A Three Year Initiative

Year One

Chicago Workshop
June 9–11, 2010

CCIH will host a Workshop at Loyola University Chicago (LUC) attended by the eleven approved LUC scholars, the three approved scholars from partnering North American Jesuit universities, and at least two approved scholars from each of the three international locations. The purpose of this workshop will be for the scholars to meet and discuss four topics:

  • The nature of each of the approved DCCIRP research projects;
  • The distinct issues democratization is raising in the North American and the three international locations;
  • The positions that Catholic populations and leaders appear to be taking in response to democratization in each of the four locations; and
  • Ideas for the organization and design of the 2011 regional colloquia.

The overall goal of DCCIRP’s first year is to form an international group of 32 scholars who will begin their research projects addressing issues in democracy, culture, and Catholicism, representing concerns within the humanities, the social sciences, and professional disciplines. So formed, the DCCIRP will go forward in a manner that is solidly international and intentionally designed for real interdisciplinary dialogue between the participant researchers.

Year Two

Regional Colloquia
May–August 2011

On separate dates between May and August of 2011, each of the three groups of DCCIRP international scholars will host a public, three-day regional colloquium on Democracy, Culture and Catholicism at their home institutions (Vilnius University in Vilnius, Lithuania; Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya in Lima, Peru; and Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia). The purpose of these regional colloquia will be to have each resident DCCIRP scholar publicly present a draft of their research project. These resident DCCIRP scholars will be joined at each location by three DCCIRP scholars from LUC and one DCCIRP scholar from a partnering North American Jesuit university. These scholars will also present drafts of their research projects at the regional colloquia.

An added feature of the regional colloquia will be public presentations from two local leaders of Jesuit educational institutions and evangelization programs. These leaders will offer reflections on their own experience of democratization as administrators of Jesuit educational institutions and directors of Jesuit evangelization programs in their regions. The DCCIRP scholars will join in discussion with these local leaders, bringing their scholarly research on contemporary democratization in direct dialogue with the concrete experiences of local leaders. The regional colloquia will be organized by the research scholars at each international location and hosted by their home institutions, with assistance from CCIH and LUC’s Office of International Programs.

The primary goal of DCCIRP’s second year is to facilitate each scholar’s ongoing research. Given the unique nature of the DCCIRP, this facilitation will intentionally include interdisciplinary dialogue between participant researchers and a solid exchange of international experiences between the regional DCCIRP scholars and their North American DCCIRP counterparts.

Year Three

Rome Conference
June 2012

In June 2012, the three-year DCCIRP will culminate with a ten-day gathering in Rome which will include a four-day academic conference. Here, the entire group of DCCIRP scholars from Vilnius, Lima, Yogyakarta, Chicago and the partnering North American Jesuit universities will present and discuss their final papers. Paralleling the regional colloquia, public presentations will be given by two international leaders of Jesuit educational institutions and evangelization programs. Again, these leaders will offer reflections on their experience of democratization as administrators of Jesuit educational institutions and directors of Jesuit evangelization efforts worldwide and the research scholars will engage them in discussion. Support for the Rome Conference will come from CCIH, LUC’s Office of International Programs, and Fr. Michael Garanzini, S.J., President of Loyola University Chicago. The conference will also benefit from the support of the Society of Jesus’ Curia Generalizia in Rome.

The goals of DCCIRP’s third year include:

  • Bringing each DCCIRP scholar’s research to completion;
  • Engaging an international audience of Catholic intellectuals, education administrators, and leaders in Church mission in discussion over the questions raised and results gained by the DCCIRP; and
  • Preparing the DCCIRP research papers for publication.