2024 Caritas Veritas Symposium Program

Location: Parmer 005

Presenter: William G. Zic

Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a crucial life-saving technique that is commonly practiced by many medical professionals in the healthcare setting today. Allowing nursing students to perform CPR in the simulation area of a college or university may not only enhance student clinical proficiency, but also may foster stronger relations among faculty and students, which can build trust, strengthen teaching, and improve learning outcomes. CPR certification is a mandatory requirement for any clinical nursing position, and re-certification must be completed on a biennial basis. Proper performance of CPR can significantly increase the chances of patient survival. Traditional training programs can be held in various locations such as, hospitals, community centers, schools and workplaces and may be offered by professional organizations such as, the American Red Cross (ARC) or American Heart Association (AHA). However, rarely is an integrated CPR education program such as, Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI) provided to students every three months within the domain of nursing academia. This will be a workshop for students or faculty, where we explore how CPR training on a college campus will instill trust and contribute to the heart of wisdom in teaching, learning and service.

Location: Noonan Reading Room, Lewis Hall, 2nd Floor 

Presenter: Gabe Lara

Participate in an interactive session led by Dr. Gabe Lara titled "Empowering Teams: Building Collective Stories of Belonging, Peace, and Justice through Courageous Followership," where we will delve into the transformative impact of fostering belonging, promoting peace, and advocating for justice in the workplace. Gain insights into practical strategies and real-world examples aimed at empowering teams through empathetic and purpose-driven followership practices, thereby enhancing staff morale and fostering positive organizational change. This session offers an opportunity to engage in a formal setting that inspires a fresh perspective on leadership through compassion.

Location: Crown Library, Room 340 

Presenters: David Aron, Sarah Jones, Christine Ranieri

Join us for 'You Own Your Origin Story,' a transformative and interactive workshop designed to tackle self-doubt and imposter syndrome head-on, while fostering a sense of belonging. Students, faculty, and staff will, through guided exercises, group discussions, and exploration of superhero metaphors made real, uncover strengths and powers that help you contribute to a more just world.

Location: Springer Suite, Lower Level, Crown Library 

Presenter: Michel Darlene Harris and Students from class

This session will provide an overview of the activities the DU nutrition interns participated in during the 2024 NOLA Service-Learning experience. They will also discuss how this trip will prepare them to become more culturally responsive nutrition professionals.

Location: Lewis 332

Presenters: Anjali Chaudhry, Ellen McManus

This interactive session will explore how storytelling, visual art, and music can reach us in ways that inspire empathy, agency, and action. We will discuss why art and storytelling have this effect, and participants will work together to create stories or works of art that can inspire others to take action to protect the natural world. We will introduce the idea of us as our future selves looking back at 2024, before we invite participants to create a work of art (visual, performing, literary). In this session people will work together to view and share one another's ideas. Using the "Dear Tomorrow" website, we will conclude with letters to our future selves and imaging how we all will feel in this reimagined world together.

Location: Parmer Hall Room 108

Join the session on Zoom

Presenters: Brick Brummel, Steven Endres, Ashley Green, Amy Omi, Katy Somerfield, Chet Taranowski

In this panel of Dominican University, faculty, staff, and student voices, we explore Universal Design as an approach to Neurodiversity in Higher Education. Panelists will focus on accommodation as a necessary component of effective teaching and student support, highlighting how designing through an accessible lens has benefits for the entire campus population.

Location: Lewis Hall, Room 302

Presenters: Nacho Montiel, Christine Platt

Collaboration in our interconnected world is central to this unique classroom simulation that not only prepares students for “real-world” teamwork but invites exploration of how collaborating fosters rich collective wisdom while building strong, multi-disciplined partnerships. This retrospective highlights a collaborative, semester-long simulation where ART 413 Graphic Design III student groups serve as advertising agency teams that support CAS 363 Integrated Marketing Communication student groups’ product development efforts.

Location: Martin Recital Hall, Fine Arts Building

Presenters: Sister Judith Schaefer, OP, Sister Priscilla Wood, OP

Join us to hear the stories of some of the significant Sisters who were the force behind the reality that is Dominican University. We will invite participants to ask questions, share their own experiences, and explore the result of decisions that were made for the sake of Caritas and Veritas and create the Dominican University we love today.

Location: Lewis Hall, Room 334 

Presenters: Irina Calin-Jageman, T.J. Krafnick, Nan Metzger, Paul Simpson

In working toward building partnerships and healthy coalitions in our pursuit of caritas and veritas, going beyond the classroom experience can greatly enrich the student and faculty experience of college education. These high impact practices such as study away, undergraduate/graduate research, and community-based learning are available to all students, and can provide deeply meaningful experiences. High impact practice leaders at Dominican will present examples of how faculty and students can get involved with these opportunities on campus. The panel will discuss options that are available and how these experiences can enrich student and faculty experience.

