Franco (HST), Jennette Lovejoy (CST), Tara Maginnis (BIO), Charles McCoy (MTH), Gregory Pulver (PFA), Mark Pitzer (PSY), and David Taylor (BIO).

Congratulations to the seven CAS faculty members granted sabbatical during one or both semesters of AY2017: Valerie Peterson (MTH), Kathleen McManus (THE) Hannah Callender (MTH), Jeff Gauthier (PHL), Patrick Murphy (PFA), Martin Monto (SOC), Lora Looney (ILC), Amy Beadles-Bohling (BIO), Eugene Urnezius (CHM), Mark Eifler (HST), Allie Hill (ILC), and Oz Bonfim (PHY).

CAS Faculty Recognition and Congratulations:

Martin Monto wins Hugo Beigel Award for Scholarly Excellence

University of Portland sociology professor Martin Monto has received the Hugo Beigel Award for Scholarly Excellence from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. The award goes to the best paper published in their Journal of Sex Research, and was chosen from a field of 70 papers. The award is designed to promote and reward research excellence in sexology. Monto wrote the paper with former UP student Anna Carey as co-author. The award will be presented at the society’s annual conference on Nov. 12-15 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Laura McLary named Oregon Professor of the Year

On Thursday, Nov. 19th, the national Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the international Council for the Advancement and Support of Education awarded University of Portland German professor Laura McLary for her innovation and dedication on teaching international languages, highlighting her leadership in growth of the University’s German language program.

Previous UP professors who have been recognized by the national organization include Kate Regan, who was named National Professor of the Year; Becky Houck, Terry Favero and Karen Eifler, who were all named Oregon Professor of the Year.

Difference Award:

Dr. Sarina Saturn, Department of Psychological Sciences

Dr. Mark Pitzer, Department of Psychological Sciences

Dr. David Turnbloom, Department of Theology

At the beginning of this semester, each senior and junior athlete-student was invited to nominate one professor for The 2015 Difference Award.  The main criterion for this award is that the faculty member embody whatever difference-making characteristic, idea or attitude students felt made a positive and substantial impact in their life as an undergraduate Pilot.  Professors Saturn, Pitzer, and Turnbloom were chosen by our athlete-scholars as key difference-makers at our University.  I know we are all excited that students have chosen to honor three of our colleagues who have touched the lives of undergraduate students and who continue to work hard to make athlete-students successful both in the classroom and on the field. Sarina, Mark, and David will be honored as Difference Award recipients at a public presentation during the UP Men’s Basketball game on Thursday the 18th of February.

I trust you will enjoy reading several stories about our talented students and faculty by catching-up with the most recent edition of the CAS Blog.  In the meantime, I look forward to welcoming you the next time you are on campus, especially if you are planning to celebrate UP Commencement in early May.

Warm regards,

Dr. Michael F. Andrews
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences and
McNerney-Hanson University Endowed Chair in Ethics

Martin Monto Receives The Becky Houck Award for Excellence in Advising

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Dean Andrews and Martin MontoThe Becky Houck Award for Excellence in Advising presented to Dr. Martin Monto at All-College Celebration, February 24, 2016

“This annual Award is named in honor of our beloved CAS faculty colleague, Becky Houck. The Award honors and recognizes an individual who has committed a large part of his or her faculty work to mentoring and advising students — something that doesn’t typically show up on a vitae.   Like past recipients, this year’s award winner exemplifies Becky’s indefatigable spirit and love for helping prepare undergraduate students to live a life of integrity, compassion, and service. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Martin Monto of the Sociology Department as this year’s Becky Houck Award recipient.

Several former students note:

“Dr. Monto helps students find direction and often assists them to creatively pursue double majors or to customize their programs to individual goals and interests. “

“His creativity in advising serves the mission of the University in developing the whole person, which is only successful if we take the time to learn their individual goals and needs. In this regard, Dr. Monto is a rock star.”

“I transferred into the major late from Engineering. Not only did Dr. Monto help me to draw up a plan of classes to help me graduate on time, he also made it possible for me to add a minor in Education and take extra classes my senior year!   After I graduated, my sister (then a sophomore at UP) was having difficulty scheduling classes without much assistance from her assigned advisor. All it took was a single email to Dr. Monto and he immediately took my sister under his supervision as an academic advisor. Professor Monto eased much of my sister’s stress and she actually graduated on time.”

