Professional Notes for April 30, 2015

Father Scott Carl, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, edited and wrote the introduction of the recently published Verbum Domini and the Complementarity of Exegesis and Theology (Eerdmans, January 2015), a selection of articles from the first two conferences hosted by the Monsignor Jerome D. Quinn Institute of Biblical Studies. It is the first volume in The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity's new series titled “Catholic Theological Formation Series,” whose general editor is Dr. Christopher Thompson, academic dean.

Dr. Vanessa Cornett-Murtada, Music Department, College of Arts and Sciences, presented a paper, “Music, Transformation and Contemplative Mind,” on March 25 at the School of Music and Conservatory of North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, for the third international Conference on Spirituality and Music Education. She also presented a performance master class to university piano students at North-West University and a music pedagogy workshop to faculty from NWU, University of the Witwatersrand and the University of South Africa.

Dr. Massimo Faggioli, Theology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, is the author of a book, Pope Francis: Tradition in Transition (Paulist Press, 2015). He also is the author of A Council for the Global Church. Receiving Vatican II in History (Fortress Press, 2015). Two of his books published in 2014 have received recognition: John XXIII: The Medicine of Mercy and Sorting Out Catholicism: A Brief History of the New Ecclesial Movements, both published by Liturgical Press, are among the finalists in the "Excellence in Publishing" Book Awards program sponsored by the Association of Catholic Publishers.

Dr. Hans Gustafson, Theology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, and Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, has been selected to participate in the highly competitive seminar on "Teaching Interfaith Understanding," held June 21-25 at Boston College and hosted by the Council of Independent Colleges and the Interfaith Youth Core. Gustafson said, "My hope is that this seminar will help me to continually improve the interreligious dialogue and world religions courses that I have been teaching for the Theology Department."

Dr. Josh Hengemuhle, Dean of Students Office, successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, titled “A Charism Is a Nice Thing to Have: Catholic Culture Within the Student Affairs Division at a Catholic University Lacking a Founding Order,” on March 19. His research study involved a qualitative cultural audit of the student affairs division at a diocesan university examining how the staff learned and expressed the Catholic identity of the institution without a founding charism to guide their work. St. Thomas was not his research site.

Dr. Mike Klein, Justice and Peace Studies Department, College of Arts and Sciences, and students in JPST 365 (fall 2014) are the authors of a book, Leadership for Social Justice: Profiles in Peacebuilding. These collected leadership profiles were generated from a Writing in the Disciplines project in the Justice and Peace Studies Department at St. Thomas, Minnesota. Each profile follows a common format: story, theory, collective action, biography and references, and explores peacebuilding work in local neighborhood contexts and in global social movements. They are stories of inspirational leadership found in individual organizers and in dynamic organizations. Students strive to represent voices authentically and describe peacebuilding responsibly to encourage and inspire readers to enact their own leadership for social justice.

Each profile was developed based on the student's inspiration and determined scholarly work. Their biographies are found at the end of each profile: Nonviolent Peaceforce: Annie McCahery; Friends of the Children: Erin Statz; International Justice Mission: Rachael Mysnyk; Otpor! Leadership in Movement: Katie Mell; 350.org: Aurelia Phillips; The Minnesota Literacy Council: Laura Kvasnicka; Soliya: Reika Yokooka; Jeremiah Program: Ciara Parks; WATCH: Kate Weyenberg; Appetite for Change: Sam Lorentz; Relentless: Suad Mahamud; Project for Pride in Living: Lauren Curtright; Working for Peace Through Coffee: Sawyer Phillips; Tibetan Rights and "Free Tibet": Brian Fulton; Washburn Center for Children: Lauren Murphy; John Noltner and A Peace of My Mind: Ryan Niezgocki; Daily Diner: Grace Nelson.

Lindsey Loree, circulation supervisor at the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, is the author of a short story, “Heaven Help Me,”  which was published in the collection Twin Cities Speculations: A Collection of Sci-Fi and Fantasy on PublishGreen.com, the ebook arm of Mill City Press. Hard copies are available through Nook Press. Loree’s story was favorably reviewed in Amazing Stories Magazine.