Location: Lewis Hall, Room 204 

Presenter: Emily Reynoso Munoz

Santos en mi Vida Diaria: A Portrait Series on Everyday Saints, is a project based on the creation of paintings of saints, using everyday people as the reference. It's meant to help take a deeper dive on how saints’ stories can inspire and influence people today. Along with that, it's also meant to be a way to take a look at how God can be seen within others.

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Presenter: Keeley Flanigan

What does resilience look like for marginalized people and how do we create a platform and/or space for them to be able to share the ways in which they have overcome adversity alongside celebrating their culture and/or identity? “Stories of resilience” is an ongoing oral history project that utilizes the critical race theory method of counter storytelling. Taking the time to collect and preserve students' stories will help us as an institution better understand and serve the needs of our students while building community. The act of doing this will showcase the inclusive nature of Dominican by creating accurate and personal representation, that will help build community within this institution. The paper looks towards the benefits of doing this and how this has served other communities in the past.

Location: Lund Auditorium, Fine Arts Building

Join the webinar on Zoom

Planning Team: Sheila Bauer-Gatsos, Denise Guzman, Monica Meneses, Jacky Neri Arias, Paul Simpson, Tina Taylor-Ritzler, and Tonia Triggiano

Presenters: Denise Guzman, Monica Meneses, and Dominican Students

In this panel discussion, facilitated by SSE's Denise Guzman, Associate Director of New Student Programs, and Monica Meneses, Director of Student Success, first-year students are invited to hear upper-class students share their stories of transitioning to college and learn more about the opportunities, resources, and people that are here to help promote their success and engagement at Dominican University. Student panelists include:

• Ryan Barnett
• Santi Brito
• Isabella Flores
• Elisha Johnson
• Eddie Rivera Burgos
• Amy Villasenor

Location: Parmer Hall, Room 002 

Presenters: Airies Davis, Gema Ortega, Michael Purcell, Aracelis Sanchez

Uncanny similarities can be drawn between the time the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters left the Mound and the circumstances in which Dominican University finds itself today. St. Clara College’s existing campus was “bursting at the seams with growing enrollment and the immense logistical challenges of southern Wisconsin’s terrain.” That is when Mother Samuel “knew that something had to be done,” and the search for a new location began.[1] With the same vision, mission, and thinking that the Dominican Sisters delivered a hundred years ago, DU Chicago Campus today has become an anchor institution that summons its resources and relationships to benefit the communities of the Near West Side, Lower West Side, and North Lawndale.[2] This presentation will connect the tradition established by the Dominican Sisters then to the Social Determinant of Health model adopted now. Through 1) Quality of education and access 2) Community health and food accessibility 3) Social/Community partnerships and 4) Economic stability and professionalization opportunities, our panel will provide a holistic overview of the approach we have adopted to respond to the overwhelming sense of belonging and peace with which DU has been welcomed by the communities of the South Side of Chicago.

Location: Parmer Hall, Room 113 

Presenters: Mark Ishaug, Anne Kohler ‘81, Bronwyn McDaniel ‘01 and Roberto Sepulveda ‘10

DU’s mission is constant but never stagnant. In this conversation, members of the Board of Trustees will reflect on their commitment to DU’s mission and how they have experienced that mission as members of the community. They will consider the ways in which relationship impacts their work, the challenges and successes of creating communities of belonging, and how they center justice in their lives and as a Board. Learn about some of our board members, their work, and how they animate caritas and veritas.

Location: Lewis 301

Presenters: Faculty Advisor: Maggie Andersen; Students: Gillian Adkins, Yaritza Alicea, Io Curtin, and others

Editors and contributors will introduce Issue 8 of Stella Veritatis, our campus literary magazine. The content has been written, selected and edited by undergraduate students spanning many disciplines. Come and listen to live readings of poems and stories, and help us to celebrate and center the creativity of Dominican University students. Everyone will get a copy of the magazine!

Location: Parmer 005 

Presenters: Mayra M. Chacon, Stephanie Garcia, Kaila Zimmerman-Moscovitch

Since 2019, Dominican has diligently worked on a Department of Justice Grant project focusing on Sexual Assault, Domestic, and Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Education, also known as the Rise Up project. The project works hard to change campus culture by fighting and advocating for a more just, humane, and sustainable campus and society. We propose to provide psychoeducation, engage participants in the Clothesline Project, and engage in a discussion to understand how to create a shift in campus culture to reduce cases of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

Location: Lewis 302 

Presenter: Timothy Milinovich

This paper considers the role of the humanities in empowering students to evaluate and deconstruct narratives of injustice in society and craft renewed narratives of justice within the evolving landscape of higher education and postcolonialism.



