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This is the Way: Christian Asceticism Alive in the Star Wars Universe
Get PDFThis article is a creative reflection on how the Desert Fathers, especially St. Antony, could be compared in a pastoral way to the Jedi Masters found in the Star Wars Film and Television Canon
The Post-Expansionist Personality Profile of Russian President Vladimir Putin
Get PDFThis report presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality and leadership style of Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.
Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Putin were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.
The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Putin’s primary personality patterns were found to be Dominant/aggressive (sadistically hostile) and Ambitious/exploitative (pathologically narcissistic), with secondary Conscientious/dutiful (obsessive) and Retiring/aloof (introverted) patterns, a subsidiary Dauntless/adventurous (risk-taking) tendency, and lesser Distrusting/suspicious features. The blend of primary patterns in Putin’s profile constitutes a composite personality type that may be characterized as that of an expansionist hostile enforcer.
Dominant individuals enjoy the power to direct others and to evoke obedience and respect; they are tough and unsentimental and often make effective leaders. They view themselves as self-reliant, unyielding, and strong and are disinclined to experience and express compassion. In the pathological range of this pattern, they exhibit coercive behavior and a penchant for humiliating adversaries; are domineering, intimidating, argumentative, and precipitously belligerent; and are adept at having their way by browbeating others into submission. This personality pattern encapsulates the “hostile” component of Putin’s personality composite.
Ambitious individuals are bold, competitive, and self-assured; they easily assume leadership roles, expect others to recognize their special qualities, and often act as though entitled. In the pathological range of this pattern, they display an inflated sense of self-importance; shamelessly take others for granted and use them to indulge their desires; are indifferent to the rights of others; and are unconstrained by objective realities or cautionary feedback. This personality pattern captures the “expansionist” component of Putin’s personality composite.
Conscientious individuals are dutiful and diligent, with a strong work ethic and careful attention to detail, and able to persistent in difficult circumstances. They are loyal to their party and causes and adept at crafting public policy, but often lack the retail political skills required to consummate their policy objectives and are more technocratic than visionary. In the prominent range of this pattern, they are typically formal, proper, and dignified; hold strong moral principles with absolute certainty; micromanage their subordinates; and are intolerant of deviance. This personality pattern fashions the “enforcer” component of Putin’s personality composite.
Retiring (introverted) individuals are aloof and solitary, generally appear complacent and untroubled, and rarely express inner feelings or thoughts, with a corresponding tendency to be somewhat deficient in the ability to recognize the needs or feelings of others. They prefer distant or limited involvement with others, tend not to develop strong interpersonal ties, are most comfortable when left alone, and tend to work in a slow, quiet, methodical manner. In the prominent range of this pattern, they lack spontaneity and interpersonal vitality and may appear somewhat “wooden” or “robotic” in their emotional responsiveness.
Dauntless individuals are adventurous, daring personalities resistant to coercion or deterrence and inclined to take calculated risks. They have a strong need for independence, may flout tradition and conventional standards, and live in the present, with little guilt about the past or anxiety about the future.
Putin’s major personality-based strengths in a political role are his commanding demeanor and confident assertiveness. His major personality-based shortcomings are his uncompromising intransigence, lack of empathy and congeniality, and cognitive inflexibility.
Regarding personality-based leadership traits, Putin’s presidential style is hypothesized to be deliberative, his temperament active–negative, and his core leadership skill organizational ability.
