Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture, 2019-2026
Malcolm and Mari Stamper Endowed Chair in Catholic Intellectual and Cultural Traditions
Professor, Theology and Religious Studies
Seattle University career of 36 years!
Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez is a nationally recognized theologian, educator, author, and peacebuilder whose work has transformed the fields of Latina feminist theology, Catholic social thought, spirituality, and intercultural justice. As the Malcolm and Mari Stamper Endowed Chair in Catholic Intellectual and Cultural Traditions and Executive Director of the Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture at Seattle University, she has spent more than three decades shaping generations of students, scholars, and community leaders through a vocation rooted in compassion, justice, and the transformative power of culture and faith.
A pioneering voice in U.S. Latina/o theology, Dr. Rodriguez’s scholarship bridges theology, psychology, cultural memory, spirituality, and social transformation. Her groundbreaking book, Our Lady of Guadalupe: Faith and Empowerment Among Mexican American Women, remains a foundational text in Latino/a theology and feminist religious studies. Across an influential body of work—including Stories We Live: Cuentos que Vivimos, Cultural Memory: Resistance, Faith and Identity, A Clan Mother’s Call: Reconstructing Haudenosaunee Cultural Memory, and her recent Women Called to Catholic Priesthood: From Ecclesial Challenge to Spiritual Renewal—she has illuminated how marginalized communities draw upon memory, ritual, spirituality, and resistance to sustain dignity and hope.
Dr. Rodriguez is also widely respected for her leadership in advancing peace, reconciliation, and nonviolence. A longtime collaborator with Pax Christi USA and newly invited associate to the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, she has helped articulate a spirituality of peacemaking grounded in solidarity with the poor, migrants, Indigenous peoples, and women. Her teaching and public scholarship consistently invite communities to imagine a more compassionate and inclusive Church and world.
Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Rodriguez has received numerous honors recognizing her profound impact as a scholar and teacher, including the Virgilio Elizondo Award for Distinguished Achievement in Theology, the Seattle University Distinguished Teaching Award, the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Feminist Theology Award, and an honorary Doctor of Theology degree from Saint Xavier University. She has served as President of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, founding director of Seattle University’s Center for the Study of Justice in Society, and mentor to countless emerging scholars, ministers, activists, and healers.
At the heart of Dr. Rodriguez’s life and work is a deep commitment to accompaniment: listening to stories, honoring sacred memory, nurturing human dignity, and building bridges across cultures, faiths, and generations. Her scholarship, leadership, and pastoral presence continue to inspire communities to seek justice with courage, imagination, and hope.
Institute for catholic thought and culture retrospective:
ICTC events and programs under the leadership of Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez, September 2019 - June 2026
This academic year, in lieu of the “Year in Review” booklet, ICTC has compiled a seven-year retrospective of Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez’s tenure as Executive Director for the institute. Dr. Rodriguez entered the position in the fall of 2019, and quickly started developing initiatives drawn from her thirty-plus years in theology and advocacy. To the newsletter we added the “Signs of the Times’” section, and the first programming in 2020 focused on primacy of conscious and democracy. The shift to online programming for two years presented opportunities to broaden ICTC’s community and expand our speaker portfolio. Existing programs such as the Catholic Heritage Series and the Interreligious Dialogue Initiative flourished, as well as partnerships across campus and the broader Catholic community, both locally and nationally. The shift back to in-person events was seamless as Dr. Rodriguez continued to invite academic speakers that addressed the current and pressing issues of our time, offering both inspiration and hope for a better world. Thank you Dr. Rodriguez for your leadership and vision for the Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture!
the “ictc team”
Left to right:
Sophia Cofinas, Communication and Program Assistant
Estefania Kendall, Program Manager
Yolanda Cieters, Sustainability Director, Institute or Environmental Justice and Sustainability
Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez, Executive Director
Arturo A. Araujo, SJ, Jesuit Artist in Residence
Jessica Palmer, Associate Director
Dr. Jason Wirth, Interreligious Dialogue Chair (IDI), Professor and Department Chair, Philosophy
2025-2026 Provost’s Faculty Awards
Outstanding Career Achievement
Jeanette Rodriguez
Professor and Executive Director, Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture
ictc advisory board
In the spring of 2021, Dr. Rodriguez invited faculty, staff, and community members to form the inaugural ICTC Advisory Board. Thank you to current and past board members!
