In this issue:
- CUAC India Programme: last chance!
- Instituto Anglicano Barao do Rio Branco (Erechim, Brazil) is looking for partner
- Presiding Bishop of ECUSA addresses St John's University (Taiwan) on holistic education and glocal reconciliation
- IPSL Conference on Service and Learning
Dear Colleagues,
Good day. First of all, let me apologize for the delay with this issue of CUAC News and Opportunities. One project, among many others, has kept me especially busy. That is CUAC programme in India, From Hurt to Health. The cross-cultural programme will take place on 27 December 2005 - 10 January 2006 and will be hosted by two CUAC institutions, Madras Christian College (Chennai) and Lady Doak College (Madurai). Both Colleges played an active role in tsunami relief effort and they have a lot to share as far as the cross-cultural aspects of relief are concerned. Extensive field trips will immerse programme participants into the diversity of local culture, will make them aware of the healing of the communities affected by tsunami and will teach them to be better citizens of our global community. The programme, which will be led by the Rev. Winnie Varghese, Episcopal Chaplain in Columbia University, and will include participants from several continents. This promises to be an exciting and mind opening trip. Because of the last minute (or last hour, to that matter – the fax machine was very busy on November 1) influx of the applicants, we extended the deadline until Monday, November 7. For application and more details on India programme, click here.
However, India programme is just one case of fruitful cooperation among CUAC institutions. It is a great joy for us to hear about every case of such cooperation. And recently, we heard about a number of exchange programmes either under way or in the process of development. Last summer, a group of students from Renison College, Canada (profile) visited Poole Gakuin University, Japan (profile). From what we hear, that learning experience was mutually enriching and stimulating. A delegation of faculty from Kobe International University, Japan, visited Trinity College of Quezon City, Philippines.
Furthermore, we heard from an Anglican institution that is not a CUAC member yet, but is very interested in developing ties within the framework of CUAC. Instituto Anglicano Barao do Rio Branco (Erechim, Brazil) offers several levels of education, from primary to graduate courses. The Institute enrolls about 2000 students and is located on a picturesque campus. The main foci of the Institute are the programmes in Administration and Services and Computer Science. The Institute has direct links with the Anglican Church in Brazil and is committed to excellence and affordability of education. Following the Anglican traditions in education, they are incorporating moral values into educational program and seek to educate both mind and soul of the students. Instituto Anglicano is actively looking for cooperation/exchange partners. More details are found on their website, www.iarbrb.com.br.
The issue of holistic education that informs both one’s intellect and one’s moral faculty was one of the key issues in the speech of the Rt. Rev. Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in USA during his visit to St. John’s Institute, Taiwan (profile) last week. Let me bring up two quotes, which seem to be especially relevant for Christian Higher Education:
"So, my first expectation of St. John’s University in the 21st century is that it forms leaders who will carry out a ministry of reconciliation in our world. This is essential because reconciliation is at the very heart of the gospel. The mission of the church, as described in our Book of Common Prayer, is the restoration of all people to unity with God and one another in Christ. This is what Christ accomplished on the cross, and it is the work which we – through our baptism – are called to make our own. We do so through the power of Christ working in us."
His second point was the importance of educating the whole person:
"This training of the intellect involves the whole person, mind as well as heart, because universal knowledge or learning is about wisdom: wisdom here understood as a deep and all embracing kind of knowing in which different dimensions of truth are unified and brought together and are transformed into what can only be called insight….
My charge, therefore, to this great university and to all who are part of its legacy is that it draw upon the Anglican tradition, that it educate both the minds and the hearts of men and women, and that it send them forth with a commitment to be agents of reconciliation in this broken and needy world."
The full text of the speech is found here. I find the points of this well informed speech very important. I am planning to set up a page on our website with the materials of the Anglican leaders regarding higher education – it should be up this upcoming month. And the topic of reconciliation and service brings us to the recent conference of the International Partnership for Service and Learning that brought together a number of CUAC member and trustees. Don Thompson shares the experience of his trip:
Dr. Nirmala Jeyaraj, Dr. Maher Spurgeon and Bishop Martin Wharton at IPSL Conference in South DakotaOne of my recent CUAC trips was to Rapid City, South Dakota (USA)where I joined with delegates from all over the world at the Conference of the International Partnership for Service Learning (IPSL). There were many familiar faces there - Dr. Linda Chisholm, Nevin Brown, Dr. Nirmala Jeyaraj, Dr. Maher Spurgeon, Bishop Doug Theuner, Bishop Martin Wharton - and many others who are involved with promoting service learning in their academic programs. The theme of the Conference was "Hearing and Telling Stories", one way of communicating the content of a student's insights in service learning. It included a visit to The Pine Ridge native reservation, which is one of the sites of a long-standing service-learning program. Native story-telling well illustrated this other way of communicating values, spirituality, and knowledge. CUAC and IPSL will continue to work together to promote service learning at many of our member institutions around the world.
Also on this trip to the west, I visited some of our US Episcopal colleges, such as St. Augustine's College in Chicago - a unique Spanish-English bilingual program that blends college level academics with the acquiring of English language skills. A further stop was Omaha, Nebraska, where Clarkson College shares a campus with the University of Nebraska Hospital and Medical college, with Clarkson providing the School of Nursing, as well as programs in hospital administration. The final stop was the much older Kenyon College in Ohio, founded in 1824 by Philander Chase, an Episcopal bishop. It is now a liberal arts college providing high quality four year bachelors program with rich opportunities in both the arts and sciences.
American colleges with a historical founding by one of several Christian churches are not uncommon, but many now live out their current academic life amidst broad religious and cultural diversity. How to have openness to religious faith and spirituality in such settings is one of the topics for discussion at the coming January 2006 meeting of the American Chapter of CUAC, to be held in New York at the Bard Center fro Graduate Studies in New York on January 9/10. –Don Thompson
With this I remain
Yours,
Alexei Khamin
CUAC Manager for Communications
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