Reinert Center Receives Campus Dialogue Grant

The Paul C. Reinert, S.J. Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning has been awarded a Campus Dialogue Grant from the Bringing Theory to Practice project, a partner of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

The grant of approximately $5,000 will fund a series of dialogues driven by two key questions: What would it look like if all formal learning experiences at SLU were intentionally designed for inclusion? What would it take to get there?

As requested by the funder, the project will bring together a group of campus stakeholders, drawn from diverse areas and roles on campus, for five structured dialogues leading to a plan for action.

The members of the core dialogue group are: Margaret Bultas (faculty in Nursing and member of the University Core Curriculum task force), Laura Franklin (chair of Visual and Performing Arts and member of the College of Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum Working Group), Mona Hicks (Dean of Students), Chad Huddleston (adjunct faculty in Sociology and Anthropology), Jack Kennell (chair of Biology), Mike Lewis (associate provost for faculty affairs and development), Jonathan Smith (chief diversity officer), Leah Sweetman (Center for Service and Community Engagement), Beth Tobo (doctoral student in Epidemiology), and Penny Weiss (chair of Women’s and Gender Studies). Dialogues will be facilitated by Debie Lohe and Gina Merys from the Reinert Center.

Core dialogue group members will read texts in common and consider guiding questions linked to the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm and Bringing Theory to Practice’s “greater purposes for higher education.” As the title of the project -- Dialogues toward Action: Inclusive Learning Experiences -- makes clear, the ultimate goal of the dialogues will be to develop an action plan to increase/enhance inclusive practice across the SLU undergraduate learning experience.

This project extends the Reinert Center’s work on inclusive teaching and provides an opportunity to advance the University’s commitment to inclusion.