The second part of this literature review examines resources and identifies international characteristics of Jesuit higher education in three main topics. The first topic is the
internationalization inherent in Jesuit history and identity and its educational characteristics. The second one focuses on the Jesuit curriculum of internationalization: religious experience, global collaboration, faith and justice, and global competence. Finally, the third topic is the three pillars of internationalization according to the Society of Jesus. These three topics will reveal the necessity of internationalization in the Society’s mission and explore the foundational approach of Jesuit humanistic education that forms its students in a holistic way in the context of global environments—which presents the central characteristics for internationalization at these Jesuit institutions. With their reputation of international history, the U.S. Jesuit colleges and
universities inexorably have both a distinct identity of international engagement and an opportunity to participate, to experience, and to evaluate internationalization activities.
Internationalization in Jesuit History and Identity History and identity
The history and mission of the Society of Jesus have had fundamental elements of internationalization in their education from the beginning. No one can completely define Jesuit higher education without mentioning its international perspectives. As a Jesuit and Catholic university, it has a special responsibility to serve the broader goals of the international network of the Society and Catholic institutions, especially in the developing countries. The Society of Jesus—a Catholic male religious order—was established in the context for its international mission and for any apostolic assignments requested by the Pope (Boston College, 2014;
higher education has evolved gradually from Europe to an international network as the Jesuits actively engaged in missionary endeavors throughout the world. The Society and its educational ministry have been engaged in different international aspects. The Jesuits established colleges and universities everywhere they travelled for evangelization. “From its earliest history, the Society of Jesus has had an international membership and global perspective so that the
contemporary concern for internationalization as a response to the phenomenon of globalization comes naturally to Jesuits and their institutions” (Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, 2010, p. 20).
Thus, internationalization has inherently existed in the history of the Society. The famous instruction of the founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, to St. Francis Xavier (the first
international scholar engaged in teaching abroad), “Ite Inflammate Omnia—Go forth and set the world on fire” (Society of Jesus, 2008, p. 23), is a saying that has inspired Jesuit higher
education institutions to carry out their international mission to the world. In 1543 Francis Xavier asked to have Jesuits teaching in a local college in Goa. In 1548, the Society opened the first school in Messina, Sicily. The first Jesuit university, the Gregorian, was established in Rome in 1551. By the time Ignatius died in 1556, the Jesuits had established 35 colleges across Europe. Then they quickly went far beyond Europe to: India (1554), Mexico (1572), Argentina (1613), Colombia (1623), and the first college in the United States in Georgetown (1789). Two hundred years later, there were more than 800 Jesuit colleges and universities in Asia, Europe, and Latin America (O’Malley, 2008). Even though Jesuit higher education, as private and religious-affiliated institutions, are under the category of Catholic higher education, the Society of Jesus incorporates both the largest system of education prior to the modern era of public education and the first international institutions (Boston College, 2014). In 2016, the Society of
Jesus had 189 Jesuit universities or other postsecondary institutions in the world. India has 54, followed by the United States with 28, Brazil with 8, and Mexico with 7. While the number of Catholics is growing in South East Asia and Africa, the need for establishing Jesuit higher education becomes more important (O’Malley, 2016).
Jesuit educational institutions have witnessed incredible success and growth because their mission has international dimensions from the Society’s Constitutions as they underscore, “the aim and end of this Society is, by traveling through the various parts of the world at the order of the supreme vicar of Christ our Lord or of the superior of the Society itself, to preach, hear confessions, and use all the other means it can with grace of God to help souls” (Society of Jesus, 1995b, p. 130). In order to attain spiritual and humanistic purposes, most of the Jesuit schools had diverse international students, and had enriched their curriculum in various languages and cultures (Traub, 2008).
