Mission Resources for Faculty
Faculty who choose to join a Jesuit university become part of a centuries-long educational tradition rooted in cura personalis (care for the whole person) and cura apostolica (care for the whole work/project). Like other Jesuit institutions, Saint Louis University provides a rigorous, humanistic education that aims to prepare students for lives of commitment to the common good. Faculty from all (and no) faith backgrounds and traditions find meaning and purpose in SLU’s mission.
Whether you already have deep experience with Jesuit education or are brand new to it, you will find many different opportunities to learn more about the ways in which Jesuit values animate SLU’s mission and institutional culture.
SLU’s Jesuit, Catholic identity shapes faculty work in a variety of ways: from teaching in the Ignatian tradition to engaging in research that seeks to positively impact society, from engaging in reciprocal partnerships with community organizations to providing healthcare within the St. Louis community.
Below are just a few of the resources that can help you connect our Jesuit, Catholic heritage to your work as a faculty member.
SLU’s Division for Mission and Identity offers a range of opportunities for faculty to learn and engage with the history, principles, and charisms of Jesuit education. Faculty will find programming and experiences aimed at four levels of knowledge – Introductory, Deepening, Immersive, and Fluency. Most programming focuses on one or more of the following: Jesuit and SLU History and Values; Catholic Intellectual Tradition; Ignatian Leadership Skills; Ignatian Pedagogy; Ignatian Spirituality; and the Faith that does Justice (Service). The Shared Mission program provides a basic introduction to the mission of Jesuit education in general as well as the Jesuit mission lived out at SLU.
The Reinert Center is SLU’s teaching center. They work with instructors at any stage of their career on course design and instruction. While all of their work is guided by SLU’s mission and values, their work on Ignatian pedagogy — an instructional model adapted from the principles of Ignatian spirituality — is often of particular interest to SLU who wish to learn more about the ways in which Jesuit values can inform their approach to teaching. In addition to working one-on-one with individual instructors, the Reinert Center also offers regular Ignatian Pedagogy Programming for faculty.
Rooted in SLU’s Jesuit-inspired mission of seeking truth “for the service of humanity,” the Center for Social Action promotes experiential learning opportunities that draw together people from diverse backgrounds and into contact with the world’s injustices. As one element of its work, the center assists SLU faculty in engaging with organizations in the St. Louis community for partnership in areas such as community-engaged scholarship and teaching. The center is part of SLU’s Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement Division.
The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) is the network of American Jesuit higher education institutions. The AJCU provides resources and opportunities that can deepen faculty members’ knowledge of Jesuit education, including publications, podcasts, and more. The AJCU offers a blog and video series called #JesuitEducated, through which alumni of Jesuit colleges and universities share their thoughts on the difference a Jesuit education can make for students. Watch Jesuit-Educated at Saint Louis University to hear how SLU alumni have described their experiences.