January 29, 2008
The energy level was high, as was the spirit. There was an
enthusiasm for scholarship. You could feel it in the air.
Dozens of St. John’s faculty members from every College and
School and a variety of disciplines filled the room. They were
there, by invitation from the Vincentian Center for Church and
Society, to hear this year’s Vincentian Research Fellows discuss
how the afternoon’s topic,
“Vincentian Higher Education: Crossing Barriers and Extending
Horizons,” is reflected in their current research.
Photo Gallery
Sister Margaret John Kelly, D.C., Director of the Vincentian
Center, welcomed all to the annual Founder’s Week Faculty Research
Luncheon and spoke briefly about the history and raison d’etre of
the Vincentian Research Fellows. The program, she explained, began
in 2000 and “provides opportunities to reflect on Catholic Social
Thought as it influences research and practice.”
The Fellows program, she continued, has always been infused with
the recurrent theme of breaking down borders—geographical,
emotional, intellectual and social—that tend to hamper or deny
justice for all people, and of building a civilization of
love. (Not so coincidentally, this year’s Founder’s Week
theme is “Vincentian Beyond Borders: Building a Civilization of
Love”)
After enjoying a buffet lunch, four Vincentian Research Fellows
of the Class of 2007—John
Angelidis, Ph.D; Peggy Jacobson, Ph.D.; Rene Parmar,
Ph.D.; and Philip
Weinberg, J.D.—took their places on a panel moderated by
Jaime Rodriguez, Ph.D., a Class of 2006 Fellow. Dr. Rodriguez
framed the presentations to follow as responses to and reflections
on the question, “How can our concept of justice gain meaning in
our academic lives?”
One by one, each panelist described how their work embraced the
teachings of St. Vincent de Paul and his concern for the poor and
marginalized. Each brought their own particular story of crossing
borders or breaking down barriers in their research, in their work
or in their lives. Theirs were stories about environmental
protection across borders; providing equal education to all
children no matter the borders they’ve crossed; breaking down
cultural barriers in Nicaragua to assist the disabled and create
accessible programs for them; and breaking down conventional
business barriers that define “corporate responsibility,” and who
is served, by imitating St. Vincent de Paul.
The fifth member of this year’s Class, Karen Leal, Ph.D. is
currently in Turkey on a Fulbright Senior Scholar grant and was
unable to attend.. Her presentation, read by Dean Kathleen Vouté
MacDonald, Ed.D., of the College of Professional Studies,
discussed barriers that existed historically between religious
groups in Turkey and how they were able to break down those
barriers and live together peaceably.
“Collegiality in action” was how Sister Margaret John described
the Q&A session that followed these presentations. “Whenever
this group convenes, in large numbers or in groups of two or
three,” she says, “the borders between disciplines are erased and
reintegrated through interdisciplinary discussions and research
projects.”
She smiled, saying, “It’s the strength of the program.”