Ajay Abraham, Associate Professor, Albers School of Business and Economics, 2021-23
Fr. Arturo Araujo, SJ, Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, 2021-25
Thomas Antkowiak, Professor, School of Law, 2025-current
Sharon Callahan, Professor Emerita, School of Theology and Ministry, 2021-26 (Board Chair 2023-25)
Fr. James Eblen, Professor Emeritus, School of Theology and Ministry, 2023-25
Elizabeth Guss, community member, 2021-current
Jessica Imanaka, Associate Professor, Albers School of Business and Economics and the College of Arts and Sciences, 2023-current (current Board Chair)
Nalini Iyer, Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, 2023-26
David Kwon, Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, 2025-current
John La Pointe, Alumnus, School of Theology and Ministry, 2025-current
Wes Lauer, College of Science and Engineering, 2025-current
Jane Peterson, Faculty Emerita, College of Nursing, 2021-23
Mary Sepulveda, Librarian, 2021-25
Fr. Lucas Sharma, SJ, SU Board of Trustees, 2021-25 (Board Chair 2021-23)
Donna Teevan, College of Arts and Sciences, 2021-26
Jason Wirth, Professor, College of Arts and Sciences (IDI Chair, 2020-26)
ictc mission and vision
The Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture creates a conceptual space for the SU community to retrieve, renew, and contribute to the Catholic intellectual traditions. This tradition contains a vast repository of theological thought, philosophizing, devotional practices, works of literature, visual art, music and drama, styles of architecture, legal reason, science, social and political theorizing, and other forms of cultural expressions.
ICTC provides and supports opportunities for faculty, staff, students, and the external community to engage at the crossroads where faith and reason, religion and culture, church and world meet through academic research, reflection, and dialogue. We strive to be a place of multifaith, diverse conversations where people come together to engage in complex yet necessary conversations.
Through the Catholic Heritage Series, course development, research fellowships and community partnerships, we strive to:
• Encourage faculty to expand the horizon of Catholic thought through rigorous scholarship.
• Ignite students’ curiosity to explore the Catholic intellectual traditions in all its richness and complexity.
• Engage in a vibrant, community-wide discourse on Catholicism in dialogue with the issues of our day.
• Highlight the university’s commitment to Catholicism as a global and diverse tradition concerned with lifting up the most marginalized of our society.
Patrick Howell, sj Catholic Heritage series
The annual Catholic Heritage Series, launched in 2010, engages the Seattle University community to explore aspects of the Catholic Intellectual Traditions and the intersection of Catholicism and culture. Fr. Patrick Howell, SJ, (1940-2019) was instrumental in the visioning and establishment of both the Catholic Heritage Lectures, which began in the fall of 2010, and the Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture, which officially launched in the fall of 2012. Inspired by the vision of Vatican II, he was passionate about bringing the Catholic intellectual tradition to life. In his own words, “the ICTC’s Catholic Heritage Lectures are committed to providing spaces and conversations where these deeper, soul-searching examinations can occur - with the hope that they open up the ancient places, the foundations of one’s soul, and the delight that one is getting closer to the truth.”
Fr. Howell joined the faculty at Seattle University in 1985, eventually becoming Vice President for Mission and Ministry. He served as Interim Director for ICTC during the 20182019 academic year. Upon his passing on Thanksgiving Day, 2019, a generous donation from Timmie Hollomon ensured the longevity of the Catholic Heritage Lectures. The series was renamed and dedicated in his honor: Patrick Howell, SJ, Catholic Heritage Series.