Moreover, the Jesuit identity that includes the vow to be available for mobility (the fourth vow that obliges the Jesuits to travel anywhere in the world for missionary purposes) is one of the hallmarks of the Society of Jesus and motivates its members to rapidly establish Jesuit schools in many places in the world where there are great needs of evangelization and education (O’Malley, 1995). The Jesuit identity in its higher education institutions is interpreted in
contemporary form in Decree Four of the Society’s 34th General Congregation in 1995:
It is part of our Jesuit tradition to be involved in the transformation of every human culture, as human beings begin to reshape their patterns of social relations, their cultural inheritance, their intellectual projects, their critical perspectives on religion, truth, and morality, their whole scientific and technological understanding of themselves and the world in which we live. We commit ourselves to accompany people, in different contexts, as they and their culture make difficult transitions (Para. 25).
Because of their identity and mission, the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States are devoted to educating for global competence and concerns through international
curricula, study abroad programs, immersion trips, and social services for their students and faculty (Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, 2007; Savard, 2010).
Internationalization serves as a key element in these institutions’ pursuit of academic
excellence—in the quality of curricula, teaching, and spirituality, in global disciplinary research, and as communities that are open to the world and support social justice (Nicolás, 2009, 2010, 2013).
Characteristics of Jesuit Higher Education The Spiritual Exercises
One cannot fully comprehend Jesuit education and the rationale of internationalization on Jesuit campuses and their global collaboration without understanding Ignatian pedagogy from the Spiritual Exercises. As Letson & Higgins (1995) state, “the Spiritual Exercises is the common and essential component to be found in Jesuit training and identity” (p. 78). It is the spiritual experience of the Exercises that beckons as the cornerstone of Jesuit identity and the rationales for internationalization because the Spiritual Exercises directs Jesuit educators to look at internationalization or Ignatian pedagogy as instruments to aid students to attain the purpose for which they were created, relate with other creatures, and love and give service to God (Newton, 1994). The Society of Jesus’ documents on higher education (The Society of Jesus in the United States, 2002) definitely establish that Jesuit education should be informed by the
Spiritual Exercises—a comprehensive retreat program—dedicated to cura personalis, respectful
of the dignity that each person bears as an image of God regardless of his/her social or cultural background, and inspiring contemplative actions—to experience, to reflect, and to cooperate with God’s creation.
Even though most authors have written of the Spiritual Exercises for retreat purposes, all characteristics of Jesuit education are grounded in the Exercises and show the importance of internationalization in their missions and programs. International awareness and Jesuit education are instrumental to the service of God (Newton, 2008). The essential elements of the Exercises provide educators a sense of global collaboration with God’s working on the earth, discernment in decision-making for the greater glory of God, the generosity of God’s invitation to be more globally inclusive, international knowledge in a pluralistic world, and awareness of finding God in all things (Fleming, 1996; Gallagher, 2008; MacDonnell, 2007).
International characteristics of Jesuit education
Based on the fruits of the Spiritual Exercises, the purpose of Jesuit education is to form men/women for others, in imitation of Christ and the Word of God (Arrupe, 1973). In 1986, in order to synthesize the unique values of Jesuit higher education, Fr. Kolvenbach, the former General Superior of the Society of Jesus, laid out a vision for Jesuit education and provided inspiration, values, attitudes, and the methodological characteristics of Jesuit education for those colleges and universities that wanted to establish incorporation with the Jesuit mission in the world (Kolvenbach, 1986). It describes distinctive features of Jesuit education elaborated with the vision of Ignatius and Jesuits’ applications to education with a view to the needs of men and women today (DeFeo, 2009; Jung, 2009; Orlando, 2008; Savard, 2010). The document aims to clarify and develop shared values of Jesuit education such as the following:
Jesuit education (1) is world-affirming, encouraging belief in the radical goodness of the world, and directs its students to a sense of wonder and mystery; (2) assists in the total formation of each individual within the human community encouraging the fullest development of all talents to become responsible persons; (3) includes a religious dimension that permeates the
entire education; (4) promotes dialogue between faith and culture; (5) insists on individual care and concern for each person; (6) emphasizes activity on the part of the student in the learning process; (7) encourages life-long openness to growth; (8) deepens within students a sense of values; (9) encourages a realistic knowledge, love, and acceptance of self; (10) provides a realistic knowledge of the world in which we live; (11) proposes Christ as the model for authentic living; (12) provides adequate pastoral care; (13) celebrates faith in personal and community prayer, worship, and service; (14) seeks to form “men and women for others”; (15) manifests a particular concern for the poor; (16) is an apostolic instrument, in service of the church as it serves human society; (17) prepares students for active participation in the church and the local community, for the service of others; (18) pursues excellence in its students and the school community; (19) stresses lay-Jesuit collaboration; (20) is a system of schools with a common vision and common goals; (22) and helps in offering the professional training and ongoing formation that is needed, especially for teachers (Jesuit Institute London, 2014).
