Below are approved cocurricular experiences that satisfy the Cura Personalis 2 (CORE 2500) requirement for the Saint Louis University Undergraduate Core. Please note that each experience has a separate registration process conducted by the sponsoring SLU department — students do not sign up for these using the traditional course catalog method.
After completing the experience, sponsoring departments submit the names of students who should receive credit toward their graduation requirements.
Cura Personalis 2 Programs at SLU-Madrid
Submit Your Department's Programs for Cura Personalis 2 Approval
Building Community
Campion Nights are weekly events hosted by the Edmund Campion Society of the Catholic Studies Program at SLU. These nights include opportunities for the sacrament of reconciliation, the rosary, Mass, dinner, a weekly speaker, personal reflection and small group discussion. The Edmund Campion Society is a co-curricular group that complements the Catholic Studies major and minor, though students do not need to study Catholic Studies to participate in the Campion Society and Campion Nights.
- Contact: Jen Sanders
- Sponsoring Department: Catholic Studies Program
- Offered: Ongoing throughout each semester
SLU students are invited to gather around a formation theme of Campus Ministry's – play, rest, serve, or grow – and engage in an activity to build community and relationships with other students, campus partners, and student organizations. Activities planned around the formation themes always involve a reflection component on personal identity and the importance of making time to play, rest, serve, and grow. The goal of Community Nights is to provide students a chance to cultivate new connections with themselves and others.
- Contact: Sue Chawszczewski
- Sponsoring Department: Campus Ministry
- Offered: 6-7 p.m., Wednesday evenings, fall and spring semesters
CURA in the Library, a weekly book club, is a contemplative community for students to read, discuss literature, and reflect on their lives together. We will read two to three books together during the semester. Week by week, for eight sessions, we will gather in the library to chat about what we have read and how it connects to our lives, communities and the world in which we live.
After the successful launch of this program on SLU’s Madrid campus, we are delighted to offer this experience here at SLU this coming fall. Students will read 40-50 pages of the selected book before each session. Then, we will meet each week for an hour and a half to chat about and reflect on what we have read. CURA in the Library offers students the opportunity to slow down, pause, and reflect on their lives and their place in the world — all over good books, good food (snacks and coffee will be served!), and good company (yep, that’s where you come in!).
Weekly conversations will be guided by University Core Librarian Paige Chant and Student Success and Wellness Librarian Lori Kupsky in collaboration with students. Space is limited to 10 students.
- Contact: Paige Chant
- Sponsoring Department: University Libraries
- Offered: Fall semester
On Micah Program Community Nights, first-year students meet in small groups facilitated by upper-class Micah students for one hour every Monday that the University is in session. The purpose is for students to build a stronger community, reflect upon and discuss their Micah service, and learn about social justice topics. They also build self-awareness and understanding of their fellow Micah members and their role in the larger St. Louis community. Programming provides opportunities for reflection, analysis, relationship-building and personal growth. Topics center around the program pillars of service, community, interfaith, academics and leadership.
- Contact: Emily Komos
- Sponsoring Department: Micah Program
- Offered: Ongoing throughout the year
Leadership Development and Training Opportunities
The Learning Community Program will host two sessions of Catalyst™ facilitated by LeaderShape®. Catalyst™ is a one-day program focused on developing your authentic path, connecting to groups and causes you care about, and committing to a plan to be a catalyst for yourself and the groups you belong to. This program is designed to start something extraordinary. In this session, you will consider powerful questions that move you towards action: Am I on the right path? Who do I want to be? How can I connect with like-minded individuals? In small-group dialogue, large-group interaction and personal reflection, you will learn alongside others who want to start something extraordinary! In addition to the Catalyst™ Workshop, participants will discuss our Jesuit Mission and how it can inform your leadership practice.
- Contact: Learning Communities Program
- Sponsoring Department: Housing and Residence Life
- Offered: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, and Saturday, April 5, 2025, preregistration is required
The Billikens Act circle process brings students together for a facilitated discussion around the mission and values of SLU, engagement with the campus community, and how we might better live our espoused values in the context of SLU's unique mission and identity.
- Contact: Bill Bowey
- Sponsoring Department: Student Responsibility and Community Standards
- Offered: Each academic year
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an 8-hour training program that teaches individuals to recognize early, worsening and crisis mental health symptoms and respond accordingly.
- Contact: Health Promotion and Education Office
- Sponsoring Department: Campus Recreation and Wellness
- Offered: Ongoing. Multiple training sessions are offered throughout the year.
The Neuroscience Peer Mentoring program allows first- and second-year students to meet in small groups with upper-class neuroscience peer mentors. Peer mentors act as leaders within the neuroscience community by sharing their experiences with students, fostering a welcoming environment for program exploration, and assisting new students as they navigate challenging situations. Junior and senior neuroscience majors who would like to become peer mentors will commit to one year of service that includes the following activities: an orientation meeting, Fall Neuroscience Welcome Event, two to four small-group mentoring sessions, two training meetings, mid-year check-in and a reflection project.
