Jesuit Mission Fellowships

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Jesuit Mission Fellowship

The Office of Mission Integration and the Center for Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry (CURCI) are thrilled to co-sponsor student-faculty scholarship and/or creative inquiry addressing the four Universal Apostolic Preferences, see below.  Fellowships are to support academic-year student-faculty scholarship and/or creative inquiry at Gonzaga University that center on one of the four Universal Apostolic Preferences.    

Pictures of the four apostolic virtues-Saint Ignatius, man giving boy nag of apples, children and adults playing game, people working at a house


Three Gonzaga undergraduates serving as Jesuit Mission Fellows for 2022-2023
  • Logan Breidenbach, Class of 2023, Communication Studies Major, (faculty mentor: Prof. Callahan): "Cutting In and Trying Out: A Religious History of the 19th Century Whaling Industry"
  • Ariana Chin, Class of 2023, Political Science, International Studies, Criminology, and Sociology Majors, (faculty mentor: Prof. Taninchev): "The Illicit Trafficking of Children: Child Soldiers and the Recruitment of Children by Armed Forces and Armed Groups"
  • Zoe Driml, Class of 2023, Environmental Studies and Dance Majors, (faculty mentor: Prof. Bancroft): "Impact of Snowmelt on Microplastic Content in Fish in Spokane Lakes"

 
  • Eden Alderman, Class of 2023, Political Science Major, (faculty mentor: Esther Matthews): "The Impact of Continuity of Care on Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment Outcomes and Recidivism"
  • Hailey Hubbard, Class of 2023, Psychology Major, (faculty mentor: Esther Matthews): "A Dual Stigma: Barriers to education access for formerly incarcerated students who experience issues with mental health"
  • Gillian Smoody, Class of 2022, Psychology Major, (faculty mentor: Sarah Arpin): "Academic Performance and Social Support Study 2: Relation to Self-Efficacy"
 

Jesuit Mission Fellows 2021 

  • Judge Thomas Kearns, Class of 2022, Psychology Major, (faculty mentor: Dr. Heather Crandall): "Following Pop. Culture Chains of Artificial Intelligence from Alex Garland’s Ex Machina"
  • Mikaela Schlesinger, Class of 2021, Biology Major (faculty mentor: Dr. Christy Andrade): "The Relationship between Burkitt's Lymphoma and Climate Change and the Ethical Implications for the Global North" Vocational Trajectory: "I will be getting my Master’s of Global Health next year at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. I then hope to work at the intersection of climate change and health."
  • Michael Larson, Class of 2021, Sociology Major, Isabella Harris Hamlin, Class of 2022, Broadcast & Electronic Media Majors, Luke Kenneally, Class of 2021, Communication Studies Major, Kevin Smith, Class of 2021, Mechanical Engineering Major, Andre Thurmann, Class of 2023, Business Major (faculty mentor: Dr. Joe Johnston): "Humanizing Spokane Documentary"
  • Gillian Smoody, Class of 2022, Psychology Major (faculty mentor: Dr. Sarah Arpin): "Academic Performance and Social Support" Vocational Trajectory: "I plan to pursue a PhD in Psychology and work in a clinical setting."
  • Lindsey Ernst, Class of 2021, Biochemistry Major (faculty mentor: Dr. Matthew Cremeens): "The Social Justice and Ethical Implications of Pharmaceutical Development for Populations Affected by Neglected Diseases" Vocational Trajectory: "I am committed to a year of service through Jesuit Volunteer Corps serving with a youth program in Tucson, AZ. After, I plan to pursue a Doctor of Medicine degree with the goal of practicing medicine in the field of pediatrics."
  • Makenna Girard, Class of 2021, Biology & Spanish Majors (faculty mentor: Dr. Rebecca Marquis): "The Dichotomy of On-The-Ground Women’s Movements and Institutionalized Feminism in Latin America and the Caribbean: Who is Leading the Charge and the Conversations?" Vocational Trajectory: "I will be working in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho at Axis Spine Center in their clinical research department as a clinical research coordinator, organizing and overseeing studies."
 

Matthew Williams, Jesuit Mission Fellow, Class of 2020

Matthew Williams, Class of 2020, Mathematics Major (faculty mentor: Dr. Matthew Bolton): "A Study of the Intersections between Race and the MPAA Ratings System" 

Henry Widdicombe, Jesuit Mission Fellow, Class of 2020

Henry Widdicombe, Class of 2020, Philosophy Major (faculty mentor: Dr. Joseph Mudd): “Answering the Call of Laudato Si'” 

 

 

A distinctively Jesuit approach to higher education integrates academic rigor with the pursuit of justice for all, especially for those who have been historically marginalized by systems and structures of oppression. In 2019, the Jesuits promulgated four Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) that ought to shape the work of all Jesuit institutions worldwide for the next decade. 

These four priorities—1) walking with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice, 2) accompanying young people in the creation of a hope-filled future, 3) caring for our common home, and 4) showing the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment—offer insight into the ways students and faculty might pursue justice through creative and scholarly inquiry.

A full introduction to the UAPs can be found at this site and document.  See below for a very brief description of the UAPs. Also, more information on UAPs 1 and 4 can be found in issue 58 of Conversations On Jesuit Higher Education, while more information on UAPs 2 and 3 can be found in issue 59.

Universal Apostolic Preference #1:  To show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment ... "We resolve to collaborate with the Church in experiencing secular society as a sign of the times that affords us the opportunity to renew our presence in the heart of human history.  A mature secularized society opens up spaces for the complex dimension of human freedom, especially religious freedom." 

Universal Apostolic Preference #2:  To walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice ... "Accompanying  the  impoverished  requires  us  to  improve  our  studies,  our  analysis,  and  our reflection in order to understand in depth the economic, political, and social processes that generate  such  great  injustice;  we  must  also  contribute  to  the  elaboration of  alternative models."    

Universal Apostolic Preference #3:  To accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future ... "It is the young who, from their perspective, can help us to understand better the epochal change that we are living and its hope-filled newness.  Today, young people are the principal protagonists of an anthropological transformation that is coming to be through the digital culture of our time, opening humanity to a new historical epoch." 

Universal Apostolic Preference #4:  To collaborate in the care of our Common Home ... "Our collaboration should include both participating in efforts to analyze problems in depth and promoting reflection and discernment that will guide us in making decisions that help to heal the wounds already inflicted on the delicate ecological balance. We are especially concerned about areas that are so crucial for maintaining the natural equilibrium that makes life possible, such as the Amazon region; the river basins of the Congo, India, and Indonesia; and the  great  extensions  of  open  sea."   
 

For eligibility information and application, please visit myGU.


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