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Presenter: Miguel Salgado, Jr.

Food and the act of preparing a meal offers strangers a chance to belong. This is a series of recorded stories from owners, employees, and frequenters of Hispanic/Latinx restaurants in Chicago and the surrounding areas. Each story explores the significance of the dinner table as a symbol of community and gathering through commonly enjoyed foods in the culture.

Location: Lewis 301

Presenters: Sarah Johnson, Andrea Leinweber, Nkuzi Nnam, Students in STA 240

Hear from students that traveled to the first study away opportunity to Igbo landing in St. Simon’s Island this summer. They will focus their presentation on the enslaved Africans who jumped into the water and drowned as a protest against slavery.

Location: Crown Library, Room 340 

Presenters: Marwa Abdullah, Grace Ayena

This session delves into the enduring impact of colonialism on the Black diaspora and its implications for fostering justice and solidarity. By drawing on the powerful insights of Marcus Garvey and Leonard Harris, and stories of the diaspora, the presenters will provide a nuanced analysis of how centuries of dehumanization, marginalization, and exploitation have shaped the current humanitarian crises in Black countries and the broader Diaspora. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the historical and ongoing struggles faced by the Black diaspora and how organizing and solidarity can challenge and transform these narratives, promoting justice and liberation.

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Presenters: Sandy Garcia, Maricruz Ramos Ramirez

This session puts forward the idea of encouraging sustainable living and community involvement by creating a thrift store initiative that aims to minimize waste and cultivate a greater sense of environmental accountability. The initiative aims to help bridge the gap for students that might have difficulty affording school supplies or other goods, helping to create a more just place where all have the same opportunity to thrive. The proposal offers the opportunity to all members to feel a sense of belonging in a community in which mutual support is valued while helping contribute to the well-being of the planet.

Location: Parmer Hall, Room 113 

Presenters: Nicol Barragan Romero, Sandra Cruz Jarquin, Indira Espin, Claudia Herrera-Montero, Wilbur Webb

In this panel, students and faculty will tell stories and critical theological reflections about presenting in small group panels, creatively integrating their concrete lived experiences, identities, and social realities with the course material, and providing peer-reviewed feedback to one another. In addition, this panel explores how storytelling can be utilized as a liberatory praxis (practice) in the classroom, allowing active participants to name themselves in the world by reflecting theologically on their lived practices. “This will be a great opportunity to disseminate knowledge, stories, and love.

Location: Lewis Hall, Room 204 

Presenters: Julie Bach

Retirement is an important transition including the faculty and staff at Dominican University. This workshop invites attendees to share their stories on how they are preparing for their retirement in the next 5 years or less. The workshop will focus on the social, environmental and emotional aspects of leaving a community and starting a new chapter in your life.

Location: Parmer Hall, Room 002 

Presenters: Helen Hollerich, Hilary Ward Schnadt

We, as two members of the Class of 1979 recently back on campus to celebrate our 45th reunion, will talk about the ways in which we nurture a sense of community within our class. How do we move beyond a sense of shared nostalgia to strengthen and deepen bonds within our class?

Location: Martin Recital Hall, Fine Arts Building 

Presenters: Araceli Lucio, ELLAS Founder and Community Health Advocate with the Resurrection Project; Kelly Robinson, Community Food & Farm Manager, Guadalupe Garcia, Production Manager and and Grace Regan, CSA and Farmers Market Manager with Star Farm Chicago; Kaitlon Williams, DU Feeds Manager; and Adrian Ocana, Swipe4Stars Manager

The vital work of creating food justice in our communities is happening both on our campuses and with partners in Chicago and River Forest communities. This session invites you to join as a partner in that work. Araceli Lucio, founder of ELLAS (En La Lucha A Sobrevivir), a safe space and support provider for Latina women who have been impacted by breast cancer. Kelly Robinson and Guadalupe Garcia of Star Farms Chicago will share stories from their work providing farms, pop up stores, and community kitchens in a neighborhood where there is a food desert. DU student leaders Kaitlon Williams and Adrian Ocana will describe campus partnerships to address campus food insecurity through DU Feeds and Swipe4Stars. At the conclusion of this session, our partners will extend to first year students some specific opportunities to participate in DU’s From the First Year On: Working for Justice and Peace Challenge.