Dr. John Martens is the author of an article, “I Renounce the Sexual Abuse of Children”: Renegotiating the Boundaries of Sexual Behaviour in Late Antiquity by Jews and Christians, published in Children and Family in Late Antiquity: Life, Death and Interaction (Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Culture and Religion 15), (C. Laes, K. Mustakallio and V. Vuolanto (eds), PEETERS: Leuven; Walpole, Massachusetts, 2015,  pp. 169-211).

Talia Nadir, reference librarian, UST Libraries, has been accepted into the selective 2015 Association of College and Research Libraries Immersion Program to be held in August at Seattle University in Seattle. The ACRL Immersion program is an intensive learning experience and community that is focused on information literacy and library instruction. Nadir has been accepted into the “Program Track,” which will concentrate on the development, integration and management of institutional information literacy programs, especially the identification of campus partners, the integration of this instruction into existing curricula, and the development of meaningful assessment measures. The provision of this kind of instruction in partnership with classroom faculty is a high-priority strategy for the UST Libraries and falls within the university strategic theme of “Educating for the Future.”

Dr. Thomas Dillon Redshaw, professor emeritus of English, is the author of "Thomas McCarthy's Hidden Irelands," which was published in the latest issue of Southword, 27 (2015), the digital journal of Ionad Litríochta an Deisceart/The Munster Literature Center. The essay offers a survey of Irish national themes in the poetry and fiction McCarthy has published since 1978.

Dr. Deborah Savage, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, was invited by Bishop Thomas Olmstead, Diocese of Phoenix, to participate in a mini synod in February to discuss the topic “Masculine Identity and Mission.” Savage presented her research into the existence of the “masculine genius,” a notion that runs parallel with St. Pope John Paul II’s arguments concerning the existence of a “feminine genius.” Her paper “The Genius of Man” will be published this month in a volume titled “Promise and Challenge: Catholic Women Reflect on Feminism, Complementarity, and the Church" (Our Sunday Visitor, 2015). Savage also gave a presentation in March, titled “Woman as Prophet: A Feminism for the 21^st Century,” at the Diocesan Women’s Conference for the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey.

Dr. John T. Wendt, Ethics and Business Law Department, Opus College of Business, with John J. Miller, associate dean and professor at Troy University, is co-author of an article, "'Ref, Is This the Final?' Concussion Issues at the 2014 FIFA Men’s World Cup: A Case Study" that has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport.

Dr. Victoria Young, professor of modern architectural history and chair of the Art History Department, presented “The National World War II Museum, New Orleans: Creating the Landscape of War” on April 2 at the Popular Culture/American Culture Association meeting in New Orleans.

Students in St. Thomas' Geography Department attended the 11th annual Minnesota Undergraduate Geography Symposium, hosted April 18 by Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota. The symposium was conceived in 2005 to fill the need to showcase local or broad-discipline undergraduate research in geography. This year, there were 50 participants from four Midwest colleges. Eight UST Geography students, Nathaniel Bettin, Ryan Grow, Erik Sathe, Megan Lauzon, Ryan Merry, Dan Pastika, Mitchell Schaps and Tommy Schlundt, presented their original research to their colleagues.

The median age at first marriage has reached historic highs in the United States, 29 for men and 28.6 for women. Often social and cultural factors are cited as explanations for this increase in marriage delay (e.g., financial limitations, increased costs (in both time and money) of pursuing educational and career aspirations, the link between an emerging adult's non-intact family of origin and their ambivalence toward marriage). Five members of the UST Psychology Department (Dr. John Buri and undergraduates: Cristina Cromett, Anna Marie Landis, Maria Post and Marissa Alliegro) will present their research findings at the Midwestern Psychological Association, held April 30-May 2 in Chicago. The title of their paper is "Maybe Later ... Or Maybe Not At All: Personal Factors Predicting Marital Apprehension Among Emerging Adults." They found that in university students, several personal factors explain over 40 percent of the variance in marriage apprehension. Those individuals who expressed the greatest reluctance to marry were: (a) those who are more self-interested, (b) those who exhibit the habit of continually searching for the very best – whether it be jeans, a television program or a gift for a friend – called maximizing, (c) those who retain distance (are avoidant) in their relationships and (d) those who are not very grateful in their lives. Given the growing evidence that emerging adults are becoming: (a) more selfish, (b) more maximizing, (c) more avoidant and (d) less grateful, the results of this study suggest that we may witness an even greater marriage delay in the future.