Over the last many years Martin has been a long-term mentor on advising issues for other faculty members in his own department, in CAS, and across the university. Here are several peer comments:

“I regularly discuss advising issues with Monto and routinely solicit his advice on how to best help and mentor students during advising sessions.   . . . I have worked with him to become a better advisor using methods that he has developed over the past two decades.”

“Several years ago, Martin served on the College’s first Advising Consortium. As a member of the consortium, he took an active role in building the initial advising website for the College of Arts and Sciences. He also helped to design and lead an early session focused on advising at the University of Portland on Faculty Development Day. “Dr. Monto has spearheaded several surveys of graduating seniors, each time taking the data received seriously and implementing changes [to the major that would] that help students improve internship experiences and better prepare them for graduate studies.

Martin has been a faculty model in helping further develop the advisor’s role from “course scheduler” to “mentor” or even “life coach.” In his role as mentor to undergraduates, Martin’s good influence reaches beyond simple scheduling and career advice, as he has also sponsored undergraduate research, even publishing an award-winning article with a former student, for which he received the Hugo Beigel Award for Scholarly Excellence for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.

An extension of Martin’s advising / mentoring role to students is clearly evident in his taking the lead on the Green Dot initiative, a university-wide mentoring effort to educate students about violence. Through traditional and non-traditional advising, Martin’s efforts as a respected faculty advisor to students inspires students to live the kind of life of service to one another that represents the highest goal of the College’s educational mission.

I am very pleased to present this year’s 2016 Becky Houck Award for Excellence in Advising to Dr. Martin Monto.”

-Dean Micheal F. Andrews

Junior Parents Weekend

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20160220_groupJunior Parents and Families Weekend 2016

Students, their parents, and interested faculty and staff filled the University’s primary convocation hall, Buckley Center Auditorium, on Saturday morning, February 20th, 2016 for an Academic Showcase spotlighting the College of Arts and Sciences. The Office of Student Activities hosted the Showcase and featured thought-provoking “Ted Talks” styled presentations presented by expert faculty in the humanities, social, and natural sciences showcasing the wide variety of expertise in the College of Arts and Sciences. Through hearing from different disciplines, the speakers gave the audience a chance to sample the offerings a core education provides to students.

Dean Michael Andrews was acting MC for the showcase, and began the event reminding those present of the University’s mission, the education of the head, heart and hands, and what a benefit this mission is to our students. CAS pulls together a required 39 credits of core classes that are the life blood of the University. These core education classes are an important part of a Catholic education which prepares students to be successful throughout their lives. The average graduate today faces a future in which they will change careers a minimum of 5 times. To add to the challenge, changing technology means we don’t even know how that future will look. Our job in the College is to help envision that future. Today’s graduates will live their lives in a world of knowledge we can’t begin to imagine. A strong core education is the best preparation for the challenges our graduates will face.

Dean Andrews shared what a privilege it is for CAS students to associate with the best faculty and the best students. He said faculty members don’t even wait for office hours, they sit with door open, and they want to know “what are you thinking about.” CAS faculty help studentss with the question “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?”

Dr.  Elinor Sullivan, introduced by Dean Andrews, recently received a NIMH grant of almost $4 million, a Bill & Melinda Gates grant and a Murdock Life Science Grant.  Dr. Sullivan’s presentation: “Physiology: The Study of How Our Body Functions” included a slide show giving a visual view of our cells and showing the effects of the obesity epidemic on our bodies and the long-term impact of maternal obesity on the mental health and physiology of the developing offspring. Obesity leads to inflammation and there is increasing evidence that this inflammation damages the body’s ability to function and, importantly, maternal obesity exposes the developing offspring to elevated levels of inflammatory factors that negatively impact the development of critical organs such as the brain. She emphasized that studying maternal obesity does not place any blame on mothers, but rather that we are trying to understand the process by which maternal obesity impacts the developing offspring so we can develop effective therapeutics and preventative interventions. The results of our studies can also be used to provide information to physicians so they can most effectively advise pregnant patients and to policy makers to allow them to create policies to improve our nation’s health.

