College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
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Speaking boldly, looking intently: models of monastic and scriptural friendship
No full textWith the wealth of discussions on marriage, religious life, and singlehood, spiritual friendship is an oft-neglected topic, yet one that offers rich meaning and sustenance over a lifetime. This presentation surveys evolving traditions of friendship over the first millennium of Christian monasticism to enhance our current understanding of both personal and public life. I will focus on reading a foundational scriptural text, namely, the early Christian community described in the Book of Acts, to explore the use of speaking and listening in friendships. For that purpose, I will refer specifically to Foucault\u27s study of Greek democracy and Epicurean philosophy, Fearless Speech: Parrhesiastes Lectures, as well as early cenobitic application of Roman (Ciceronian) models of friendship. As a contrast, I will also consider the cautions against certain kinds of friendship in the early tradition of eremitic monasticism. My purpose is to illustrate both the perimeters and parameters of monastic friendship, so as to demonstrate the resources of bold speech (parrhesia) and spiritual counseling, while also attending to the limitations of exclusivism or manipulation. To that end, this study will also develop a theoretical exegesis of the Lucan look, or the way in which the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts narrates the way that human agents regard one another. This topic also returns us to the origins of Benedictine monasticism, as the Rule of Benedict places a crucial emphasis on intentio cordis, or the regard of the heart, both in private prayer and in community life
Polymerization Catalyst[(BDI)ZnN(TMS)2] Synthesis
Get PDFThe goal of this project was to synthesize [(BDI)ZnN(TMS)2], a catalyst for a ring-opening trans-esterification polymerization reactions. The BDI ligand was synthesized from the reaction of 2,6-diisopropylaniline and 2,4-pentanedione; four trials resulted in an average yield of 12.5%.
The ligand formation was confirmed by the appearance of peaks at 3.481 ppm in the 1H NMR spectrum, indicating the — CH2 group. After recrystallization from methanol, the zinc complex was formed by treating Zn[N(TMS)2] with BDI, resulting in a yield of 38.5%
Civic Engagement in the Trump Era: Increasing Political Understanding through the Washington DC Internship Program
Get PDFFor over three and a half decades the CSB|SJU Washington D.C. Summer Study Program has taken students to Washington over the summer months where they live in a learning community and work in internships all over the city. Some students find internships on Capitol Hill, others work in non-profits, government affairs organizations or for executive branch agencies. Students from a wide variety of majors have taken the program, interning at organizations such as the Smithsonian museums and archives, at news media including NBC, and in a number of science and technology related for- and non-profit organizations. All students, regardless of major must attend evening seminars run by the directors. Over the past decade, the co-directors of the program have collected assessment data to measure the level of political knowledge, civic engagement, and commitment to public service that students gain through this experience. We ask if internships in a learning community setting, with a significant academic component and the leadership of a director are more effective than internships alone, and examine whether completing an internship during the Trump administration has any impact on our students’ attitudes towards politics and policy
Anthropological Approaches to Race
No full textRace does not have a biological basis. Instead, race is a social category, and one that leads to important differences and inequalities across the globe. This session will explore this concept, and look at anthropologists\u27 views on race. It will draw on examples from the contemporary context and include student perspectives
Where You Sit is What You See: Residential Patterns and Race in America
No full textIn this hands-on session, participants will begin by examining demographic data (racial concentration, income, etc) on local cities as well as national flash points like Ferguson. Participants will reflect on how this information illuminates existing barriers to racial understanding, equal opportunity, and justice
Text Analytics in R: is Donald Different?
No full textR is a widely-used, professional, comprehensive, free statistical program. Students and faculty interested in non-trivial statistical calculations should be familiar with this program. In astronomy it has been used to tackle a galaxy of largely numerical statistical problems. (E.g.: Modern Statistical Methods for Astronomy: With R Applications by Feigelson & Babu.) In the legitimate press it has been used to comment on subjects from politics to sports. (E.g., see the fivethirtyeight R Package https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/fivethirtyeight/vignettes/fivethirtyeight.html.)
As an introduction to R, I will attempt a statistical answer to the question: Is Donald (Trump) Different (from other presidents)? Fivethirtyeight has used R to analyze Donald Trump\u27s tweets; here we will use text analytics to see what we can learn from the words used in State of the Union addresses
