The Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will have its only meeting of the spring semester on Friday February 19 3:30-5 p.m. on Zoom, according to Norah Martin, philosophy. The group will be discussing “Stewardship and the Roots of the Ecological Crisis” by Brian Henning, “Entering the Bardo” by Joanna Macy, and James Wright’s poem “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island Minnesota.” The readings and the Zoom link can be found on the Garaventa Center website. All faculty and staff are welcome to attend.
Norah Martin
Karen Eifler to Head Collegium, June 2022
Karen Eifler, professor of education and co-executive director of the Garaventa Center, has been named as the next executive director of Collegium after founding executive director Tom Landy’s retirement on June 30, 2022. Collegium was founded in 1992 to help faculty at Catholic colleges and universities better understand the mission of Catholic higher education, and to invite and help prepare them to become leaders in advancing that mission in creative ways. The administration of Collegium will be transitioned from College of the Holy Cross to University of Portland.
Collegium is best known for its annual week long summer colloquy on faith and intellectual life, where faculty of all religious backgrounds and disciplines can learn about the legacy and priorities of Catholic higher education, think about their own vocation as teachers and scholars, and discern how their commitments and talents can enhance the mission of their institution. Nearly 2,000 faculty have participated in these colloquies over the last 27 years. Keynote talks, intensive small group discussions and opportunities for reflection and prayer are interwoven in ways that leave participants feeling intellectually invigorated, with a renewed sense of purpose.
Members of the Collegium search committee unanimously brought Eifler forward for board ratification finding her deep integration of the Catholic intellectual tradition, her humility, and her commitment to Collegium made her the obvious and natural choice for the next executive director.
For more information contact Norah Martin, philosophy and environmental studies, at martin@up.edu.
Faith & Intellectual Life Discussion Group, Oct. 23: All Welcome!
The Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will have its only meeting of the fall semester on Friday, October 23, 3:30 to 5 p.m., on Zoom, according to Norah Martin, philosophy. We will be discussing “Sacrifice, Race, and Indifference” from Send Lazarus: Catholicism and the Crisis of Neoliberalism by Matthew Eggemeier and Peter Fritz (Fordham University Press, 2020). The reading and the Zoom link can be found on the Garaventa Center website using this link. All faculty and staff are welcome to attend.
Faith & Intellectual Life Discussion Group: Jan. 31
The next meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will be Friday, January 31, 3:30 to 5 p.m., in the Murphy Room. We will discuss Thomas Merton’s essay “Rain and Rhinoceros,” Andrew Guest’s essay in Oregon Humanities, “Pursuing a Science of Happiness,” and the poem “Happiness,” by Jane Kenyon. All readings are available here on the Garaventa Center website’s FILDG page. All faculty and staff are welcome and refreshments will be served.
Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group, Nov. 8
The next meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will be on Friday November 8, from 3:30-5 p.m., in the Murphy Room. The group will discuss Phillip Goff’s “Believers Without Belief,” Peter Atterton’s “A God Problem,” and the short film (9 minutes) Powers of Ten. Links to the readings and film can found on the Garaventa Center website’s FILDG page. All faculty and staff are welcome. Refreshments will be served.
Faith & Intellectual Life Discussions Group: Sept. 13
The first meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group for the 2019-2020 academic year will be Friday, September 13, 3:30-5 p.m., in the Murphy Room in Franz Hall. We will be discussing “Is There a God?” by Stephen Hawking, “What about God?” by Martin Rees, and the poem “If There Is No God” by Czeslaw Milosz. All readings are available on the Garaventa Center website. All faculty and staff are welcome. Refreshments will be served.For more information contact Norah Martin, philosophy/environmental studies, at x7138 or martin@up.edu.
2018-2019 Faculty Awards Announced
The University of Portland 2018-2019 Faculty Awards were presented on Tuesday, May 7, at the Faculty Awards Dinner, with the following results:
- The James Culligan Award, established in 1953 in memory of a dedicated servant of the University and presented annually to a faculty member in recognition of distinguished service, was presented to Sr. Angela Hoffman, OSB, chemistry. Winners of the Culligan Award wear the medal with their academic regalia, as a sign of the University’s highest faculty honor. Sr. Hoffman’s citation includes “With deep respect and great admiration, we recognize a professor whose tireless efforts to lessen the suffering of people stricken with cancer are nothing short of heroic. A research chemist, distinguished teacher and mentor, and consecrated religious, this professor has long exemplified the ideals and mission and holy work of our University.”
- The Deans’ Award for Faculty Leadership, presented annually to a tenured faculty member who exemplifies, in an extraordinary way, the qualities of teaching and scholarship described in the University’s Articles of Administration for appointment, advancement in rank, and tenure, was presented to Lisa Reed, Pamplin School of Business.
- The Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, presented annually by the University’s Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who is a particular exemplar of the University’s commitment to superb teaching, was presented to Christin Hancock, history.
- The Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship, presented annually by the University’s Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who presents unusually significant and meritorious achievement in professional scholarship during the past two academic years, and whose work substantively enhances the effectiveness of his or her classroom teaching, was presented to Aaron Wootton, mathematics.
- The Faculty Award for Outstanding Service, presented annually by the University’s Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who is an exemplar of the University’s commitment to service, was presented to Bill Barnes, Pamplin School of Business.
Sr. Carol Dempsey, OP, theology; Larry Larsen, performing and fine arts; and Norah Martin, philosophy, each received the Christie Award as well.
For more information contact the provost’s office at x7105 or staten@up.edu.
Faith & Intellectual Life Discussion Group, March 22
The next meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will be Friday, March 22, 3:30 to 5 p.m., in the Clark Library Conference Room (please note the change of venue from previous meetings this year). We will be reading “Archbishop Desmond Tutu: The Essence of What It Means to be Human” by Keymanthri Moodley and the Introduction and Chapter 6 of “Ecological Education and Spirituality” from Laudato Sí by Pope Francis. Readings are available on the FILDG page of the Garaventa Center website. All faculty and staff are welcome. Refreshments will be served.
Faith & Intellectual Life Discussion Group Meeting Jan. 25
The next meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will be Friday, January 25, 3:30-5 p.m., in the Murphy Room. The group will be discussing “The Poison We Pick” by Andrew Sullivan, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” by Jean M. Twenge, and the poem “What We Want” by Linda Pastan. Readings can be found on the Garaventa Center website. All faculty and staff are welcome. Refreshments will be served. For more information contact Norah Martin, philosophy, at martinn@up.edu.Faith & Intellectual Life Discussion Group: Nov. 9
The next meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will be held on Friday, November 9, at 3:30 p.m., in the Murphy Room, according to Norah Martin. The group will be discussing “Seeing is Believing: What Flannery O’Connor Meant by ‘Vision” by Cassandra Nelson, “Practice Makes Reception: The Role of Contemplative Ritual in Approaching Art” by Joanna Ziegler, and the poem “Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians” by Matthew Minicucci. All readings can be found at this link. Refreshments will be served. All faculty and staff are welcome.