- Contact: Jennifer Elwyn
- Sponsoring Department: Neuroscience
- Offered: One-year commitment beginning in the fall semester.
This program provides participants a chance to reflect on their experiences thus far as SLU students and how these experiences shape their personal development, potential vocations, and ability to respond to challenging situations. The students’ service in the College of Arts and Sciences advising will provide the primary lens with which to engage in discernment, however, they will also examine other experiences (both at SLU and from their past), such as family/peer relationships, spiritual encounters, employment, leadership opportunities, and other campus involvement. Students will critically evaluate the impact of these experiences on their growth as individuals and develop skills necessary to handle challenges, respond to stress and cultivate well-being.
- Contact: Yvette Hubbman
- Sponsoring Department: College of Arts and Sciences Academic Advising
- Offered: Fall semester.
Learn More About Peer Advising, Training, Experience and Reflection
Policy Pods are groups of about seven students who meet once a week to prepare for legislative advocacy meetings with elected officials.
Students look at bills and research the impacts of the bills, practice advocacy pitches, and meet with district legislators on topics such as immigration, criminal justice, health equity, education equity or environmental issues.
- Contact: Jessica Trout
- Sponsoring Department: Center for Social Action
- Offered: Once each academic year, sign-ups are in the fall.
The Social Justice and Advocacy Training consists of four hybrid workshops (in-person speakers, small group discussions/application, and online prep work) that will be held during the spring semester.
This training covers various tactics and strategies to utilize when working for social change, using both an advocacy lens and a community-organizing lens. It is structured with a Jesuit framework and supports students in thinking about how to do long-term justice work in a healthy way while walking them through creating action plans for advocacy.
- Contact: Jessica Trout
- Sponsoring Department: Center for Social Action
- Offered: Once each spring semester.
Retreats/Immersions
The Belize Business Immersion allows undergraduate Chaifetz School of Business students to learn about social entrepreneurship and economic development from Belizean business owners. Students will engage with entrepreneurs of small businesses and local farmers to understand the process of sourcing raw materials in the supply chain. Participants will also explore the cultural history of the Belizean Maya people, gaining an understanding of ancestral land ownership and current social issues impacting the Maya people and businesses in the Punta Gorda region. Special attention will be given to the cacao and turmeric industries in Belize.
- Contacts: Ben Smyth and Brittany Ludwig
- Sponsoring Department: The Hub for Community Engagement, Chaifetz School of Business
- Offered: Spring Break
This day-long retreat, run by Jesuits in formation from the Bellarmine House Jesuit community, in collaboration with and under the auspices of Campus Ministry, builds on the popularity of "Java with the Jesuits" and provides students with an opportunity to reflect and pray in the Ignatian tradition, following themes from the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, led by Jesuits close in age to the students themselves.
- Contact: Thomas Flowers, S.J.
- Sponsoring Department: Bellarmine House Jesuits and Campus Ministry
- Offered: Occasional Saturdays throughout the academic year
Through community-building activities and story-sharing, the Fresh Look retreat provides a chance to take a fresh look at your life: who you have been, and who God desires you to be in your future. Within this retreat community, you will also explore the concept of gratitude, and the ways that you — through a variety of approaches to prayer — can encounter and converse with God in everyday life. For first-year students only.
Contact: Michael Schreiner or Nicole Armstrong
Sponsoring Department: Campus Ministry
Offered: Each Fall.
The Connections Retreat invites you to explore how God calls you into greater vulnerability, courage and authenticity in your relationships with your friends, family, romantic partners and yourself. Through small groups and reflection activities, you will dive into the themes of identity, vulnerability, shame, loneliness, attraction, sexuality, boundaries and intimacy through a lens of faith.
- Contact: Julia Erdlen
- Sponsoring Department: Campus Ministry
- Offered: Each November.
The Ignite Group Retreat offers an introduction/deepening to some of the key aspects of Ignatian Spirituality in a group setting. During the retreat, participants will be invited to explore the Ignatian pillars of prayer, discernment, reconciliation and “Finding God in All Things” through talks, large-group activities, small-group discussions and time for personal reflection.
- Contact: Jim Roach
- Sponsoring Department: Campus Ministry
- Offered: Each October.
The Ignatian Silent Retreat introduces the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. During the retreat, you will be invited to explore the Ignatian style of prayer by reflecting inward and taking a closer look at your own experience of God through imagination and scripture. You will meet with a spiritual director individually to reflect on and discuss your prayer experiences.
- Contact: Sue Chawszczewski
- Sponsoring Department: Campus Ministry
- Offered: Each January.
