Office of Mission Programs

Office of Mission Programs

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Ignatian Classroom Discussions Guide for Faculty

This guide is designed to help you integrate our Jesuit mission into classroom discussions. Whether you're familiar with Jesuit traditions or new to them, you'll find resources, questions, and materials to inspire meaningful conversations with your students.

Understanding our Mission

Saint Joseph’s University is guided by the principles of Jesuit education, a holistic approach to learning that integrates intellectual development with moral and spiritual growth. Rooted in the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Jesuit education seeks to form individuals who are committed to knowledge, faith, justice, and service. It emphasizes:

  • Faith and Reflection: Encouraging critical thinking in pursuit of truth.
  • Service and Social Justice: Working toward a just and equitable world.
  • Cura Personalis: Caring for each individual’s intellectual, moral, and spiritual development.
  • Magis: Striving for excellence in all that we do.

 

Saint Joseph's University co-op students walking down a hallway in Barbelin Hall

Our Mission Statement

As Philadelphia’s Jesuit Catholic University, Saint Joseph’s provides a rigorous, student-centered education rooted in the liberal arts. We prepare students for personal excellence, professional success and engaged citizenship. Striving to be an inclusive and diverse community that educates and cares for the whole person, we encourage and model lifelong commitment to thinking critically, making ethical decisions, pursuing social justice and finding God in all things.

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Incorporating Into Your Classroom

During Mission Week, faculty are encouraged to dedicate 5-15 minutes at the start of a class  to discuss how the university’s mission relates to their subject area. Outside of Mission Week, discussions are welcome anytime!

Example Classroom Introduction

"This week, we are celebrating Mission Week at Saint Joseph's University. Our mission is rooted in Jesuit values, which encourage us to seek knowledge, act with integrity, and serve others. Today, I want to take a few minutes to reflect on how our course connects to these values."

Consider: How does the subject we study contribute to the greater good? How can we apply the principles of social justice, ethical leadership, or lifelong learning to our field?"

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • How does our discipline contribute to the common good?
  • How can what we learn in this course be used to serve others?
  • What does it mean to be an engaged citizen at SJU? In Philadelphia? In the world?
  • What does it mean to be a person for and with others in our field?

Deeper Questions

  • How do ethics and integrity play a role in what we are learning?
  • What does it mean to care for the whole person? How does that inform the actions you take on a daily basis?
  • What does it mean to find God in all things? Where do you find God in your daily experience?

Questions for SJU Employees

  • How do I/can we help students become engaged citizens/find God in all things/care for the whole person in my work?
  • As a department, how do we help students become engaged citizens/find God in all things/care for the whole person in our curriculum?

 

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More Resources

We encourage you to visit JesuitResources.org which houses a large amount of Ignatian-inspired resources!

Visit JesuitResources.org

 

Below are a few more resources categorized by medium.

    • The Purpose of Business
      Stephen Porth and John McCall
      A Jesuit educational challenge to shareholder primacy
    • Characteristics of Jesuit Education
      An in-depth examination of the characteristics of Jesuit education from 1980, written by an international group of Jesuit and lay people engaged in Jesuit secondary education.
    • The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education
      Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach
      A well known and popular address by the former Superior General of the Society of Jesus about Jesuit education in the 21st century, and it’s what it will require of Jesuits, faculty, and students. Many have found this a challenging document.
    • Five Ways to Find God in All Things
      Perhaps the most iconic Ignatian phrase, this article explores what it means to find God in all things.
    • A Spirituality of Action
      Dr. Monica Hellwig
      Ignatian spirituality is one of contemplation, but always directed toward action. This article examines that dynamic.
    • Letter from Peter Hans Kolvenbach to Friends and Colleagues of the Society of Jesus
      How would a Superior General of the Jesuits describe the Society of Jesus is?
    • Salt And Leaven
      David McCallum, SJ
      A fan of organizational development principles? This article suggests how they provide a map for “mission integration.”
    • Meeting the Victims, Falling in Love
      Dean Brackley, SJ
      Seeing God in the experiences of those at the margins of society has been a key theme for Jesuits over the past few decades. This article is an example of former SJU Maclean Chair Dean Brackley’s experience in El Salvador.
    • Cura Personalis
      Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, SJ
      We frequently use the term cura personalis when talk about the student in Jesuit education. This article by the former Superior General of the Society of Jesus explores what this term means in significant depth.

  • Loving God, our world is indeed charged with your grandeur for you labor with
    and for us in all things to bring about the fullness of your Kingdom where justice,
    love and peace will reign in the hearts of all your people.

    Teach us, Lord, to be generous, Teach us to serve you as you deserve,
    To lead our students to find joy in learning and to thirst for greater and
    deeper knowledge of how they are called to labor with you in the wonder and
    mystery of your ongoing work of creation,
    To witness for our students the personal love and care that you have for each
    of us so that they might attain the knowledge and freedom to achieve their full
    potential as young men and women created in your image and likeness,

    To teach as Jesus did so that by following his example our students will grow
    up to be men and women in service with and for others as well as leading
    discerners of your Spirit in the communities in which they live, work and worship,

    To form our students into persons of intellectual competence, moral integrity
    and religious conviction whose actions are informed by conscience, infused
    with compassion and inspired by a commitment to a faith that seeks justice
    for all your people, particularly among the poor, the suffering and the
    neglected.

    Bless us, Lord, and our mission as Ignatian educators. Guide us with your
    Spirit that we may continually grow as a community of companions in the
    ministry of teaching, working with and learning from one another to discern
    how best to accompany our students on their journeys to becoming men and
    women of the magis, asking always what more they can do for your greater
    honor and glory. Amen.

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Mission Week happens annually in February

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