With reference to personality-based foreign policy orientation, Putin is hypothesized to be a high-dominance introvert preoccupied with issues of security and status and a corresponding expansionist tendency in the international arena
Lunch & Learn: Dorothy Day, Benedictine Oblate
No full textJeffry Odell Korgen serves as a Leadership Roundtable Consultant. As president of Korgen Associates, he is a writer and church consultant who provides coaching, planning, and evaluation services to Catholic and interfaith organizations, including serving as coordinator of Cardinal Dolan’s Inquiry into the Life and Virtues of Dorothy Day. Jeff previously served as executive director for the Department of Diocesan Planning for the Diocese of Metuchen and as director of social ministries for the National Pastoral Life Center. Prior to that, he worked as a youth minister and as lead organizer for the Brockton Interfaith Community of the Massachusetts Community Action Network. He received a MA in Pastoral Ministry, a Master of Social Work, and BA from Boston College. He is certified by the Center for Creative Leadership to deliver the Catholic Leadership 360 assessment tool and is a faculty member for the Toolbox for Pastoral Management
SJU Class of 2023 Commencement Celebration
No full textMay 14, 2023 The One Hundred Sixty-Sixth Year Abbey & University Church Saint John\u27s University
Kurt Vickman, founder and CEO of Good Grocer and a 1994 Saint John’s University graduate, delivered the Saint John’s University commencement address at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 14, in Saint John\u27s Abbey and University Church.
Vickman addressed the 2023 SJU graduating class of 332 undergraduate men and 23 School of Theology and Seminary graduates.
Durran Thompson, a graduating accounting major from Nassau, The Bahamas, was the student commencement speaker.
Vickman is a social entrepreneur, real estate developer and cultural innovator. As both a nonprofit and for-profit entrepreneur, he has built and led successful start-ups for much of his life.
In 2002, Vickman founded the Upper Room community on the belief that a church should not just be about educating people but experientially engaging them to be a force for good in the world. Over the course of the next three years, Upper Room would grow from a few hundred people to more than 1,000 attending weekly.
Vickman founded an innovative, social business in South Minneapolis called Good Grocer in 2011. As the country’s first volunteer powered grocery store, it is dependent on hundreds of volunteers to make fresh, quality food accessible and affordable to those in need.
To date, Good Grocer has more than 500 volunteers who work monthly as cashiers, baggers and stockers in exchange for a 20% savings on their groceries.
Thompson’s community service includes his role as president of the Saint John’s Senate, former vice president of finance for Delta Sigma Pi, treasurer of the Archipelago Club Association, residential assistant, entrepreneur scholar and opera workshop performer. Most recently, Thompson was inducted into Sigma Beta Delta.
Thompson was excited to see what\u27s next as he enters this new chapter of his life. He aims to set an example for other people to rise up and be the change our society needs
LLAS Spring 2023 Series: What is Muralism? Labor, Social Justice, and Cultural Identity through Visual Storytelling
No full textOn the centennial of the Mexican Muralist movement, Aaron Johnson-Ortiz will share the past, present, and future of Muralism as an art movement and as a social, political, and cultural phenomenon, with specific highlights from Mexican and Latin American history, his own art practice, and Muralism history in Minnesota.
Aaron Johnson-Oritz is a Mexican, Latino, and Mexican-American cultural organizer, arts advocate, and award-winning (Neo)Muralist based in Minnesota. His art focuses on workers’ rights, immigrant rights, Latino culture, and Mexican identity. His “Workers United In Struggle” mural was named the 2018 “Best Mural” in the Twin Cities by City Pages.
Currently, Aaron is Executive Director and Founder of (Neo)Muralismos de México, one of the few public arts organization in the US that is dedicated to revitalizing and reclaiming the Mexican origins of Muralism as an art movement. Aaron is also a founding member of the Mexican Cultural Arts Alliance (MCAA), the only bi-national (US/Mexico) professional development and partnership-building organization for emerging Mexican-focused arts administrators and organizations. Previously, Aaron served as Director of Arts & Cultural Engagement at CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio), where he developed Minnesota’s largest Latino-focused arts program
Get Me the Girl for a Wife : Feminist Readings of Genesis 34-35
Get PDFThis essay, originally written for “The Hebrew Scriptures: History, Theology, and Controversy,” considers the story of the rape of Dinah, exploring the text’s history and its traditional interpretations. Drawing on the work of Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror, the piece proposes a feminist and liberatory reading of the passage, one that centers the personhood of Dinah and the other women of the story