Location: Lund Auditorium, Fine Arts Building 

Presenters: Laura Mendoza, Community Organizer with the Resurrection Project; Maria Sarango and Ingrid Bustos, President and former President of DU's Undocumented Immigrant Allyance, and Celine Woznica, Organizer with Migrant Ministry, St. Edmunds Parish of Oak Park.

Coalitions for justice in immigrant communities are a dynamic part of student activism at Dominican University and mutual aid and care providers in Greater Chicago. You will learn about how to get engaged with partners doing this justice work during this session. Laura Mendoza with the Resurrection Project, will share stories of her work building networks of care and legal system navigation for new arrivals. Maria Sarango and Ingrid Bustos will detail their experiences working to build networks of solidarity, support, and storytelling for undocumented students at Dominican University and the Greater Chicago area.  Celine Woznica with Migrant Ministry will discuss the coalition building work she has engaged in to provide shelter, clothing and collaborative community support for Asylum Seekers in Oak Park. At the conclusion of this session, our partners will extend to first year students some specific opportunities to participate in DU’s From the First Year On: Working for Justice and Peace Challenge.

Location: Parmer Hall, Room 108 

Presenters: Julia Foos, Community Educator with Sarah’s Inn; Katherine Watson, Volunteer Manager with Hepzibah Children’s Association, and Anna Keller and Sam Kehoe, Program Coordinators with Opportunity Knocks.

In neighborhoods very near to Dominican University’s River Forest Campus, many of our partners are working to build deep communities of care for people who have been mistreated, thrown into crisis, or overlooked and underfunded. In this presentation you will learn about three of these agencies and learn how you can begin engaging in building a more just and humane world with them. Julia Foos will discuss Sarah’s Inn work of breaking the cycle of domestic violence through holistic advocacy, counseling services, partner abuse intervention and secondary education workshops. Sam Kehoe and Anna Keller will discuss Opportunity Knocks work of building community where people with different abilities are fully included in rich working and learning experiences with others and empowered to pursue a life of their design. Katherine Watson will share her work with Hepzibah helping children to thrive and families to flourish through afterschool and summer care, services to foster children and families in crisis, and therapeutic residence for severely traumatized children. At the conclusion of this session, our partners will extend to first year students some specific opportunities to participate in DU’s From the First Year On: Working for Justice and Peace Challenge.

Ssession cancelled

Please note: this session is cancelled. We encourage you to attend "From the First Year On: Working for Immigration Peace and Justice", which will be held in the Lund Auditorium.

Location: Noonan Reading Room, Lewis Hall 2nd Floor 

Presenter: Nan Metzger

This student led panel combines stories and shared experiences from those who created a sense of community while abroad. We will hear from students who have had semester-long experiences at Blackfriars Hall in Oxford and students who have studied Paris in Fashion. There will also be stories from those who participated in our short-term programs, such as recent study abroad to Ghana and China. Some of these unique tales reveal that participants found special ways to foster a strong sense of connection as they explored new cities and sites.

Location: Springer Suite, Crown Library Lower Level 

Presenters: Kayla Jackson, Ari Preston

Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) is a national movement striving to address the historic and contemporary effects 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 the TRHT Framework and Racial Healing Circles as part of a strategic effort to promote a healthy and affirming campus climate. Participants will learn about several opportunities to get involved, practice the tools of TRHT, and implement the framework in their work/lives.

Location: Parmer Hall, Room 109

Join the session on Zoom

Presenter: Dominique Finley

International professionals can develop and offer culturally informed interventions within the different cultural contexts. International psychologists, specifically, can help raise awareness of the unhoused phenomena, serve as consultants, and incorporate the findings from their research into multidisciplinary efforts with local organizations and governments. The ultimate goal would be to increase participative action research by working to challenge inequitable social structures & promote holistic change for people/communities through long-term sustainable housing, medical care, gender equity, and improving quality of life across vulnerable populations.

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Presenters: Anjali Chaudhry, Mickey Sweeney

In this session, DU faculty will share the lessons they learned by engaging in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiative in their course. COIL enables students from diverse backgrounds worldwide to work together in a team setting, to solve problems, share insights, and expand their understanding of people and practices.

We will introduce the topic of COIL, then each will share our COIL experience as well as provide practical suggestions as to what to and how to COIL. We will have a group activity to identify possible ideas for COIL and whether this is something that can potentially be of value to the attendees.

Session cancelled.

This session is cancelled. Please plan to attend the Opening of the Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Room in the Noonan Reading or spend time on the Quad enjoying lunch and community time.