October 29, 2009

To:       Presidents/Rectors of Jesuit Higher Education institutions
From    Paul Locatelli, S.J
Re:       Conference on Jesuit Higher Education /
           Mexico April 22-24, 2010

This letter provides the latest information to presidents/rectors and colleagues regarding the international conference with Father Adolfo Nicolás at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA) in Mexico City.  The title of the conference is: “Networking Jesuit Higher Education for the Globalizing World.”  The aim is shaping the future for a more humane, just, sustainable globe.  The principal purpose is manifold:  to enhance Jesuit education for students and research by faculty; to strengthen distinctive identity and mission; to better serve society and  the Church; to collaborate among universities and with other Jesuit ministries, and to improve the global network of Jesuit higher education.  It is also a time for us to hear Father Nicolás speak about his vision for Jesuit higher education and the intellectual apostolate.

The proposed program is attached; please note it includes (1) a plenary session with Father Adolfo Nicolás, (2) a panel of six presidents/rectors reflecting on regional challenges, (3) a discussion of identity and mission, and presentations on (4) the Jesuit Commons and on (5) three frontier challenges, namely, (a) theology, science and culture; (b) markets, inequality and poverty, and (c) ecology and sustainability.  I urge that you invite a faculty member to accompany you who is engaged in one of the three frontier challenges.  

Important Information.

1. Next week, the week of November 2, in English, participants will be able to register on line for the conference and make a reservation for a room at the hotel.  The last day for registration for the conference is January 31, 2010.   To register, please go to the website.  http://www.uia.mx/shapingthefuture/  The Spanish version will go live a week later
2. Faculty have been invited to author brief papers on the frontier challenges listed above and the intellectual apostolate.  These papers, together with those on identity and mission and regional challenges, will be put on the website before March 1 for conference participants to read prior to their arrival at UIA. Up to six papers on each topic, one from each of the six regions will serve to stimulate small group discussions. Please note that they will not be read or presented in a plenary session. 
3. As a consequence, small group discussions will be the format for most of the conference and our aim will be to create an “internet network” for faculty, administrators, and students in Jesuit higher education in order to continue addressing the issue of conference.  In short, the conference will be a time to learn from each other and, most important, to create a global “network” for on-going research, discussion and learning beyond the conference.
4. Some people are working on the structure and flow of the conference; their aim is engagement during the conference and then the development and implementation of the network beyond the conference.   As you may be able to see from the proposed program, we begin with a brief presentation on how an “internet network” actually functions and to imagine the benefits of an effective global network.
5. Some over-arching themes are faith and justice in dialogue at the frontiers, human rights and civic responsibility, and the intellectual apostolate.
6. This will be only the third conference on Jesuit Higher Education with Father General since 1985; the other one was in 2001. 

Please register and ask your colleague to register for the conference and hotel in the near future.

I want to thank the people at the UIA; they are doing a remarkable job at preparing for this conference.

And, my thanks to you.  I look forward to seeing you in Mexico City, if not sooner.