SOPHIA (Sophomore Initiative at Assumption College)

Course Information

Program Overview

The SOPHIA (SOPHomore Initiative at Assumption College) program is specially designed to help students discover a deeper connection between their spiritual, personal and professional lives. By combining residential, academic and travel opportunities under the guidance of four dedicated faculty mentors, SOPHIA strives to foster a culture of vocational exploration at Assumption College that will help students pursue productive lives of meaning.

SOPHIA courses drive students to identify and focus on their personal, professional, and spiritual goals in light of their own talents and desires and the needs of the world and its many peoples. They are assisted in their journey by faculty mentors from a variety of different disciplines, who help the SOPHIA students find their calling and identify the steps they can take to bring them closer to their goals.

The program’s 24 participants live together in Assumption’s Living Learning Center and participate in co-curricular activities and retreats designed to offer sophomores a chance to explore themselves through a sense of community. A capstone experience “Rome Sophia” is an optional component of the students’ vocational journey. Students may choose to travel to Rome, Italy, for two weeks of intensive focus on community, reflection and mentoring.

Program Highlights:

Courses focus on key topics such as “Living Lives that Matter”.
Activities help students develop strong bonds with each other and their coursework.
Faculty advisors provide individual mentoring through vocational and academic guidance.

Faculty

Faculty Mentors

SOPHIA’s faculty mentors work closely with their student protégés to help them identify their path and provide vocational and academic support.

John Hodgen, Visiting Instructor of English. B.S., Worcester State College; M.A., Assumption College.

David Crowley, Associate Professor of Biology. B.A., College of the Holy Cross, Cum Laude with Honors in Biology; M.A., Anna Maria College, in Pastoral Ministry; Ph.D., Stanford University, in Biological Sciences, 1999

Esteban Loustaunau, Associate Professor of Spanish. B.A., Carleton College, M.A., Ph.D., Ohio State University

Mark Christensen, Assistant Professor of History. B.A., Brigham Young University, 2003; M.A., University of Utah, 2006; Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University, 2010.

Additional SOPHIA Faculty

Paula Fitzpatrick, Professor of Psychology. B.A., University of Connecticut, 1989; Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1993

Christian Gobel, Assistant Professor of Philosophy. B.A., Munich School of Philosophy, 1997; Ph.L., Pontifical University of Sant’Anselmo (Rome); M.Phil., Cambridge University; Ph.D., Sant’Anselmo.

Louise Carroll Keeley, Professor of Philosophy. B.A., Marquette University; Philosophy/English; Ph.D., Boston College; Philosophy;

Lance Lazar, Associate Professor of History. B.A., Dartmouth College; Philosophy and History, 1986; M.A., Harvard University; History, 1990; Ph.D., Harvard University; History, 1998

James Lang, Associate Professor of English, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. B.A., University of Notre Dame; English/Philosophy; M.A., St. Louis University; English; Ph.D., Northwestern University; English, 1997

Esteban Loustaunau
Associate Professor of Spanish

Courses

A sampling of SOPHIA courses

Life Stories

What makes for a meaningful life? What makes for a life well lived? What makes life worth living? How do the choices we make in our everyday lives, as well as the major decisions we face, help to shape a life that has meaning and value? In “Life Stories,” students spend the semester focused on answer those big questions and applying them to your own life. To help them accomplish those goals, the course follows a handful of both ordinary and extraordinary individuals and considers the ways in which they have sought to construct meaningful lives. The course explores the idea of a calling or vocation, by tracing the lives of people who feel a deep sense of calling toward some particular occupation or purpose and helps students to begin to discern whether they feel a calling of their own, and to envision how they might use your time at Assumption to enact it.

Living Lives that Matter

This course invites students to begin the process of vocational exploration by reflecting upon the ideas and experience of others as communicated in selected philosophical, theological, and literary texts. By empathetically reading and intellectual encountering the ideas of their authors students will, as Kierkegaard suggests, “ask about oneself.” Students will be introduced to three vocabularies of human flourishing: Authenticity, Virtue, and Vocation, and the consequences of each perspective for relationship to self, others, and God. Students will evaluate competing theories of vocation, discernment, and fidelity including, but not limited to, those embedded in the Assumptionist model of education and in the educational philosophy of Marie-Eugénie Milleret.

Classics of Spiritual Direction

Over the course of two millennia, the Christian tradition has developed a remarkably extensive and subtle literature of spiritual counsel and instruction. From its earliest days, the Christian community recognized the deep-seated human need for guidance and solace amidst the tribulations and temptations that life brings. While always refreshed by the writings of the Old and New Testaments, spiritual guides in every century offered new insights and frameworks for understanding the Christian condition, and for listening and responding to the call of the heart. Some of these writings, as a result of their exquisite subtlety, clarity, and intimacy, have transcended their time and cultural milieu as classics of the genre, offering the most profound insights into the yearnings, trials, and deepest consolations of the soul. “Classics of Spiritual Direction” proposes to survey this exceptional treasure-trove of spiritual literature in a way that both embeds it within its historical and cultural context, and captures its perennial validity and relevance, even (or especially) for the contemporary world.

Vocations in Public History

This course introduces students to a variety of careers pursued by public history professionals, from archivists, curators, and editors to administrators, cultural resources managers, and policy advisors. In the process of examining the diverse manifestations of presenting the past beyond the classroom, they analyze the professional issues and political problems that practitioners of public history encounter. These include an exploration of the relationship between historians and communities engaged in conversations and debates about both the purpose of history education and the intersections of history, cultural memory, heritage, and commemoration. Students also gain practical experience through participating in a Community Service Learning project or internship in collaboration with a local public history institution or organization.

Justicia Poética:

Students explore various meanings to these questions by reading works of fiction from Spain and Latin America. In looking for answers to the big question of one’s life purpose, they learn about how various poets, storytellers, and playwrights apply literary language and the imagination to inspire the moral behavior of readers through the use of various literary devices such as justicia poética or poetic justice,. By interpreting the works by these writers, students will seek their own answers to these and other questions about vocation and purpose. In addition, the course introduces students to the form and structure of various literary genres through the close reading of works from Spanish and Latin American fiction, poetry and drama. By reading, discussing, and writing about literature, students develop various skills in literary analysis and continue to develop basic communicative skills in Spanish. All readings, discussions, and assignments are done in Spanish.

Special Topics: Spiritual Seekers and Teachers

This course explores the interreligious dialogue between Catholic Christianity and other religious traditions. Students read biographies and autobiographies of people who have come to understand their own spiritual paths through their connections to people of a different faith. Using these life stories and selected primary texts, they explore Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Readings include Encountering God: a Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banares (Diana Eck), Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian (Paul Knitter), Acts of Faith (Eboo Patel), and Confessions (Saint Augustine).

Academics