The second speaker, Dr. Kevin Jones, who is the Social Work Practicum Director, presented on research concerning the relationship between Native American values and Social Work. Dr. Jones mentioned his interest in foster care and other challenges in our society, creating a demand for Social Workers. He proceeded by presenting for the audience “The Circle of Courage in College: Integrating Native American Cultural Principles into Social Work Education.” Dr. Jones introduced research into how Native American concepts can be beneficially applied to the field of Social Work. These Native American values create an environment where every member of the tribe belongs. For example, they don’t even have a word for cousin; those who are related to each other as cousins refer to each other as brother and sister. This belonging environment develops trust, inclusion, warmth, friendship, cooperation, and finally mastery, yielding a positive cascading chain of events that help to develop a whole person who is well-rounded, competent, generous, able to identify their feelings, offers complements, and works well with others. Dr. Jones reviewed each of these attributes and what they look like, such as how true generosity involves real sacrifice. What this means is learning to cope with adversity, deal with competing tasks and priorities, to learn and do better and to develop independence, not as self-sufficiency, but rather the ability to make decisions with the support from belonging.

The final speaker, Dr. Alex Santana spoke of how the core curriculum exposes and engages students in metaphysics. This emphasis on metaphysics is distinctive to the University of Portland and gives students an exposure they otherwise would not have an opportunity to experience. Metaphysics is the study of the nature of the constitution and structure of reality. The study of what “is” is called ontology and the question “is it real” is called cosmology. The question “Is there God?” is ontology and the question “What is space and time?” is cosmology.

Dr. Santana’s presentation was titled “Some Aztec Metaphysics.”  The Aztec view of reality was that universal change is how the universe works, that stability is an illusion. The Aztec had a word “teotl” for the one and only primordial cosmic energy force or power that underlies all existence. This teotl is the underlying of all existence and is entirely non-personal in the same way that electricity is impersonal. Teotl neither likes, loves, nor hates, it just is and should be respected, channeled and nourished. Teotl is the power that makes the universe and all of us go.

The final presentation was followed by a Q&A session in which audience members raised several important points, including some tough questions to the panel.

The CAS Showcase was closed by a thank you to the audience from Dean Andrews. He reminded us again that the goal of UP’s humanities-based, liberal arts University Core Curriculum is to partner with students and parents, that we all want to help students become the kind of people they want to be, the kind of people their parents want them to be, and the kind of people God wants them to be.

Junior Parents and Families Weekend is an annual tradition hosted by the Office of Student Activities and includes presentations from the College of Arts and Sciences and each of the professional schools of the University of Portland. Again this year the presentations gave students and their parents an opportunity to experience first-hand the joy of the University of Portland’s Catholic and Holy Cross mission.

The General

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Courtesy of Thomas Dempsey
Courtesy of Thomas Dempsey

On the evening of Saturday, January 23, 2016, over 400 students, faculty, and guests packed Buckley Auditorium for a special showing of “The General,” a classic black and white silent film staring Buster Keaton that featured a full film score written by Environmental Studies major Dana Coppernoll-Houston as her senior capstone student research project.  Under the directorship of Dr. David DeLyser, the film score was performed live by the UP Orchestra.  Sponsored by the McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics, Dr. Andrews, Dean of CAS, noted that, “The General explores ethical themes of war, love, death, honor, loss, and joy.  Produced in 1926, it is a film that critics have called the greatest comedy ever made, the greatest Civil War film ever made, and perhaps the greatest film ever made.   The film and orchestral score invite us to enter-into a work of art in order to be transformed by it.  The film raises the question of the relationship between ethics and art.  Why do human beings create art / music / poetry / drama / theater at all?  The General illuminates for us deep, moral truths about the human condition.  It is no accident that artists, ranging from Plato’s Republic down to our own American democratic experiment, are often viewed as perhaps the single most dangerous element in society.  After all, artists speak thru the discourse of symbol, illusion, metaphor.  On the other hand, ethics, the Greeks remind us, entails rational discourse amidst the search for virtuous action.  As a work of art, The General pushes rational discourse to its absolute limit.  Think of Greek tragedy, the medieval passion play, 19th and early 20th century Italian and German opera, the works of Moliere and Jean-Paul Sartre and Chekov, improvisational jazz, contemporary RAP music, etc.  In the College of Arts and Sciences, this uneasy relationship between ethics and art underlies what is principally meant by the ‘liberal” or ‘liberating’ arts.  It is what makes the humanities and the liberal arts possible, it is what animates the Catholic sacramental imagination and the Holy Cross mission of this University.”  Edmund Stone, national film score expert, presented a pre-concert film and music talk.