Catholic Heritage Series 2019-2020
Cultural Contributions and Contemporary Challenges to American Catholic Life
Catholic Heritage Series 2020-2022: Globalization,
Spirituality, and Justice
A vision of justice is an integral part of Christian spirituality. Foundational to the understanding of spirituality and justice is authentic relationships; relationship with the Creator, relationship to one another, relationship to the earth. In our complex and globalized world where we witness so many imbalances, divisions and injustices, ICTC focused on the theme of Globalization, Spirituality and Justice for two years. We explored how we might encourage more inter-dependent global partnerships, nonviolent processes for dismantling structures and systems that stifle the flourishing of humanity, and spiritual practices to sustain us in the work of justice.
Bishop (now Cardinal) McElroy with Dr. Rodriguez and Fr. Paul Magnano
Fr. William Heric, Fr. Michael Ryan, and Archbishop Etienne
Mimi Krsak and Mary Sepulveda
Jen Tilghman-Havens, JoAnn Lopez, and Joe Orlando
Hugh Bangasser and Dr. Rodriguez
John House and Nancy Walton-House
President Peñalver, Dr. Rodriguez, John and Jill La Pointe, Sr. Alexandra Kovats, and Loyola Chicago President Jo Ann Rooney
S T I L L I R I S
E
By Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?
S T I L L I R I S E
By Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.
Just as God is truly our Father, so also is God truly our Mother....
Did you want to see me broken?
The deep Wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother. In her we are all enclosed.
S T I L L I R I S E
By Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez led a day of discernment and discussion:
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.
Brief Schedule:
Did you want to see me broken?
Movement 1: Gratitude and Consolation with Jill La Pointe, President of the Lushootseed Research Institute and granddaughter of Vi taqʷš blu Hilbert
Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?
Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?
Lunch menu:
Movement 2: Desolation with President Jo Ann Rooney, Loyola University Chicago
Boxed lunches choice of Wrap(turkey, Italian, chickpea salad)
Garden salad
Chips Cookie
Movement 3: Hope and Action with Sr. Alexandra Kovats, CSJP, PhD, spiritual director and scholar of eco-spirituality
1
A synodal process facilitated by Dr. Sharon Callahan, Professor Emerita, Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry
S T I L L
By Maya
You may write
With your bitter,
You may trod
But still, like dust,
Does my sassiness
Why are you ’Cause I walk
Pumping in my
Just like moons
With the certainty
Just like hopes
Still I'll rise.
Did you want
Bowed head
Shoulders falling
Weakened by
Catholic Heritage Series 2022-2023: A Journey Towards Healing and Reconciliation
At this moment in history we were mindful that our world and our communities are impacted by wars, violence, hostility, and anxiety. These community and global challenges affect us and lead us away from our call as Christians and people of goodwill to respond to violence and hatred in love as Scripture and Sacred texts teaches.
This year’s theme was further inspired by General Congregation 36, Decree 1 –“Companions in a Mission of Reconciliation and Justice” (2016). In the section “On mission with Christ the Reconciler,” we are called to share God’s work of reconciliation in our broken world. There is an urgency to the three dimensions of this ministry of reconciliation, namely, reconciliation with God, with one another, and with creation. This reconciliation is always a work of justice, a justice discerned and enacted in local communities and contexts (paragraph 21). Additionally, educational apostolates and centers for communication and social research, such as ICTC, should help form people committed to reconciliation, confront obstacles to reconciliation, propose solutions, and to help in the transformation of our cultures and societies (paragraph 34).
