Current Research Projects

2023-2024 Research Funding Grant Recipients

Faculty MembersProject Title and Description

Patrick M. Green, EdD

Executive Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship (CELTS) / Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Education, Loyola University Chicago

Developing a Research and Scholarship Agenda for Community Engagement in Catholic Higher Education 

This interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research project, in collaboration with the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), Boston College, and the University of Notre Dame, and co-lead by Dr. Patrick M. Green, is focused on developing a research and scholarship agenda for community engagement in the Catholic higher education context. With lines of inquiry exploring how community engagement is informed by and distinct through Catholic thought at a Catholic institution of higher education, the goal will be to bring together community engagement professionals and scholars from Catholic colleges and universities through the ACCU Community-Engaged Scholar-Practitioner Network meetings to develop a research and scholarship agenda around community engagement. This project is focused on hosting a research-agenda setting meeting with Catholic colleges and universities, applying the IARSLCE protocol. Incorporating faith-based institutions, and distinctly elevating Catholic thought and the Catholic intellectual heritage into the development of the global research agenda. 

Susan Haarman, PhD

Associate Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching & Scholarship


Rebecca Silton, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology; Director of Wellbeing + Emotion Lab @ Loyola

The Legacy of Magda Arnold: Examining a Good Life of Catholic Spirituality, Science, and Human Emotion  

Magda Arnold (1903 - 2002) was a professor in the Psychology Department at Loyola University Chicago from 1952 - 1972. Embracing Catholic thought and philosophy, Dr. Arnold’s research and texts explore the role of spirituality and personal agency in the neuroscientific study of feelings and emotions. A primary aim of our project will involve identifying the distinct influence of Catholic intellectual tradition and Ignatian spirituality that is threaded throughout Dr. Arnold’s research and advances scientific theories of feelings and emotions. We will conduct archival work to frame the role of her sociopolitical context and deepen our understanding about the contributions from Catholic intellectuals, such as Father John Gasson, S.J., who greatly influenced and supported Dr. Arnold’s work.

 

Norma López, PhD, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Loyola University Chicago

 

Demetri L. Morgan, Associate Professor of Higher Education, Loyola University Chicago

 

Bridging cura: Faculty of color socialization at a Jesuit institution.

Fr. Sosa's (2020) letter to the Society of Jesus notes that “difficulties in the matter of cura apostolica (i.e., care for the organization) and cura personalis (i.e., care for people) derive mainly from separating the two” (p. 5). Rather, Fr. Sosa (2020) calls for "one single cura," – which is "care for mission” that “has as its focus persons, communities and works, which are at the service of mission” (p. 5). Therefore, if Ignatian intellectual heritage is to bridge the tensions of cura apostolica and cura personalis to cura life-mission - in the way Fr. Sosa (2020) describes - interrogating senior academic leaders and faculty of color conceptualize the curas is paramount. Our guiding research question is: How is the tension between cura apostolica and cura personalis shaping the career trajectories of faculty of color at a Jesuit-Catholic university in the Midwest? (142)  

 

 

Dr. Paula Skye Tallman, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences, Loyola University Chicago

 

Dr. Abha Rai, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, Associate Director, Center for Immigrant and Refugee Accompaniment, School of Social Work

 

Dr. Jennifer Parks, Professor, Philosophy Department Director, Bioethics Minor Program, Loyola University Chicago

 

Grace Shallal, Political Science and Philosophy Double Major, Bioethics and Catholic Studies Double Minor, College of Arts and Sciences, Hank Center Undergraduate Research Fellow

 

Natalie Archdeacon, Social Work Major, Women and Gender Studies and Psychology minor, School of Social Work

 

Willa Poland-McClain, Sociology Major and Spanish Minor, College of Arts and Sciences.







 

Education, Equality, and Women’s Health: Co-Designing a Gender Equality Intervention in Catholic Communities in Peru

In this project, our interdisciplinary team is examining how Catholic bioethics and feminist theory can be combined to inform the development of a culturally sensitive community-level program to promote gender equality and knowledge of women’s health in Peru.The literature aligning these perspectives is limited. However, scholars have recently highlighted Pope Francis’ consonance with feminist perspectives, providing an innovative theoretical starting point. To make this research community-centered, our team will be working closely with the study communities and our partners at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and with the Jesuit organization, Fe y Alegría. Ultimately, the goal of this collaborative, conceptual work is to inform ongoing action-oriented research to promote gender equity and water access in rural, Catholic communities on the northern Peruvian coast.