UP Professor Elinor Sullivan Wins $4 Million Grant To Study Maternal Obesity

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Elinor Sullivan

University of Portland’s biology professor Elinor Sullivan won a federal grant worth almost $4 million to conduct research at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. Her research concerns the link between maternal obesity and a high-fat diet on the brain development and mental health of primates. For more information on Professor Sullivan’s grant and research, please click here.

 

Dean’s Welcome: Fall 2015

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Dear Friends of the College of Arts and Sciences,

As we enter deeper into fall semester and anticipate the reflective cycle of Advent and the birth of a new year, let us remember to take time to be grateful for the many gifts of mind, body, and spirit that are ours.  Over and over we are called to be faithful to the call of the prophet Micah: “Act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God.”  In the spirit of sharing and building community, I invite you to catch-up on a number of important initiatives of the College by perusing the CAS Dean’s Report, which is attached below as a download.

This has been a very busy Fall Semester!  We welcomed 368 freshmen into the College of Arts and Sciences Class of 2019 in August.  I am deeply grateful for the good work of the associate deans and the dean’s office staff, the faculty, and our CAS Office Managers for preparing the academic programs offered through the College’s fifteen departments and five interdisciplinary minors.  Also, my gratitude to the upper administration’s strong support in helping us meet our academic responsibilities to serve our majors, minors, and the University Core Curriculum.  Thank you to everyone who had a hand in helping ensure that every UP student continues to receive the very best Holy Cross liberal arts education possible in the humanities and the natural and social sciences.

Integrative Conversations:  Students, faculty, and staff packed the University of Portland Bookstore on Wednesday, November 4th, 2015 for the second Integrative Conversations event hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, the McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics and the Catholic Studies Program.  Dr. Michael F. Andrews (Dean, Philosphy), Dr. Gary Malecha (Political Science), Dr. William Barnes (Economics), Dr. Tina Astorga (Theology), and Dr. Steve Kolmes (Environmental Studies) gathered in the newly renovated bookstore to discuss the implications of climate change on the environment, society, and the entire world.  Their discussion was guided by Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the Environment.  Dean Andrews was acting MC for the night, and began the event by comparing the integration of disciplines present at the event to the integration of the College of Arts and Sciences curriculum.  Through hearing from different disciplines, the speakers gave the audience a chance to understand climate change through multiple different lenses.  Please read the full story of this event, below.

CAS faculty searches:  Currently the College of Arts and Sciences is conducting six replacement faculty searches for AY16.  Since I have the privilege of meeting with all of the final candidates from each search, I know full well the amount of hard work and effort that departments and individuals and search committees consistently extend.  As the dean, I believe there is no single work more important to our academic mission than the hiring of excellent faculty, teachers, researchers, mentors, and colleagues.

Congratulations to nine CAS faculty members granted sabbatical during one or both semesters of AY2016:  Profs. Christin Hancock (HST), Greg Hill (MTH), McRee (SOC), Curtis (POL), Downs (PSY), More (PHY), Orr (ENG), McDonald (ENG), and McLary (ILC).  We wish them success in their scholarly endeavors and look forward to learning more about their research and writing projects when they return to campus.

Program Review is now underway for the Department of Biology.  Thanks again to everyone involved in Biology’s program review and planning for the external visit. Last year’s Program Reviews for Theology and Sociology were very successful and will be helpful for future planning and assessment.  These two departments are awaiting the President’s Response to the External Visitor’s Report; then each department will be invited to share its final reflections in order to close the loop. Special thanks to Associate Dean Norah Martin for helping keep everyone involved, focused, and on-track throughout the ongoing process of assessment.