Dr. Jason Wirth, Dr. Rodriguez, and Dr. Peter Phan
Dr. Rodriguez and Terri Gaffney, SU alumna and supporter
Dr. Rodriguez, Fr. Massingale, and President Peñalver
Provost Shane Martin, Dr. Rodriguez, Fr. James Heft, and President Peñalver
Jessica Palmer, Dr. Donna Teevan, Heidi Schlumpf, and Dr. Rodriguez
Catholic Heritage Series 2024-2025: Embodying the Catholic Intellectual Tradition through Catholic Imagination
Within the framework of Catholic imagination, let us embrace the vision of Ignacio Ellacuría, SJ, who saw the Catholic Jesuit University as both an intellectual enterprise dedicated to the pursuit of higher learning and a medium to generate and transmit the skills and conscience needed to analyze complex social issues, access our imagination and creativity, and to partner with those committed to the well-being of all.
Fr. Kevin Burke’s visit and lecture on Denise Levertov’s final years in the Pacific Northwest was insightful and contemplative. In addition to his Catholic Heritage Lecture, ICTC facilitated a journey to essential Denise Levertov sites – her grave site in Lake View Cemetery, her prior Seattle home, and Seward Park. The event series concluded with a poetry salon honoring the work of Levertov.
Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Allan Deck, SJ, and Provost Martin
Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Karen Eifler, and Jessica Palmer
Deacon Charles Rohrbacher, an icon painter from Juneau, spent the first week of May on campus; during this time, Deacon Charles did daily painting demos, gave the spring Catholic Heritage Lecture, participated in an interreligious dialogue salon, and visited with guests at the “Windows to the Divine” gallery reception where his work was on display.
Dr. Jason Wirth, Jessica Palmer, Arturo Araujo, SJ, Dr. Rodriguez, and Deacon Charles Rohrbacher
ICTC created a gallery catalogue documenting the artwork in the show, which was curated by
Arturo Araujo, SJ
Catholic Heritage Series 2025-2026: Catholic Social Thought
and Public Life
The year’s theme centered on how Catholic social teaching — especially as expressed through the practice of Gospel nonviolence — can help us make sense of our current context and engage students and one another with care and integrity. Experts lead us in conversation on urgent challenges of our time, including climate change, immigration and migration, racial justice, economic inequality, interreligious dialogue, and more.
In preparation for President
Peñalver’s lecture, Dr. Rodriguez facilitated a discussion for faculty and staff on Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum.
Dr. Rodriguez shared her expertise and first-hand experience with the practice of nonviolence in a discussion on a selection of Thomas Merton’s foundational documents ahead of Dr. Butigan’s visit.
In a world shaped by fear, polarization, and cycles of retaliation, gospel nonviolence asks a harder question: What kind of power actually heals? It calls us to examine not only structures of violence “out there,” but also the habits of heart, imagination, and belonging that either sustain or interrupt them. In addition to his lecture, Dr. Butigan facilitated nonviolence trainings for students, faculty, staff and community members.
war, weapons, and unhoused. He Bene’s that actions in world war, environmental senior advisor International’s Nonviolence taught for Peace, Justice, Program at Chicago. He Seattle.
Gospel Nonviolence in the Catholic Tradition
In the teachings of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount, nonviolence affirms the God-given dignity of every person (Matthew 5–7).
For the first three centuries, many Christians rejected killing and military service, practicing peace as a form of faithful discipleship.
Today, Catholic social teaching and movements such as Pax Christi uphold nonviolence as an active commitment to justice, solidarity, and peace.
Save the
Learn more.
What does respecting
opposing war.
GOSPEL ROOTS
Deacon Joseph Connor, Estefania Kendall, Jessica Palmer, Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Butigan, and Jill and John La Pointe
Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Carolyn Woo, Anne Jenkins, SU supporter, and Gerard Centioli
Interim President Fr. Steve Sundborg, Dr. Rodriguez, and Fr. James Eblen
As a Jesuit institution committed to justice, dialogue, and the formation of the whole person, we are continually called to ask: whose voices are shaping our understanding of the Catholic Social Tradition? And just as importantly, whose voices have been missing, overlooked, or underheard? Join us as we broaden, deepen, and in many ways reimagine how Catholic social thought is lived, taught, and embodied.
Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Carolyn Woo, and Jessica Palmer
Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez and Dr. Erin Brigham
Interreligious Dialogue initiative
Fr. Peter Ely (1938-2020) chaired the Interreligious Dialogue Initiative (IDI) from 2012 to his passing on Holy Thursday, in April of 2020. The initiative was established in 2012 when Fr. Ely was Vice President for Mission and Ministry, and starting in the fall of 2015 became a program within ICTC. Fr. Ely wrote that the IDI “aims to awaken sensibility in the SU community to the richness of the world’s religions, a richness abundantly represented on our campus, and to move beyond mere tolerance to engagement.”
At the time of his death, Dr. Rodriguez shared: “We were the recipients of the depth of his intellect and renewed by his sense of wonder, awe and curiosity. His ability to lift up the best of the Catholic tradition and his desire to be in dialogue with other traditions helped guide us to find God in all things. He was eager to understand and be in dialogue with the diversity of experiences within the human condition; and was particularly interested in the worldview of the atheists, agnostics, and seekers. He sought every opportunity to learn and grow and to offer those insights, but even more importantly, the questions – for us to engage with for deeper reflection about life, love, purpose, meaning and belonging.”
Dr. Jason Wirth, a member of the IDI and close friend of Fr. Ely’s, took over leadership of the IDI and has continued to foster Fr. Ely’s love for interreligious engagement and embracing wisdom in every tradition. Dr. Wirth is currently chair of the Philosophy Department at SU.
Lecture by Dr. Saheed Adejumobi Saheed A. Adejumobi is Associate Professor in the History Department, Global African Studies Program and Film Studies. He specializes in African and African American History, and African Diaspora intellectual and cultural traditions. The Crossroads Matrix: Spirituality, Cosmopolitanism and Black Subjectivity in Fela! On Broadway and Marvel’s Black Panther The Interreligious Dialogue Initiative presents the Religions and Cultures in Dialogue Lecture Series
The Interreligious Dialogue Initiative presents the Religions and Cultures in Dialogue Lecture Series
Zen and Morning Star
Wednesday, Oct 23
4 pm, Pigott Auditorium
Thursday, Jan 23
4 pm, Pigott Auditorium
Lecture by Fr. Robert Kennedy, SJ
Robert Kennedy is one of three Jesuits in the world who answer to the titles “Father” and “Roshi” or venerable Zen teacher. He is not only a Jesuit priest and Zen master, but also a psychotherapist and former professor of theology at St Peter’s College in New Jersey. He is a representative of the Institute for Spiritual Consciousness in Politics at
Fr. Peter Ely, SJ
Dr. Jason Wirth
Dr. Jason Wirth, Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Richard Atleo, Dr. Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, and Fr. Pat Twohy, SJ
Jessica Palmer, Dr. Ogunnaike, Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Wirth, Dr. Boylston, and Estefania Kendall
IDI hosted the local premiere of the award-winning film, Carving the Divine: Buddhist Sculptors of Japan, which explores the Buddhist practice of healing through the work of the ki-busshi (the sculptors who follow the 1400-year-old art of carving Buddhas out of wood). Following the film, director Yujiro Seki joined a zoom conversation from Japan for discussion and questions about the project.
This day cultivated an appreciation of the Japanese spiritual traditions at Seattle University and beyond. The excursion started on campus and concentrated on spiritual reflections on the major works of Japanese American art on campus (Kubota’s SU garden installations, Paul Horiuchi’s collages, and George Tsutakawa’s 1989 Centennial Fountain). After a shared lunch, we reconvened at Kubota Garden for a guided tour of the extraordinary site. The theme of the day focused on spiritual reflections on the artistic power of these Japanese American works to heal.
