Central America Faculty and Staff Immersion Trip

Join us

Every spring, a delegation of faculty and staff travels to Central America for a week-long immersive experience facilitated by the听. Co-sponsored with Intersections, the goals of the program are threefold:

Provide an international experience for faculty and staff that explores global justice issues in the context of a developing nation.
Increase participants鈥� appreciation for how the themes of human development, justice, and faith are understood in Jesuit higher education.
Encourage participants to discover ways of integrating these themes into their own life and into the work they do at 涩里番下载.
听

Visit the Intersections site to apply

Nativity mural at Batahola Norte Community Center in Managua, Nicaragua

Testimonials

“Part of this trip was, for me, an opportunity to take some time away from my routine and not simply learn about the politics, history, and culture of Nicaragua, but also to take the time to reflect on some of the very issues that we ask our students to reflect upon. In a particular way, I was thinking about vocational questions, about how my work can be of benefit to the world. I think a lot of us were struggling with this after seeing the poverty in Nicaragua. It was also a valuable trip for our group because we鈥攁nd I would argue this is true for many that choose a career in higher education鈥攗nderstand the importance of life-long learning and we value experiences that help us grow intellectually.听This program was a wonderful experience that encourages intellectual growth and development.”

Akua Sarr, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties
Testimonials

“I felt helpless so many times that it broke my heart almost every day.听 Seeing poverty in its rawest form has to touch you or you cannot call yourself a human being.听 But then I was renewed with the knowledge that people are helping each other, believing that life will be better for their kids, working hard to make that happen and staying strong in their faith and belief that God is watching over them and that better days are ahead.听 Thank you for giving me this education and personal growth.听 I am a different person because of this trip; I am a better person and a better employee because of this trip.听'Men and women for others' has taken on a new meaning for me since I have been home.”

Fred Winslow, Former 涩里番下载 Police Officer
Testimonials

“On a personal level, this was much more of an educational experience than I had ever imagined.听 I think there is no doubt that any of us who work with students come back to campus from Nicaragua with a much deeper understanding of international and even domestic service/immersion experiences and their role in an integrated education.听 For me personally, I am committed more than ever to developing academic experiences that weave experiential learning into the fabric of the course and correspondingly help students enter these experiences with a fuller academic/analytical understanding of the many forces at work. The expansion of consciousness of 涩里番下载 faculty and staff has to have many unforeseen effects on our lives and the decisions we make here that enhance the quality of a 涩里番下载 education as well.”

J. Joseph Burns, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academics, Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties
Testimonials

“After many years of working with and supporting students and staff on service trips (but never going), this trip has given me a greater appreciation for the work that those students, faculty and staff have done.听I also think that this experience has really changed the way I think about the world and challenged assumptions about poverty, loyalty to country, and community service. For faculty and staff who perhaps are not entirely familiar with or aligned with the institutional mission and goals, this experience can certainly help articulate those.”

Carole Hughes, Senior Associate Dean, Dean of Students Office
Testimonials

“One of the values of this trip to the 涩里番下载 community is that it exposes the community to different perspectives鈥攃ulturally, politically, and economically.听It is also an opportunity for sincere engagement with issues that we do not normally address, bringing issues of social justice and human rights to the forefront.听 I especially appreciated the fact that I was privileged to meet and get to know members of the 涩里番下载 community, whom I may have never had the chance to meet and know.”

Margaret Lombe, Assistant Professor, Global Practice, Graduate School of Social Work

2019 Team

Hartmut Austen: Fine Arts Department
Elizabeth Bracher: Courage to Know
Judy Ferres: Office of Institutional Diversity
Karen Fiorentino: Office of Student Affairs
Julianna Gonzalez-McLean: Connell School of Nursing
Allyssa Harris: Connell School of Nursing
Burt Howell: Intersections
Lauri Johnson: Lynch School of Education
Rebekah Levine Coley: Lynch School of Education
David Lewis: ITS
Neil McCullagh: Corcoran Center, CSOM
Dan Ponsetto: VSLC
Alan Rogers: History Department
Eileen Suhrhoff: University Counseling Services

2018

The 2018 trip was cancelled due to political unrest in Nicaragua.

