2022 Caritas Veritas Symposium Program

Location: TBD

Debra Vinci-Minogue

Participants in this session will engage in the mindfulness practice of Heartwork Journaling and will include a form of the ancient art of Japanese kintsugi, or "golden repair". The relationship with self is the focus of this interactive session. Come, sit in stillness, create some art, and appreciate what is beautifully broken. A note to participants - this practice is NOT about the artwork, it is about your heartwork. The facilitator is a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, certified Heartwork Journaling instructor, Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator, and certified Life Coach.

Location: TBD

Amy Omi, Lisa Petrov

In this session, we share an approach to white accountability as developed by Dr. Kathy Obear and applied in white accountability groups at DU in the spring of 2022. We will make whiteness more visible, explain internalized dominance as part of white supremacy culture and explore real strategies for social change on campus. Facilitators will share what they have learned so far in the process of their personal white accountability work and provide opportunities for participants to engage in self-reflection with questions like:

• What are some of your hopes/fears as you engage issues of race and racism?
• How do you uphold/resist white supremacy culture?
• When and where do you get stuck in doing antiracist work?
• How could you be more effective in that work?

This session is open to persons of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Location: TBD

Lisa Amoroso, Molly Burke, Anjali Chaudhry, Anne Drougas, Susanne Schmitz

Brennan Faculty and Staff took steps this summer to build our understanding of historical and current inequities, our cultural humility, and inclusive practices. This Rapid Relay panel will give a few Brennan faculty/staff members a chance to highlight their summer efforts (in under five minutes!). There will be ample time for discussion about our ongoing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging efforts and where our energy should be directed for the coming year.

Location: TBD

Ada Cheng, Anthony Dunbar, Jane Hseu, Clinton Nichols, Cecilia Salvatore

This will be a storytelling- based panel, exploring pathways for solidarity through daring words. Four faculty members will share their personal stories based on lived experiences. After the performance, a facilitated dialogue will take place discussing issues explored through their stories.   

Possible issues for dialogue:

• Shared experiences and differences among us
• Differences, tension, and conflicts within and across groups
• Potential and possibilities for cross-racial solidarity
• Innovation in strategies for actions and change.
• Pitfalls and benefits of using storytelling as pedagogy

Location: TBD

Sheila Bauer-Gatsos, Mark Carbonara, Lisa Petrov, Tina Taylor-Ritzler

This panel presentation will focus on the collaborative work of DU faculty and staff to develop an equity-based intervention embedded in our existing First-Year Seminar course. Using an equity lens to develop a model focused on three essential components: holistic advising, guided pathway development, and psycho-social and success workshops, faculty and staff leaders of the program will share the research-based curriculum, faculty development program, and technological supports developed. Come hear about this promising model for achieving greater effectiveness in meeting student needs by bridging the gap between academic study and student services.

Location: TBD

Marcela Reales Visbal, Elizabeth Soto, Allyson A. West

Join us to learn more about the efforts and effects of grants awarded to Dominican University by the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Division of the Department of Education. These collaborative endeavors have and will continue to impact classrooms and offices across campus. Come find out how federal funds are being expended, the outcomes we have accomplished, and how you may be able to contribute to this exciting and innovative work.

Location: TBD

William Zic

Truth and justice are not simple social constructs that can be routinely contextualized or easily comprehensible. Rather, these important pedagogical elements have long been deconstructed or deeply analyzed by professors within certain academic curriculum for many years. However, historically, there has been minimal attention paid to those concepts as they directly apply to the role of teachers and educators within the collegiate environment. Empirical evidence today suggests that collaboration among professionals of all disciplines may enhance interdisciplinary relationships. By embedding truth and justice to academic relationships among faculty, not only can improved teaching, learning, research, and service occur, but also the application of these principles may further contribute to a more humane world that is lived out through the fabric of social academic connections.

Location: TBD

Daphne Venerable, Sheila Yousuf-Abramson

This presentation will highlight the loss experiences of individuals and communities, specifically those losses occurring over the last 2.5 years, focusing on how and why redefining, acknowledging and addressing losses is crucial to supporting the health and well-being of individuals and communities, while also providing an overview of an existing course in the SSW that is centered on grief and loss experiences.   Attendees of this session will gain a deeper understanding of loss, acknowledge the importance of grief and loss in health related professions, while also understanding and becoming aware of one's own loss experiences through a framework of critical consciousness.

Location: TBD

Caroline Sikora, Kiara Valenzuela

Dominican University provides an exceptional resource of hydroponic systems which is used for our students and local community. As the 200 level seminar classes are required for students to take, creating an assignment that focuses on the DU Greenhouse can create more awareness, enhance knowledge and seek love and truth through the mission of Dominican University.

Location: TBD

Beronica Avila, Estevan Montaño

Targeted and purposeful programming and exhibitions in the Rebecca Crown Library has been fundamental to cultivate cross-campus and community partnerships. This presentation will highlight how the multicultural programing and exhibits in the library has increased the visibility of cultural competency across campus and created an environment that celebrates students’ cultural backgrounds and history.

Location: TBD

Presenters TBD

Information forthcoming

Location: TBD

Presenters TBD

Information forthcoming

Location: TBD

Maggie Andersen, Andrea Betinis, Shalom Borrallo, IO Curtin

Join us for the official launch of Issue 6 of Stella Veritatis, DU's student-run literary magazine. There will be music, snacks and readings of student work, including poetry & prose by IO Curtin, Andrea Betinis, Shalom Borrallo, and more! Pick up your copy of the beautifully designed magazine and meet the editors to find out about submitting to Issue 7.