Roundglass India Center Director Sital Kalantry, JD, Dr. Vincent Sekhar, SJ, and Dr. Rodriguez
Dr. Boys, Dr. Wirth, and Dr. Rodriguez
Laudato Si’
In 2015, Pope Francis published his second encyclical, Laudato si’ “On Care for Our Common Home.” In the encyclical, Pope Francis laments environmental degradation and global warming, critiques consumerism and irresponsible development and calls on all people of the world to take “swift and unified global action.”
This call led to the creation of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, a papal initiative launched in 2021 by the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Development to envision sustainability in the holistic spirit of integral ecology and to redefine and rebuild our relationship with each other and our common home.
Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez, Dr. Jessica Imanaka, Dr. Ajay Abraham, Dr. Colette Taylor, and Dr. Jason Wirth
Two-session reading group, with one session online with Dr. Johnson
Fr. Arturo Araujo, SJ, Dr. Rodriguez, and Dr. Titizano
Dr. Rodriguez, John and Jill La Pointe, and Fr. Patrick Twohy, SJ
Dr. Cecilia Titizano and Fr. Pat Twohy, SJ
Dr. Joy Sherman, Dr. Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, and Dr. Leticia Guardiola-Sáenz
Dr. Ted Fortier and Dr. Gutiérrez y Muhs
Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Titizano
Dr. Rodriguez and Ignacio Torres Ramírez
Estefania Kendall and Ignacio Torres Ramírez
Seven-Year Journey Toward Integral Ecology
AReignitingOurStrategicDirectionsGoal
“We have made this commitment in response to the call by Pope Francis in his encyclical “Laudato Si” to envision sustainability in the holistic spirit of integral ecology and to redefine and rebuild our relationship with each other and our common home.”
- President Eduardo Peñalver
Executive Sponsor of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform LSAP Summit and Celebration October 20, 2022
Provost Shane Martin, Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez, Yolanda Cieters, Sustainability Director, and President Peñalver
Yolanda Cieters, Dr. Rodriguez, Jessica Palmer, Sophia Cofinas, and Estefania Kendall
Year 4 keynote speaker Dr. Nancy Tuchman, Founding Dean of the School of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago, with Dr. Rodriguez and President Peñalver (above). Dr. Tuchman, below, with LSAP co-chairs Dr. Rodriguez and Yolanda Cieters, and student presenters. The event also included a faculty research presentations and a community celebration.
Estefania Kendall, Dr. Rodriguez, Yolanda Cieters, Sophia Hampton, and Jessica Palmer
Provost Martin, Dr. Rodriguez, and Senior Vice Provost Jodi O’Brien
PRIORITY 1
Integrate Integral Ecology across the Curriculum and Research
PRIORITY 2
3
PRIORITY 5
To commit is to choose a path not only of intention, but also of transformation. In embracing the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and Laudato si’s vision of integral ecology, we are saying yes to a deeper conversion—one that calls us beyond isolated efforts toward a shared, sustained journey of ecological and social renewal
This commitment situates our university within a global community of Catholic institutions discerning how best to care for our common home. It invites us to align our teaching, research, operations, campus and community engagement and spiritual life with a vision that recognizes the profound interconnectedness of all creation and the inseparability of environmental and human dignity.
In this, we join a wider movement inspired by Pope Francis—one that calls us to reimagine what it means to be an institution of higher education in service of the world.
~ Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez, 2026
A Seven-Son Flower tree (Heptacodium miconioides), now fondly referred to as the “Jeanette” tree, was planted near the labyrinth in honor of Dr. Rodriguez’s work on the LSAP.