2017

Lisa Berasi:听Office of Student Affairs
Vincent Cho:听Lynch School of Education
Brian Gareau:听Sociology Department
Andrzej Herczynski:听Physics Department
Burt Howell:听Intersections
Mary Jo Iozzio:听School of Theology and Ministry
Yvonne听 Jenkins:听University Counseling
Maureen Kenny:听Lynch School of Education
Fang Lu:听Slavic & Eastern Languages & Literatures
Yvonne听 McBarnett:听Montserrat Coalition
Rosemary Panza:听Lynch School of Education
Dan Ponsetto:听Volunteer and Service Learning Center
Michael Serazio:听Communication Department
Marc Snapper:听Chemistry Department

2016

Patty Birch:听Field Education Specialist, School of Social Work
Andrew Davis:听Assistant Professor, School of Theology & Ministry
Rachel DiBella:听Assistant Director, Women's Center
Eileen Donovan-Kranz:听Associate Professor of the Practice, English Department
Nicole Eaton:听Assistant Professor, History Department
Burt Howell:听Director, Intersections
Dan Kirschner:听Professor, Biology Department
Becca Lowenhaupt:听Assistant Professor, Lynch School of Education
Kevin Mahoney:听Professor, School of Social Work
Michael Martin:听Chairperson, Arts and Sciences Honors Program
Robert Maryks:听Associate Director, Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies
Ines Maturana Sendoya:听Director, Thea Bowman AHANA & Intercultural Center
Dan Ponsetto:听Director, Volunteer and Service Learning Center
Patricia Riggin:听Assistant Professor of the Practice, Theater Department
Rob Savage:听Associate Professor of the Practice, History Department
Franziska Seraphim:听Associate Professor, History Department
Samantha Teixeira:听Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
Josephine Xiong:听Assistant Director, Carroll School of Management

2015

Nasser Behnegar:听Associate Professor, Political Science Department
John Boylan:听Director, NMR Center, Chemistry Department
Rossanna听Contreras-Godfrey:听Associate Director, Learning to Learn
Katie Dalton:听Director, Women's Center
Doug Finn:听Assistant Professor, Theology Department
Rhonda Frederick:听Associate Professor, English Department
Burt Howell:听Director, Intersections
Regine Jean-Charles:听Assistant Professor, Romance Languages & Literatures
John McDargh:听Associate Professor, Theology Department
Kim Ngo:听Senior HR Assistant, Human Resources
Kristen Patterson:听Senior Associate Director, Office of Marketing Communications
Dan Ponsetto:听Director,听Volunteer听and Service Learning Center
Cathy Read:听Associate Professor, Connell School of Nursing
Franck Salameh:听Associate Professor, Slavic/Eastern Languages
Michael Smith:听Lecturer, Carroll School of Management
Melissa Sutherland:听Assistant Professor, Connell School of Nursing

2014

Filippa Anzalone:听Associate Dean, Law Library听
Karen Colantuoni:听Lead Catering Staff, Dining Services听
John Ebel:听Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences听
Jonathan Estwing:听Technology Manager, Residential Life听
Susan Gennaro:听Dean, School of Nursing
Burt Howell:听Director, Intersections
Jeanne Levesque:听Director, Governmental Relations
Ourida Mostefai:听Professor, Romance Languages & Literature
Erik Owens:听Associate Professor, Theology听
Daniel Ponsetto:听Director, Volunteer and Service Learning Center
Barbara Quinn:听Associate Director, Spiritual Formation
Tracy Regan:听Associate Professor, Economics听
Ce Shen:听Associate Professor, Global Practice
Mark Spiegel:听Professor, Law School
Celeste Wells:听Assistant Professor, Communications听

