Pathways to Purpose:
A Faculty Retirement Seminar
Co-sponsored by Faculty Development and the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education, Pathways to Purpose offers a 6-part seminar series focused on faculty retirement.
This seminar offers university faculty considering / nearing retirement and retired faculty an opportunity to reflect on this transition through a lens of discernment and reflection, drawing on concepts and practices from Ignatian spirituality and other traditions. Colleagues from all (faith and no faith) backgrounds, identities, and disciplines are welcome. Informed by selected readings, films, discussion, reflective writing, and a sense of community and shared history as faculty members, seminar participants will explore personal and professional identity, life purpose, and pathways for meaningful engagement beyond their academic careers.
The course draws on the Ignatian Center’s Ignatian Faculty Forum--the work of the late Andre Delbeq and many faculty facilitators--and The Next Chapter Program with Tom and Dale Auffenberg. Facilitators gratefully acknowledge these programs and colleagues.
Goals
- Read, discuss, and reflect on the transition from an academic career to retirement.
- Explore the values and priorities that shape one’s vision for a purposeful retirement.
- Share experiences and discuss insights with a supportive community of colleagues.
- Learn more about Ignatian concepts, and explore Ignatian and other practices such as the Examen, discernment, and meditation, as tools for personal reflection.
- Draft a mission statement and tentative plan for retirement that aligns with personal values and vocational calling.
Eligibility: faculty considering retirement, faculty on phased retirement, and retirees.
Interested? Get in Contact!
Pathways to Purpose Facilitators:
Diane Jonte-Pace, Professor Emerita, Religious Studies, djontepace@scu.edu
Eileen Elrod, Professor Emerita, English, eelrod@scu.edu