The Visiting Jesuit Scholar Program (VJS), funded by the Jesuit Community, has brought to campus this semester two distinguished Jesuits, Julio Giulietti, S.J., hosted by Health and Human Sciences, and Dominic S. Irudayaraj, S.J., hosted by Theological Studies.
Against a background of doctoral research exploring interactions between religious faith and psychological principles, Father Giulietti has enjoyed a long career in Jesuit higher education as administrator, teacher, and interpreter of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Since 2017, he has been based in Vietnam as a research fellow of Georgetown University’s Berkely Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Among his many involvements in Vietnam, he has designed and taught short courses for medical students in Saigon on topics such as “Human Trauma: What It Is and How to Live with It.” In the Health and Human Sciences Department, Father Giulietti will teach a course titled “The Journey to Resilience: Living Meaningfully as a Healthcare Provider.”
Father Irudayaraj, a native of India, completed his doctoral studies at Santa Clara’s Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. He subsequently taught in Hekima College, Nairobi, and spent a post-doc semester at LMU. Father Irudayaraj’s home base is the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he is Professore Stradinario and serves as OT editor of the journal Biblica. Nominated by Pope Francis, he also serves as Consultor to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith. His research and extensive publications focus on the Old Testament, particularly the Books of Isaiah and Micah. He is currently at work as co-author of a book on new approaches to reading biblical texts and co-editing a volume on the Bible and ecology. His graduate course in Theological Studies is “Foundations of Old Testament Theology.”
In addition to teaching a course in their host department, Visiting Jesuit Scholars offer a public lecture. Otherwise, they are free to enjoy their time at LMU working on their current research.