2013

Bartomeu Estelrich Barcelo:听Assistant Director, Special Projects, Intersections
Monetta Edwards:听Program and Events Administrator, Center for Centers
William听Fehder:听Clinical Associate Professor, Adult Health Nursing, CSON
Burt Howell:听Director, Intersections
Amy LaCombe:听Senior Lecturer, CSOM
Micah Lott:听Assistant Professor, Philosophy
Shawn McGuffey:听Associate Professor, Sociology
Enzo Gustavo Morello:听Associate Professor, Sociology
Kelly Rossetto:听Assistant Professor, Communications
Daniel Ponsetto:听Director, Volunteer and Service Learning Center
Stephen Pope:听Professor, Theology
David Twomey:听Professor, Business Law, CSOM
Christopher Wilson:听Professor, English
Jean Yoder:听Associate Director, Student Programs Office
Cynthia Young:听Associate Professor, English

2012

Sarah Beckford:听Associate Professor, Romance Languages & Literature Department
Ingrid Calder:听Administrative Assistant, Academic Advising Center
Curt Dudley-Marling:听Professor, LSOE, Teacher Education
Deborah Grondin:听涩里番下载 Police Department
Gina Harvey:听Director, Space Planning, IRPA
Marilynn Johnson:听Professor, History Department
Gail Kineke:听Associate Professor, Chairperson, Earth & Environmental Sciences
Zine Magubane:听Associate Professor, Sociology Department
Suzanne Matson:听Professor, Chairperson, English Department
Richard Paul:听Program Specialist, African & African Diaspora Studies Program
Martin Summers:听Associate Professor, History Department
Tracey West:听Assistant Dean for Students, Law School

2011

Elizabeth Bagnani:听Faculty, Accounting Department
R. Michael Cassidy:听Faculty, Law School
Dacia Gentilella:听Learning Skills Specialist, Learning to Learn
Burton Howell:听Director, Intersections Project
Michael Keith:听Faculty, Communications Department
Laura O鈥橠wyer:听Faculty, LSOE
Darrell Peterson:听Director, Graduate Student Life
Daniel Ponsetto:听Director, Volunteer & Service Learning Center
Timothy Rice:听Senior Functions Coordinator, Bureau of Conferences
Jessica听Salefski:听Program/Communication Specialist, STM

2010

Angela Amar:听Faculty, Psych/Mental Health Nursing, CSON
Karl Bell:听Assistant Dean, Student Programs Office
Penny Cram:听Faculty, Counseling/Dev/Psych, LSOE
Jane Crowley:听Senior Assistant Director, Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Solomon Friedberg:听Faculty, Mathematics, A&S
Elizabeth Graver:听Faculty, English, A&S
Sheilah Horton:听Associate VP, Dean for Student Development, ODSD
Edilma Hosein:听Administrative Assistant, Office for Institutional Diversity
Burton Howell:听Director, Intersections Project
Michael Kelly:听Faculty, Philosophy, A&S
Susan Mattis:听Faculty, A&S Honors Program
Zachary Morgan:听Faculty, History, A&S
Marina McCoy:听Faculty, Philosophy, A&S
Anthony Penna:听Director, Campus Ministry
Daniel Ponsetto:听Director, Volunteer & Service Learning Center

Learning Outcomes

The goals of the Nicaragua Faculty and Staff Immersion Trip are:

To provide an international experience for faculty and staff that explores global justice issues in the context of a developing nation;
To further participants鈥� understanding of how issues of human development, justice, and faith are linked in the Jesuit mission in higher education;
To encourage participants to find ways of integrating these themes into their own life and their work at 涩里番下载

Join us

Testimonials

Testimonials

Testimonials

Testimonials

Testimonials

The goals of the Nicaragua Faculty and Staff Immersion Trip are: