July 22, 2008
First Class of International Students
Receive Master’s Degrees in Global Development and Social Justice
at St. John’s University’s Rome Commencement
Highlighting the 12th St. John’s University Commencement
ceremony in Rome, Italy this past weekend was the first graduating
class of the Master’s Concentration in Global Development and
Social Justice program. On July 20 Rev. Donald J.
Harrington, C.M., President of St. John’s University, conferred
graduate degrees upon a total of 40 students, who received Master
of Arts in Government and Politics, Master of Arts in Liberal
Studies and Master of Business Administration degrees during the
ceremony.
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Twelve students representing the United States, Canada, Haiti,
India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Rwanda graduated from the
two-year Master’s concentration offered by St. John’s in
partnership with Caritas of Rome (a member of the Caritas worldwide
network of Roman Catholic relief, development, and social service
agencies).
“The students in the Global Development and Social Justice
Concentration have continually surpassed our expectations, taking
us in directions we never imagined we would go,” said Rev.
Jean-Pierre Ruiz, S.T.D., Director of the Master of Arts in
Liberal Studies Program. “The extent of networking that has
taken place in these first two years has shown us how effective
distance learning can be in building a global community where
students can truly enjoy and learn from each other.”
The 12th annual Commencement Exercises also honored friends and
supporters of the University including His Eminence Leonardi
Cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental
Churches, who was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws,
Professor Emmanuele Francesco Maria Emanuele, President of
Fondazione Roma, who received the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine
Arts, Ms. Lesley-Anne Knight, Secretary General of Caritas
Internationalis, who received the honorary degree of Doctor of
Humane Letters, Very Reverend Michael J. Carroll, C.M., Provincial
of the Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Mission, who was
presented with the International Medal and Reverend Monsignor Albin
J. Grous, S.T.D., Pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle Church, Drexel
Hill, PA, who was presented with the President’s Medal.
The inaugural class of the Global Development and Social Justice
students assembled in Rome in July 2006 for a special orientation
directed by Rev. Ruiz, Dr. Jeffery E. Olson, Associate Vice
President of Online Learning & Services, Dr. Kevin Rioux and
Professor Kathryn Shaughnessy of the Library and Information
Sciences. While in Rome, these students completed the
Introductory Seminar and a course on the anthropology of
development. At the end of July, students returned to their
own countries to complete the required coursework through distance
learning on notebook computers distributed by St. John’s and
equipped with wireless internet and Skype voice-over IP software
that allowed students and instructors to communicate with each
other from around the world.
Conceptualized by
Dr. Annalisa Saccà , Professor of Italian at St. John’s, and
Dr. Riccardo Colasanti, General Secretary for Caritas of Rome, the
Master of Arts in Liberal Studies with a Concentration in Global
Development and Social Justice, places the impressive information
technology resources of St. John’s University (ranked by Intel as
one of the top ten unwired colleges) at the service of the Church’s
mission to advance sustainable global development and social
justice. St. John’s University, Caritas of Rome, and the
Idente Foundation provide scholarship funding for students from
around the world, with a special emphasis on students from the
world’s least developed nations.
“After reading the capstone projects researched and written by
our graduating students, it is clear that they have acquired
important tools and skills with which they will be able to identify
and address key development priorities, and will implement
strategies for addressing these issues that embody key values of
Catholic social teaching, especially of respect for the dignity of
every human being,” Rev. Ruiz added.
Interest in the program has grown worldwide and can be seen
through an increase in applications for this highly selective
program. Students who have completed the first year of
coursework and will graduate in 2009 represent Palestine, Bulgaria,
Ghana, Nigeria, Italy, Russia and the United States. The
latest entering class, meeting in Rome this month for orientation,
will be studying from their homelands of the Philippines, Haiti,
Kenya, Nigeria, India and the United States.
For more information, please contact Dominic Scianna, Vice
President for Media Relations at St. John’s University, by calling
(718) 990-6185, or by e-mail to sciannad@stjohns.edu.