Schedule
3:00PM
Welcome (Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez) and Invocation (Dr. David Kwon)
Opening remarks (Dr. Jodi O’Brien, Senior VP for Academic Affairs)
Recognition of Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez’s leadership (Provost Shane Martin)
Highlights and Achievements of 5-Year LSAP (Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez and Yolanda Cieters)
Introduction to the Institute for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (IEJS) (Dr. Tanya Hayes and Yolanda Cieters)
3:30PM
Breakout conversations with diverse sustainability initiatives from across campus
4:10PM
Closing remarks (Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez and Yolanda Cieters)
4:20PM
Reception
seattleu.edu/laudatosi
through little
The Guadalupe Faith & Hospitality Experience in Mexico
Since 2006, Dr. Rodriguez has led faculty and staff in an immersion seminar with the Mexican Benedictine Sisters at the Guadalupe Center in Cuernavaca. This experience fosters understanding across cultural, economic, and spiritual divides, inspiring participants’ professional development and creative work amid global challenges of immigration, displacement, and poverty.
Timed with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the immersion explored immigration, poverty, sustainability, Indigenous wisdom, and Catholic theology. Through direct encounters with migrants, theologians, organic farmers, Indigenous leaders, and community organizers, and participation in the world’s largest Catholic pilgrimage, participants engaged deeply with local communities, gaining transformative insights into social justice, land stewardship, and faith, both professionally and spiritually.
Special Events
In responding to the “signs of the times,” ICTC sought to engage the campus with timely events that addressed the pressing issues of the day. 2020
Panelists: Dr. Michael Jaycox, Dr. Jodi O’Brien, and Fr. Lucas Sharma, SJ, PhD
Reflection series facilitated by Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez and Fr. Arturo Araujo, SJ
Three-session reading group, with one session online with Dr. Hollenbach
Dr. Rodriguez, Fr. Paolo Benanti, visiting scholar and advisor to the Vatican on artificial intelligence, and Dr. Jessica Imanaka
Dr. Rodriguez and Vice President Natasha Martin, JD
Fr. Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, SJ, Dr. Rodriguez, Bishop Schuster, Chris Koehler, and Fr. Arturo Araujo, SJ
Jessica Palmer, Fr. Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, SJ, Dr. Rodriguez, and Fr. Arturo Araujo, SJ
The 9th Annual Immigration Summit welcomed Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, and the Immigration Summit Community Choir, while engaging with the work of local organizations and networks to develop and strengthen our advocacy strategies. In 2013, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Seitz as the sixth Bishop of El Paso. As a prelate serving a borderland community whose sister city is Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the bishop has focused his work and heart on the poor and vulnerable, including migrant families and refugees who have made their home in this region or who choose the community as their point of passage.
SUMMIT SCHEDULE SUMMIT SCHEDULE
Keynote - Bishop Mark Seitz 9:15 am
Break 10:15 am
pray the rosary with immigrant detainees at the NW Detention Center.
Above: Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, Bishop Seitz, Fr. Gary Lazzeroni, and Deacon Juan Lezcano, OFS
Below: Dr. Rodriguez, Bishop Seitz, and President Peñalver
JUBILEE YEAR JUBILEE YEAR
Legal Updates - Prof. Zaida Rivera, SU Law School 10:30 am
Local Organization Panel 11:00 am
Lunch and Conversation Tables 12:00 pm
Immigration Summit Gospel Choir 12:55 pm
Catholic Social Teaching and Immigration Advocacy 1:15 pm
Closing Remarks 2:10 pm
Mass and Reception - Bishop Seitz Presiding 2:30 pm
Mediterranean with Welcome 9:00 am
Institute for catholic thought and culture Faculty Research Fellowships
The Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture Faculty Research Fellowships provide financial support for faculty to undertake research in which they engage and expand the Catholic intellectual heritage through the exploration of a rich Catholic intellectual tradition that has made contributions in the humanities, literature, the arts, natural and social sciences, social movements, and ethics across disciplines. Through this grant, faculty are able to travel to research sites, to study archives, to work with communities or to take the needed time to focus more fully on research. Through sharing their scholarship with students, other faculty and the broader public, ICTC research fellows provide opportunities for the community to learn about the influence of Catholicism in the development of thought and the history of cultures.
The Faculty Fellows listed here were awarded funds during Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez’s tenure as Executive Director.