This retreat centers on the LGBTQ+ experience, particularly how LGBTQ+ identities interact with religion and spirituality. It is primarily for LGBTQ+-identifying and questioning students, but we welcome heterosexual, cisgender-identifying people engaged in accomplice/ally work with the LGBTQ+ community. The retreat will include talks, small groups, solo time, reflections and activities.
- Contact: Julia Erdlen
- Sponsoring Department: Campus Ministry
- Offered: Each February.
The Vocation of Business Retreat is an Examen-structured retreat for students majoring in business to explore their vocation/calling as business professionals. Focusing on reflection of gratitude, experience and proceeding, the retreat experience includes speakers from the business community and/or vocation stories of current faculty and staff.
- Contact: Ben Smyth
- Sponsoring Department: Service Leadership Program, Chaifetz School of Business
- Offered: Once each year.
The Micah Program Spring Retreat is a weekend-long retreat that all first-year Micah students must attend. The retreat talks, reflections, and activities revolve around three of the program's five pillars: community, service and social justice, and interfaith engagement. The retreat is led by upperclassmen Micah students and Micah Program staff.
- Contact: Emily Komos
- Sponsoring Department: Micah Program
- Offered: Spring semester.
The DICE Student Staff Retreat is offered to student employees of the Center for Social Action and Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement.
- Contact: Jessica Trout
- Sponsoring Department: Center for Social Action and Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement
- Offered: Once each year.
Immersive study abroad trip that combines academic learning with real-world experiences in Germany and Switzerland, focusing on sustainable practices and innovations. This ten-day program integrates site visits, lectures, stimulating discussions, and hands-on activities, offering students a comprehensive understanding of sustainability from a global perspective. The course will explore sustainable technologies, eco-friendly urban development, and the role of environmental stewardship in different cultural contexts. This course offers a unique opportunity to engage with sustainability on a global scale while fostering personal and academic growth through an enriching travel experience.
- Sara Drenkhahn-Weinaug
- Sponsoring Department: Department of Chemistry and Study Abroad Office
- Offered: Each summer
Success and Wellness
- Blueprint for Success: Blueprint for Success is a free student success series designed to help first-time
freshmen students develop effective strategies to maximize their academic potential.
In groups of 12 or fewer, students will be guided through sessions and activities
to learn strategies for managing time, finding motivation, gaining confidence in academic
abilities, wellness/self-care, and vocational discernment. All students will be enrolled
in a Canvas course, where they can explore additional resources for success, complete
out-of-group assignments, and instructors can track attendance.
- Contact: Brittany Ludwig
- Sponsoring Department: Student Success and Academic Advising
- Offered: Spring semester
- Learn More About Blueprint for Success
Opportunities at SLU-Madrid
View this listing on SLU-Madrid's website.
Convivium is a multimedia arts collective based at SLU-Madrid. Convivium seeks to celebrate art in all forms and to promote the people responsible for creating such artwork. Students can complete the undergraduate Core Cura Personalis 2: Self in Contemplation requirement by participating in the organizational aspects or in the creative submission aspects of Convivium, attending meetings and carrying out reflective tasks in conjunction with their administrative or creative contributions.
- Contact: Ryan Day
- Sponsoring Department: Department of English
- Offered: Throughout the year
CURA in the Library Book Club is conceived as a space for students to be contemplative in action, that is, to reflect on their day-to-day life in conversation with a set of chosen books and with each other. The experience will be guided by the Saint Louis University — Madrid Library staff, and moderated by the student participants.
- Contact: Sara Perez
- Sponsoring Department: SLU-Madrid Library
- Offered: Fall semester
Cura Personalis for Athletes provides students in Madrid participating in athletics/club sports a chance to reflect on their life experiences on and off the field. Students meet five times over the semester and discuss vocational discernment, wellness, self-identity, values formation and spirituality.
Contact: Cesar Rioja
Sponsoring Department: SLU-Madrid Athletics
Offered: Each semester
The Ignatian Pilgrimage Retreat to Loyola traces the life of St. Ignatius, visiting his birthplace, family home, the hospital where he worked and — perhaps most notably — the spot where he converted to Catholicism and gave his life to God. During the three-day retreat, visiting and permanent students of different faiths shared their thoughts and made new friends while learning about the rich history of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order.
- Contact: studentlife-madrid@slu.edu
- Sponsoring Department: Campus Ministry - Madrid
- Offered: Once each semester
Students will travel to Albergue Fray Luis de León in the Sierra de Guadarrama, north of Madrid, for a day-long retreat full of exercises and activities planned to help them look inward, where they will have the opportunity to reflect on their purpose, their values, and what it is that moves them as people.
- Contacts: Carla Aparicio Gallardo and Paloma Gomez de Salazaar
- Sponsoring Department: Madrid Counseling Center
- Offered: Once each semester