Examples of Good Practice from Fairfield University
Overview of Fairfield’s Commitment to Global Citizenship, Community Engagement & Social Justice
The mission of Fairfield University is to produce students whose academic, cultural, and aesthetic acumen equips them to recognize the value of others—those both similar to and different from themselves—and the importance of community building. As “morally and socially responsible” lifelong learners, Fairfield graduates should be capable of navigating a wide variety of unfamiliar social situations, both domestic and international. Fairfield is integrating the vision of global education and social justice at every level of the institution and is undertaking new and exciting initiatives.
College of Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors
As an embodiment of Fairfield University’s Jesuit mission and Ignatian methodology, and informed by the liberal arts tradition of interdisciplinarity, the College of Arts & Sciences at Fairfield University embraces the mandate to prepare our students for global citizenship. Global citizens are those who understand the impact of globalization on culture, politics, economics, environments and human interaction. Global citizens recognize the need to connect the causes and consequences of globalization with questions of social justice and equality. With this definition in mind, over the next three years, the Board of Advisors will launch a new strategic endowment fundraising strategy to facilitate the creation of new and innovative faculty development initiatives on domestic and international diversity and social justice, conferences and programs, collaborative research projects, curricular development, service learning and student-led campus programs dedicated to global citizenship.
Diversity and Social Justice Living & Learning Community
Faculty, administrators in Student Affairs, staff in the Center for Academic Excellence and the Center for Faith and Public Life (CFPL) have created a Diversity & Social Justice Living and Learning Community (DSJ). DSJ is a sophomore initiative that encourages students to take interdisciplinary and service-learning courses on diversity and social justice, work with community partners to develop service projects and engage in peer mentoring and education on issues they find important while living together in a residence hall. Among the learning outcomes, students will be encouraged to explore three questions:
- How can I make a difference, here, now?
- How can I understand, appreciate and explore difference?
- How can I be me in this diverse world?
The inaugural year of the program is 2008-2009.
International Partnership between Fairfield University and the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) in Nicaragua
The collaborative relationship between Fairfield University and Universidad Centroamericana was officially started in 2004 and brings the Fairfield University community in close contact of the Nicaraguan national reality. Through a large number of projects, both institutions collaborate to further academic endeavors and Jesuit identity and mission. The relationship focuses on the sharing of each institution’s strengths with the other through the creation of education abroad options, curriculum redesign, service-learning and service-immersion experiences and collaborative research and teaching.
This page is part of a series of Examples of Good Practice.