2020-21
Charisse Cowan Pitre, PhD
2020-21
Jaisy Joseph, PhD
2020-21
Mary-Antoinette Smith, PhD
College of Education, Teaching, Learning and Education
College of Arts and Sciences, Theology and Religious Studies
College of Arts and Sciences, English
2021-22
Maureen Feit, PhD
2021-22
Allison Machlis Meyer, PhD
2021-22
Nova Robinson, PhD
2021-22
Donna Teevan, PhD
College of Arts and Sciences, Nonprofit Leadership
College of Arts and Sciences, English
College of Arts and Sciences, History, International Studies
College of Arts and Sciences, Theology and Religious Studies
Black Catholic Educators on Teaching for Justice: Reflections on Identity, Wholeness, and Reconciliation
On the Edges of Catholic Consciousness: Eastern Catholics in the United States
Introducing Ellen Tarry: African-American Catholic Convert and Interracial Justice Advocate
From Transaction to Transformation: New Models of Leadership & Capacity Building in Community Organizations
Both Extirpate and Vagabond Forever: Material Formations of Faith in Early Modern Compilation
The Woman Question: The League of Nations and the Shaping of the International Women’s Rights System
The Jesuit University in a Secular Age: Theological Perspectives
2022-23
Amelia Seraphia Derr, PhD
College of Arts and Sciences, Social Work
Educating for Self and Community Care: Sustaining Students in their Social Justice Work
2022-23
Christie Eppler, PhD, LMFT
College of Arts and Sciences, Couples and Family Therapy
Narratives of Spirituality and Embodied Systemic Resilience
2023-24
Jennifer Fricas, PhD, MPH, RN
College of Nursing
Understanding Embodiment: A Critical Connection for Improving Human and Environmental Health Under Laudato Si’ in the Anthropocene
2023-24
Meenakshi Rishi, PhD
Albers School of Business and Economics
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2025-26
2025-26
Amanda Heffernan, PhD
Audrey Hudgins, EdD
Stacey Jones, PhD
Robin Narruhn, PhD, MN, RN
Tess Altiveros, MM
Tanya Hayes, PhD
Felipe Murtinho, PhD
2025-26
David Kwon, PhD
2025-26
College of Nursing
Matteo Ricci Institute & International Studies
Albers School of Business and Economics
Responding to the Cry of the Earth: Using Behavioral Economics to Assess Public Support for Improvements in Air Quality
The ABCs of Asylum Accompaniment
United by the Same Concern
College of Nursing Survivance of the Ri Majol
College of Arts and Sciences, Performing Arts, Arts Leadership
College of Arts and Sciences, Environmental Studies, International Studies
College of Arts and Sciences, Theology and Religious Studies
Alexandra T. Romanyshyn, PhD College of Arts and Sciences, Philosophy
Finding Faith in the Voice of the Philippines: A New Collection of Filipino Art Songs
Scaling Up Community Water Management in Colombia to Address Climatic and Socioeconomic Threats to Drinking Water
Everyday Ethics and Everyday Practices: Asian and Asian American Theological Perspectives
Relational Narratives and Inclusive Selves
John Armstrong, PhD
College of Arts and Sciences, Environmental Studies
Integrating Advocacy and Activism in Teaching Climate
Change and Fostering Student Civic Engagement
2026-27
Byron Au Yong, MFA
2026-27
2026-27
Amelia Seraphia Derr, PhD
College of Arts and Sciences, Performing Arts, Arts Leadership
College of Arts and Sciences, Social Work
Kirsten Moana Thompson, PhD College of Arts and Sciences, Film and Media
Forest Aeternam: A Musical Requiem for Integral Ecology and Climate Adaptation
Grief, Loss, and the Ethics of Care in a Fractured World
Animated Enchantment
Feast Fest 2024: Arturo Araujo, SJ, Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez, Jessica Palmer, and Estefania Kendall
Thank you Jeanette for your seven years of leadership at the Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture!