These 22 characteristics offer Jesuit educators and administrators worldwide information about the mission of Jesuit education for pursuing internationalization. The document serves as a valuable compass to prepare students for pluralistic dialogue as part of global competence and to distinguish how Jesuit education differs from other visions of education (Mussi, 2008). These characteristics help students to recognize the relational or societal features of the world, to carry out commitments to human services, and to develop discernment on repercussions of their decisions beyond their comfortable national boundaries in order to interact with others in the world (Jung, 2009).
Three Pillars of Jesuit Internationalization Internationalization at Home
Jesuit curriculum
The core values in Jesuit curricula are different from school to school but basically designed to help their students expand their knowledge of the interdependent global community. The university’s mission to serve others, promote self-knowledge and growth through a healthy liberal arts curriculum, and engage students in humanistic development in the complexity of the world has been the Jesuit institution’s hallmark.
Jesuit education is not merely practical, but concerns itself also with questions of values, with educating men and women to be good citizens and good leaders, concerned with the common good, and able to use their education for the service of faith and promotion of justice. (Kolvenbach, 2001, para. 11)
What follows is an attempt to provide a descriptive and analytical probe into three basic reasons in order to bring to light the goals of Jesuit internationalization at home.
Global competence. The mission of Jesuit higher education is to be dedicated to human development for holistic formation according to Ignatian pedagogy. The process of human development through ethical solidarity and universal destination of goods is a fundamental feature of global competence (Hollenbach, 1998; Mitchell, 2008; Nicolás, 2010; Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 2004; Quinn, 2013; the Society of Jesus in the United States, 2002). According to the norms of Jesuit education, human development requires empathy, critical thinking, collaborating with others, respecting diversity, and understanding inter- connectedness. Nonetheless, awareness of global competence is a social responsibility,
establishing that everyone has equal access in democracy, education, and ability to participate in transnational relationships for the common good (Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 2004). In this sense of global competence there is a deliberate discernment and action to
advocate all citizens to be aware of global responsibilities and concerns much broader than their individual, local, or national interests (Rhoades & Szelenyi, 2011).
Having been trained in the collective consciousness of global competence, students, through Jesuit education, are encouraged to consider the following questions: 1) what makes a better society? 2) What is the relationship between individual and social rights and
responsibilities? 3) What global competence is required for human fulfillment? (Arrupe, 1973) Kolvenbach explains global competence further at the level of pedagogy, "true education,
education really worthy of the name, is an organized effort to help people use their hearts, heads, and hands to contribute to the well-being of all of human society" (Kolvenbach, 2007). The goal of Jesuit global competence is to design better environments that integrate learning and
development; that is, students need to think and act from a holistic and integrative perspective. Being aware of global competence in accordance with the Jesuit educational characteristics instructs students through four dimensions: maximum professional competence; humanistic development with an entire worldview of the person, the world, and history; personal
involvement in building a more just society; and opening to the mystery of divine creation with the human life (Society of Jesus, 2008).
The concept of global competence indicates different interpretations and purposes in higher education between the Jesuit tradition and mainstream higher education, but it has raised global knowledge among students, faculty, and staff in the trends of globalization (Von Arx, 2013). Nigel Dower (2008) argues that global competence is not a required condition for global citizenship because in some respects everyone is a global citizen. Thus, the Jesuit or Catholic literature on higher education rarely employs the term global citizenship from mainstream education but emphasizes human development for holistic formation. Global competence makes
students aware of global interconnection and social responsibility as well as giving them a holistic formation. Global competence according to the Jesuit and Catholic approaches informs people of their duties and privileges in global collaboration for the universal common good. Nevertheless, Jesuit education does not simply lead its students to social ethics but also directs them to religious experience that transcends human limitation.