I am pleased to report that an updated CAS Mission Statement is now posted online.  The Dean’s Task Force met numerous times over the course of eighteen months, reviewing several drafts.  Under the able guidance of Steve Kolmes (Molter Chair in Science), other members of the Task Force included Ed Valente (Chemistry); Cara Hersh (English); Laura McLary (International Languages & Cultures); Dann Pierce (Communication Studies); and Anne Santiago (Political Science).  The Task Force presented the fifth working draft in Spring Semester 2015, which was distributed for comments and recommendations to the faculty.  Dr. Kolmes presented the sixth draft at All-College Meeting on August 27, at which time faculty were given an opportunity to review the statement and share additional comments before a final draft was completed.  The updated CAS Mission Statement is now available on the College’s website.

2015 Murdock College Science Research Conference:  Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year’s annual Murdock Student Research Conference on November 6-7, 2015, co-hosted by the University of Portland in Vancouver, WA.  All of the UP student presentations and poster sessions were excellent.  Special congratulations to UP students Calli VanderWilde and Brooke Homes and Dr. Ted Eckmann, ENV faculty advisory, who received a Murdock Poster Prize in Environmental Science for excellent student poster presentations in the life sciences:  “Performance of a Vegetated Roof with Xeric Species in Portland, OR”

The second CAS All-College Council will take place on Friday, January 22, 3:30-5PM. This is meeting of all CAS department chairs, program directors, and directors of minors provides an annual gathering of CAS academic leadership.

Some special CAS Faculty to Congratulate:

Congratulations to Dr. Robert Butler (Environmental Studies) who has been awarded the 2015 Neil Miner Award in honor of his exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth sciences.  Dr. Butler is a professor of science in the Department of Environmental Studies and received the Fred Fox Distinguished Service to Science Education Award from the Oregon Science Teachers Association in October, 2014.  Bob will be officially retiring from UP at the end of fall semester, and we look forward to celebrating this important occasion with him later in the year.

Dr. Christina Astorga’s (Chair, Theology) second book, Catholic Moral Theology and Social Ethics: A New Method, won third place in the Catholic Press Association book Award for 2015.  Tina also received the 2014 College Theological Society Best Book Award.

Dr. Alice Gates (Sociology and Social Work), is this year’s winner of the Marie O. Weil Outstanding Scholarship Award, co-sponsored by the Association of Community Organizations and Social Administration (ACOSA) and Taylor & Francis Publisher. Dr. Gates’ article, “Integrating social services and social change: Lessons from an immigrant worker center,” was based on her multi-year ethnography of an immigrant workers’ organization in southeastern Michigan. The award recognizes outstanding scholarship published in the Journal of Community Practice and is based on contributions to the field, scholarly approach, and promotion of macro practice values.

Warm regards,

Michael F. Andrews, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
McNerney-Hanson University Endowed Chair in Ethics and
Professor of Philosophy

Integrative Conversations: The Encyclical on the Environment

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Students, faculty, and staff packed the University of Portland Bookstore on Wednesday, November 4th, 2015 for the Integrative Conversations event hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, the McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics and the Catholic Studies Program.  Dr. Michael Andrews (Dean, Philosphy), Dr. Gary Malecha (Political Science), Dr. William Barnes (Economics), Dr. Tina Astorga (Theology), and Dr. Steve Kolmes (Environmental Studies) gathered in the newly renovated bookstore to discuss the implications of climate change on the environment, society, and the entire world. Their discussion was guided by Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the Environment. Dean Andrews was acting MC for the night, and began the event by comparing the integration of disciplines present at the event to the integration of the College of Arts and Sciences curriculum.  Through hearing from different disciplines, the speakers gave the audience a chance to understand climate change through multiple different lenses.

Though climate change is often viewed as an environmental issue, the discussion proved that its effects reach much further.  The topics discussed included environmental impact, political implications, gender issues, economics, power disparities, theology, ethics, anthropology, and many more.

