UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Garaventa Center

Become a Docent for The Saint John’s Bible

One of UP’s great treasures is our Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible, the first hand calligraphed and illuminated bible text crafted in over 500 years. It serves as a tremendous resource for courses and prayer experiences on campus. If you would like to receive training in the proper handling of the texts, an overview of the whole manuscript and digital access to the 100-plus illuminations, you are welcome to attend one of two training sessions: Tuesday, October 1, at 4 p.m., or Monday, October 7, at 9:30 a.m. Both will be held in the Clark Library classroom, and the material in both sessions will be the same.

If you have any questions, please contact Karen Eifler (eifler@up.edu) in the Garaventa Center.

“The Cross and the Crucifix in Visual Art,” Sept. 24

Join Robin Jensen, theology and art history professor at the University of Notre Dame, as she presents “The Cross and the Crucifix in Visual Art through the Ages” on Tuesday, September 24, at 7:15 p.m., in Franz Hall room 120. The event is free and open to all.

In this richly illustrated lecture, Jensen will explore how the Holy Cross and Christ’s Passion have been depicted in the history of Christian art. Jensen will also discuss reasons for the late emergence of both the cross and crucifixion in Christian iconography and consider the ways their depictions developed, varied, and were transformed in different places through the centuries.

Sponsored by the Garaventa Center. For ADA accommodations or more information go to x7702 or up.edu/garaventa.

Explore Other Realities at Thirst Friday, Sept. 20

Get a taste of the future at the first Thirst Friday of the year! All staff and faculty are warmly welcomed to the Garaventa Center, Franz 330, on September 20 from 4-6 p.m. to mingle with campus neighbors and enjoy great food, conversation and libations…and to try an Oculus virtual reality headset, courtesy of unapologetic technerd Eric Anctil, education. Extra credit for bringing along someone new to UP: first dibs on the headsets!

For more information, contact Karen Eifler at eifler@up.edu.

Marilynne Robinson to offer Zahm Lecture, Sept. 11

Renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson will present the 2019 Zahm Lecture, “Wisdom and Knowledge,” on Wednesday, September 11, at 7:15 p.m., in the Chiles Center. Robinson will touch upon the roles of wonder, grace, and imagination to explore intersections and disconnects between knowledge and wisdom in this lecture that is free and open to all. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. with first-come, first-served seating. Additional parking available in the Franz river campus lot, with frequent shuttles up to the Chiles Center.

Robinson was the recipient of a 2012 National Humanities Medal, awarded by former President Barack Obama, for “her grace and intelligence in writing.” In 2016 she was awarded the Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement Award in American Fiction, as well as the Dayton Peace Prize’s Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. In 2013, she was awarded South Korea’s Pak Kyong-ni Prize for her contribution to international literature. She is the author of Gilead, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award; Home, winner of the Orange Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; and Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her first novel, Housekeeping, won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. Robinson’s nonfiction books include The Givenness of Things, When I Was a Child I Read Books, and Mother Country, which was nominated for a National Book Award. Robinson, professor emeritus at the University of Iowa, taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop for 25 years.

The Zahm Lecture, which annually launches the academic year, addresses important issues confronting American Catholic higher education, and honors Fr. John Zahm, C.S.C., an eminent Holy Cross priest and scientist of the late 19th and early 20th century, who was one of University of Portland’s founders.

For ADA accommodations or further information, please contact the Garaventa Center at 503-943-7702 or garaventa@up.edu.

2020 Holy Cross Pilgrims Selected

The following faculty members have been selected to participate in the June 2020 pilgrimage to the birthplace of Holy Cross in northern France:

  • Debra Stephens, business
  • Nicole Hanig, PFA
  • Gregory Pulver, PFA
  • Casey Shillam, nursing
  • Eric Anctil, education
  • Herbert Medina, CAS
  • Stephanie Salomone, mathematics
  • Heidi Senior, Clark Library

They will join Garaventa Center co-directors Fr. Charlie Gordon, C.S.C., and Karen Eifler, along with a senior faculty member from Notre Dame to walk in the footsteps of Fr. Basile Moreau, C.S.C., and ponder their roles as co-disciples alongside the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Did You Know: Why Pilgrimages?

