Lilly Fellows Program National Conference
Discernment, Engagement, Reflection
Drawing on the work of writers from across the spectrum of Christian higher education, the 2017 Lilly Fellows Program National Conference will focus on the ways in which the education of the whole person can be addressed through a focus on the head, the heart, and the hands.
Discernment
For several decades, educational theorists from both within and outside Christian higher education have stressed the importance of moving beyond the notion of education as a content delivery system. How can discernment — within and beyond Ignatian spiritual practices — provide an invitation to deeper questioning, deeper searching?
Engagement
"The opposite of contemplation is not action — it is reaction" (Richard Rohr). Indeed, the relationship between contemplation and action is symbiotic and especially relevant to twenty-first century education. How can engagement (related to the Ignatian magis) enable students to experience this deepening — locally, globally, and from within? How might technology, which is sometimes blamed for what Adolfo Nicolás has termed "the globalization of superficiality," become an instrument in making the process of engagement more authentic?
Reflection
If contemplation and action are truly complementary, the final step would involve the return to the quiet. How can reflection allow students to feel more connected to the educational missions of their own universities and more attentive to the spiritual directions of their own lives?