Malecha
Dr. Gary Malecha

Dr. Malecha spoke to the political agenda present in the Encyclical and how it is an encompassing document that offends every political party in the United States.  He also mentioned how this document covers more than just climate change—but rather the character of the world and how we act towards it.  Dr. Malecha argued that the Encyclical more than anything is a political document and wonders how we can all discuss the matters of climate change when we are all speaking different languages and are unable to hear views that dissent from our own.

Barnes
Dr. William Barnes

Dr. Barnes viewed the Encyclical as document that engages social questions and he used economic theory to touch on these social questions.  One of his major points was that future generations are not only going to carry a bigger burden of trying to deal with and find solutions for climate change, but they are also going to bear a greater economic burden in doing so.  Dr. Barnes viewed this document as a call to action and based his discussion mostly around societal and economic implications that the ever-changing climate has on the world.

Dr. Tina Astorga
Dr. Tina Astorga

Dr. Astorga discussed how the Encyclical is more than just a political statement, but rather it brings social justice issues into question. She talked mostly about the disadvantages that this global crisis has on the poor and underprivileged nations.  Dr. Atorga is from the Philippines, and discussed her views of American culture and consumerism from the view of experiencing them all for the first time, and comparing them to what she experienced growing up in the Philippines.  She also talked about how the larger nations are in a way outsourcing the climate crisis to other nations by moving factories and thus waste to underprivileged nations. Her overarching question of the night was how should human kind relate to the earth and how should we see ourselves in relation to the earth. She argues that the Encyclical, more than anything is a religious document.

Kolmes
Dr. Steve Kolmes

Dr. Kolmes discussed how humans act as if we made the Earth and treat it as so, when the Earth is a gift that is given to everyone. Although Portland is a small place in the scheme of the world, it is a good place to start implementing environmentally conscious ideas according to Dr. Kolmes.  He talked about how there is always a discussion about protecting the Earth for our grandchildren, but claimed that this is not an issue that the college aged generation should be concerned as much about, but it is rather his generation that should be focusing on working on solutions now because the new generation of people in college are his grandchildren—and the older generation is failing them by waiting for them to make the changes.

A 45-minute student / faculty Q&A session raised several important points, including that not everyone sees the world the same way and so we must be able to understand and to be open to perspectives that are different from our own.  This is one of the goals of UP’s humanties-based, liberal arts University Core Curriculum, namely, that until we learn to have integrated conversations about these issues, we will just be shouting past one another rather than having productive conversations with each other.

This event was the second Integrative Conversations event hosted at the University of Portland by the McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics, The Catholic Studies Program, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Collaborative for Reason, Ethics, and Faith (REF).  Based on the tremendous success of both events, additional “Integrative Conversations” topics and events will be planned.  Also, Dean Andrews will be hosting a series of follow-up discussions concerning Pope Francis’ Encyclical, “Laudato Si’:  On Care for Our Common Home,” with faculty and students from the College and the professional schools as an ongoing activity of the McNerney-Hanson “Ethics Across the Curriculum” initiative.  To read the Encyclical and to learn more about this ongoing conversation, visit this link.

–Written by Joanna Monaco, Class of 2017

It’s Registration Season–Are You Ready?

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computer-mouseJust as midterms wrap up and the rush of finals is ever too near, make sure to set a chunk of time aside to meet with your advisor and work on a schedule for next semester.  With registration for the Spring Semester beginning next week, be sure that you have met with your Academic Advisor to receive your Registration PIN.  For more information on the Registration Process, the Registrar’s Office has a step-by-step guide on registration.  If you have any questions, don’t be shy–contact the College’s Advising Suite by visiting Buckley Center 216, calling 503-943-7221 (or ext. 7221, on campus), or by email at:  cas@up.edu and there will be someone to help you though each step of the registration process

Unsure of who your academic advisor is? You can find that information on Self-Serve, through PilotsUP.

Simply go to:  Student > Student Records > View Student Information > Select the appropriate term > and your Primary Advisor will be listed.

If you have met with your advisor and still have questions about your progress towards a degree, or you credit fulfillment, check out degree works.  You can visit the office of the Registrar website for more information about how degree works operates and how to access your student account.