Pilgrimages are a part of the faith life in many religious traditions, including Catholicism. Different from religious or other tourism, pilgrimages are as much about the one making the journey as they are about the final destination. Typically, pilgrims head to places that are crucial to the stories of their religion, or to sites tied to key people within a religious tradition. Places of miraculous healing, holiness and miracles are frequent destinations: think Lourdes, Fatima or the Holy Sepulchre. Participants in Catholic pilgrimages leave room for the Holy Spirit to transform them along their travels.

On Monday, May 6, UP students and 4 staff/faculty accompaniers will embark on a pilgrimage to El Salvador, home of one of the Church’s most recent saints, Archbishop Oscar Romero, canonized in September 2018. While in El Salvador, they will visit, worship, and reflect at the church of his martyrdom, talk with citizens committed to working for justice in the country, and walk alongside others engaged in the struggles for peace, both living and dead. All members of the UP community are invited and encouraged to keep these pilgrims in their prayers throughout the week: Megan Caren, Joshua Bode, Taylor Cole, Ana Clyde, Quinn Burdick, Sophia Truempi, Sofia Ortega, Justin Manahan, Fr. Jim Gallagher C.S.C., Alex Roth, Maria Echenique, and Karen Eifler.

“Did You Know?” is a sort of regular feature in upbeat to help staff and faculty understand dimensions of this Catholic, Holy Cross university. You can send questions to Fr. Jim Gallagher (Campus Ministry) or Karen Eifler (Garaventa Center).

Toast Portland Magazine at Thirst Friday, April 26

The Garaventa Center cordially invites all faculty and staff to a special edition of Thirst Friday on April 26, from 4-6 p.m., in Franz Hall room 330. With live jazz from 4-5, a 5 p.m. toast to Jessica Murphy Moo and the re-launch of Portland Magazine, and an “Only in Portland” tasting menu, this is a Thirst Friday not to be missed! It’s the last one for this academic year, so bring along a colleague or two and (weather permitting!) enjoy our beautiful patio along with tasty treats, assorted libations and great conversation. For more information contact Karen Eifler at eifler@up.edu.

 

The Crucifix and Catholicism: Did You Know?

Do you know why Catholics use Crucifixes?

Around campus and in the classrooms, there are crucifixes hanging on the walls. Why is this such a popular representation of Jesus of Nazareth? In part it is because this representation of the suffering and death of Jesus points to much of the good news that He came to proclaim. On the cross is a body; it is a reminder of the fact that the eternal Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. That body is nailed to the cross, which in part answers the question of where God is when things seem so hard–He does not run away, He enters into life’s trials with us. As well it is the representation of how far Jesus is willing to go out of love for all people. It is a reminder of the manner of how Jesus went about winning His victory over sin and death: by entering into death itself.

The Crucifix can then serve as a wonderful reminder of the depth of God’s love and the efforts to which He is willing to go to in removing the barriers to living in fullness of life with God, two of the main barriers being sin and death. Also speaking to this reality is the motto of the Congregation of Holy Cross: Ave Crux Spes Unica – Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope.

“Did You Know?” is a regular feature in upbeat to help staff and faculty understand dimensions of this Catholic, Holy Cross university. You can send questions to Fr. Jim Gallagher, C.S.C. (Campus Ministry) or Karen Eifler (Garaventa Center).

 

 

 Lenten Visio Divina, April 17

Campus Ministry and the Garaventa Center invite you to join with others for Lenten Visio Divina on Wednesday, April 17, during Holy Week, from 12:35-1 p.m., following noon Mass in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. Visio Divina is an ancient form of Christian prayer in which we allow our hearts and imaginations to enter into a sacred image, in silence, to see what God might have to say to us. Our meditation will focus on an illumination from The Saint John’s Bible.

For more information contact the Garaventa Center at x7702 or up.edu/garaventa. (Image credit: Suffering Servant, Donald Jackson, Copyright 2005, The Saint John’s Bible.)