A pillar of Jesuit education is the desire to educate and support the whole person, and in the new podcast “The Intersection,” Jennifer Abe, LMU professor of psychology, brings that concern to the foreground and asks, “What if institutions committed to helping faculty, staff, and administrators to be whole?”
Sponsored by Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education magazine, “The Intersection,” hosted by Abe, was developed by James P. McCartin, Ph.D., associate professor of theology at Fordham University and chair of the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education. Designed as a four-part series, each episode features guest speakers from Jesuit and non-Jesuit institutions and draws on Jesuit traditions of contemplation, self-examination, discernment, and spiritual care.
“In this series, our focus on being a whole person in higher education is about encouraging each other to live into this wholeness with authenticity and integrity, not only for ourselves, but also for the sake of our communities,” said Abe.
Nichole Bouvier-Brown, LMU professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was featured on Episode 2, “The Work of Wondering,” which explored the power of wonder to help people in higher education become more integrated and fulfilled.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of ‘The Intersection’ series,” said Bouvier-Brown. “This podcast experience shows that wonder can unite us across disciplines, across campuses, and even across higher education. Wonder can help us each discover what it means to be whole persons.”
Abe hopes that the series will provide the opportunity for staff and faculty at institutions of higher education to think about how they view their lives and interact with each other. “We are trying to help create the kind of campus climates we need to nourish people so that we can serve our students —and work with each other — from a place of personal and communal abundance, not depletion,” she said.
“I don’t usually get the opportunity to talk about our shared mission and vision for higher education with colleagues,” said Bouvier-Brown. “This is something that I am actively trying to change. I would love for us to think beyond the ‘day-to-day’ tasks and wonder through our shared vocations at a Jesuit university.”
You can access all four episodes of “The Intersection” here or download them on your preferred podcast platform.