Religious experience. Global competence is not merely a collection of skills or
knowledge for career advancement. Jesuit educators consider global competence in the quest for life’s meaning. The main reason Jesuits are involved in education is reminiscent of the religious mission of the Constitutions of the Society for saving the soul (Society of Jesus, 1995b) and helping their students to examine their religious beliefs, to respect religious pluralism, and to take responsibility for their own spiritual journeys (the Society of Jesus in the United States, 2007). Jesuit education does not allow students and faculty to withdraw from the world, rather, it directs them toward current issues of our society. As a Catholic institution, Jesuit higher
education has a commitment to maintain Catholic tradition but is also open to pluralistic interaction. Interreligious dialogues—by listening to one another in our various religious traditions, respecting our spiritual differences, and seeking the common good—encourage faculty and students away from bias (unexamined assumptions) and prejudice, and toward appreciation of divine transcendence in the world (Kolvenbach, 2007). Accordingly, Jesuit education (Boston College, 2007) expands the horizons of universal meaning by providing students opportunities to reflect their worldviews, to experience various faiths, and to relate religiously to global issues: the ultimate end of the world, religious freedom, faith and reason, and among other fundamental values.
Moreover, in discerning the religious features in the mission of the Society of Jesus, especially in higher education, the 34th General Congregation confirmed that, “we need to relate
positively to believers of other religious heritages, and our human concern forces us to establish ever closer ties based on universally accepted ethical values…to be religious today is to be interreligious in the sense that a positive relationship with believers of other faiths is a
requirement in a world of religious pluralism” (Society of Jesus, 1995a). Thus, Jesuit colleges and universities have the duty to promote mutual understanding and harmonious hospitality on the campus and within academic programs in terms of pluralistic religions. Without religious freedom and interreligious relationship, there will be no peace among religions in the world (Küng, 2004).
Social justice. One of the essential characteristics of Jesuit education is a passion for the service of faith and the promotion of justice or global ethics for living, inspired by the Society of Jesus and Catholic social teaching, documents, and speeches. This characteristic has moved Jesuit universities to engage in international activities for justice in the world; thus, it becomes the fundamental rationale for international initiatives (Arrupe, 1973; Brennan, Oraa, Franco, & Ugalde, 2010; Nicolás, 2010; Society of Jesus, 1995a, 2008). From the beginning of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius emphasized the value of social justice in the Church: “If our church is not marked by caring for the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, we are guilty of heresy” (Francis, 2015, p. 89).
Social justice was applied for the first time in Jesuit education as a mandatory requirement by former Superior General, Pedro Arrupe (1973). Arrupe explained the educational goals for Jesuit institutions throughout the world and emphasized the most
for others. Jesuit education cultivates three attitudes by which one may actualize the principle of justice through Christian charity: a preferential decision for simplicity, a concrete determination to draw no unjust profit whatsoever from clearly unjust sources, and motivation to transform the world (Arrupe & Burke, 2004).
Ten years after the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965 and inspired by
Arrupe’s concept of justice, Jesuit delegates at the 32nd General Congregation made a compelling
statement on the foundation of the Jesuit mission: “The mission of the Society of Jesus today is the service of faith, of which the promotion of justice is an absolute requirement”(Society of Jesus, 1977, p. 411). A Jesuit university must foster generous acts in service to others beyond any local and narrow-minded boundaries through multiple approaches: sensitivity to justice, defense of human rights, and reconciliation over any gaps in social, economic, and cultural contexts (Loyola University Chicago, 2014). The decree of social justice was affirmed and extended in recognition of secularism and pluralistic communities in the 33rd General
Congregation: Sent into today’s world. (Jesuit Conference, 1983). It required the Society to foster greater discernment regarding its implementation in multicultural society, but then
reconfirmed the necessity of faith promotion and justice more specifically in higher education in