Faith and Justice Grant Awardees

MISSION AND MINISTRY | Eleven faculty members have been awarded grants to support their work in the promotion of faith and justice for the 2020-21 academic year. Their work reflects critically on the sources of systemic oppression and marginalization in the pursuit of remedies to suffering through the promotion of innovative curricula as well as research and creative activity. Congratulations to the LMU Faith and Justice Curriculum Development and Research Grant awardees.

Six grants awarded will support curriculum development for courses that integrate issues of faith and justice, or an understanding of social justice consistent with LMU’s mission. The awardees are:

  • Nicole Bouvier-Brown, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry;
  • Stacey Cabaj, assistant professor of acting and pedagogy and director of M.F.A.;
  • Jason Jarvis, assistant professor of communication studies;
  • Tara Pixley, assistant professor of journalism;
  • Zhen “Richard” Tang, assistant professor of marketing;
  • and Madhu Viswanathan, professor of marketing.

Five grants awarded will support faculty research that integrate issues of faith and justice, or an understanding of social justice consistent with LMU’s mission. The grants will enable faculty to think more profoundly about the issues at the heart of our mission. The awardees include:

  • Jongyeon “Joy” Ee, assistant professor of teaching and learning;
  • Mandy B. Korpusik, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science;
  • Aidin Namin, assistant professor of marketing;
  • Áine O’Healy, professor of Italian and chair of Classics and Archaeology;
  • and Rebecca Sager, associate professor of sociology.

This year’s grant recipients represent many areas of LMU and reflect the breadth of the university’s contribution to faith and justice. They will use this grant to continue and expand their important work, and to further participate in LMU’s mission.

Cabaj explains, “With the generous support of the Faith and Justice Curriculum Grant, my research will focus on three primary areas of the Ignatian Pedagogy Paradigm and their potential alignment with the methods of theatre pedagogy. First, the specifics of the teacher-learner relationship; second, the dynamics of the paradigm, including Context-Experience-Reflection-Action-Evaluation; third, how both the action and evaluation steps can support interiorized choices and choices externally manifested, all within the context of a theatre pedagogy classroom.”

Viswanathan shares the central role of LMU’s mission in the educational experience of business students: “Our goal is to bring the world of subsistence marketplaces to LMU virtually. Students can interact with and learn from people very different from them, not only culturally but socioeconomically. Such learning experiences build on the mission of LMU, in educating the whole person and promoting justice and the mission of CBA relating to business as a force for good.”

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