Location: TBD

Isabela Flores, Yessica Hernandez, Jacky Neri Arias, Lisa Petrov, Xesenia Schrepfer

In this panel presentation we will be sharing with the greater university community the work of the Family Academy. Started under the auspices of the Title V grant project: Strengthening Advising, Teacher Education and Our Hispanic-Serving Institution Identity (P031S170015), using an external provider; it is now a fully institutionalized program supported by Student Success and Engagement (SSE) and Academic Affairs. The panelists will share the purpose of the Academy, its curriculum and pedagogy, introduce its partners as well as share some evaluation data from the Academies that have taken place since Fall 2018 through the most recently completed, and redesigned one delivered in AY 2021-2022. Come hear from the designers, implementers and evaluators of the program and from a student whose family participated in this innovative program making DU a more responsive institution, engaging families and enacting servingness.

Location: TBD

Michel D. Harris

Nutrition students and interns will be required to provide services to a diverse population. Preparing for this involves development of intercultural competence skills. This round table will feature several participants in the Study Domestic New Orleans service-learning trip sharing their experiences.

Location: TBD

Melizabeth T. Santosi

Bilingual teacher candidates in SOE plan and facilitate extra-curricular learning in Spanish to emergent bilinguals in the Chicagoland area to promote and elevate pride in being bilingual through Academia Bilingüe | Bilingual Academy. With the help of cultural and language organizations and schools, we bring bilingual kids together to learn and reflect on their language assets and bilingual identities.

Location: TBD

Arleth Cruz, Ashley Munoz, Valeria Suarez

The relationship between students and faculty can be beneficial to the educational needs of students. Teaching assistants and professors can work with students to create an environment that promotes confidence in their abilities while providing them with learning strategies that can guide them towards success.

Location: TBD

Julie Bach, students from Social Work - Gerontology course, elders from the community

A panel will explore Age-Friendly Universities and how Dominican University might explore joining the network of other higher education institutions in this expanding movement. The older adult population is growing and integrating elders on the campus and as part of classes can benefit everyone. Colleagues are asked to join the discussion and collaborate on how their disciplines can work toward an Age-Friendly University.

Location: TBD

Emily Alessandri, Rahel Bokretsion, Andrea Garcia, Leslie Valdez

In the classroom, instructors typically have a plan in place to run the class before it begins. However, predetermining lesson plans before knowing how students are doing in the classroom, can end up leaving students behind. Additionally, for many STEM courses, there is not always enough time in lectures to further explain and practice complex topics. Classrooms that have embedded tutors within them can be a tremendous advantage to those who need additional help or practice. Furthermore, tutors can act as a liaison between the instructor and student, informing professors about what students struggle with based on observations. In these classrooms there is a threefold collaboration that helps all involved to learn and gain more experience. We will expand upon these types of collaborations and discuss their benefits for all three groups involved.

Location: TBD

Alex Lorenz, Jonathan Standiford

A workshop will be held in the Innovation Lab or using Innovation Lab equipment for attendees. This will be an opportunity for attendees to provide feedback on the impressions they get about the Innovation Lab, its staff, and what can be improved in the future.

Location: TBD

Anjali Chaudhry, Ellen McManus, Cecilia Salvatore, Allyson West

Are you interested in helping to create an environmentally sustainable world? Would you like to know about exciting collaborative work that can be done across DU's majors and disciplines? Environmental sustainability calls for people from different disciplines to work together, each drawing on their knowledge, skills, and experience. In this session panelists and audience members will work together to develop ideas for sustainability-related collaborations that might be pursued in the coming years.

Location: TBD

Ellen McManus, Members of the Dominican University Sustainability Committee

How will Dominican meet the seven goals of Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ Journey Toward Integral Ecology, which Dominican committed to last fall and which launches in 2022-23? Workshop participants will help develop ideas about how Dominican can meet the seven critical goals that redefine and rebuild our relationships with each other and the Earth.

Location: TBD

Beronica Avila, Amy Omi

Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) is a national movement striving to address the historic and contemporary effect of racism and to bring about sustainable change in communities and institutions. The TRHT initiative at Dominican University works to promote a greater understanding of the global history of racial oppression so that students, staff, and faculty are empowered to take action to eliminate its effects. In this session, members of the TRHT team will share about community outreach projects that took place during the spring and summer of 2022. Members will share what they learned engaging with community partners, empowering youth, and building trust and reciprocity between Dominican University and the broader community.

Location: TBD

Marisa Henderson, Kiasee Ray, Chazzity Short, Kymberly Valrey

During the summer of 2022, the NACWC Chapter at Dominican University attended the 63rd Biennial Convention in Little Rock, Arkansas to celebrate 126 Years of “Lifting as We Climb.” In this session, students will share valuable lessons learned through engagement with NACWC, whose purpose is “to uplift women, children, families, the home and the community through service, community education, scholarship assistance and the promotion of racial harmony among all people.” Dominican’s NACWC chapter strives to develop intersectional opportunities for bonding, strategy, celebration, and empowerment. Current Chapter Leaders will share how to get involved as well as their action plan for building the NACWC community at Dominican University.

Location: TBD

Jamie Shaw, Elizabeth Silk, Tina Taylor-Ritzler

Career Development is a critical component of DU’s liberal arts education, supporting students to find their calling and launch meaningful careers. The heart of career development is relationships— connecting students, faculty, staff, career advisors, alumni and employers. Join us for a panel discussion of career development staff, instructors, experts-in-residence and others who will provide insights into DU’s career development model being piloted this year. This work serves as our Higher Learning Commission Quality Initiative and is being funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education.