STORIES OF TRUTH AND TRANSFORMATION:                                  Compassion, Civic Engagement, Teaching Social Justice                

See films of this virtual institute which took place, Aug. 4-6, 2021, by clicking the tab above "Speakers." Ongoing listening, sharing, and acting related to the Compassion movement which started in 2009 and is flourishing in our "City of Compassion."  Join @The Intersection weekly on Thursdays, 8 am, carrying forward the institute. See https://sacrd.org/pages/attheintersection   

Learn of Compassionate Integrity Training ten-week series here and write kirk@uiwtx.edu for information on the next series.  

Get online resources at www.compassionateusa.org 

The Speakers pages have direct links to the sessions that were recorded and posted on UIW Media.  Join in the networks serving each other listed on the Service and Scholarship pages. In the institute we recognized the value of our individual stories, engaged in educational practices to help students realize their own human dignity, their “sacred stories." We practiced listening more deeply to the stories of others, stories of earth, and compassionately embrace civic engagement for equity and justice. We are creating new stories across campuses, across cultures, across the city and the world.  Please learn and network through this website. 

Am I a victim, a survivor, a hero transforming the challenges into wisdom and compassion?


Our city has had the dubious distinction of the highest percentage of people living in poverty among the 25 largest U.S. cities and of being one of the most economically segregated cities with huge gaps in neighborhoods, education, job opportunities, housing and, medical care availability. The pandemic magnified this reality and news sources around the world showed 10,000 families lined up waiting for food when people had not been able to work for a few weeks in 2020. Let us take to heart the invitation to transformation July 27, 2021. Emphasis on independence, in contrast to interdependence, can hold us back from sustainable development

 

This project seeks to transform us---the educators, the learners, and the citizens that we may recognize the structures of inequity, segregation and co-create a just “City of Compassion” through sharing stories and listening to stories.


We continue to listen to Earth, to Black people, to Girls, to Latinx people,  Differently Abled people, to LGBTQ people . . . stories of truth, stories of transformation

 

Stories can reveal, stories can heal. Stories can be windows, mirrors, or sliding glass doors. “We cannot be indifferent to suffering; we cannot allow anyone to go through life as an outcast. Instead, we should feel indignant, challenged to emerge from our comfortable isolation and to be changed by our contact with human suffering. That is the meaning of dignity” (No. 68)” writes Pope Francis in  “Fratelli Tutti.” Considering the story of the Good Samaritan, Pope Francis continues, “The decision to include or exclude those lying wounded along the roadside can serve as a criterion for judging every economic, political, social and religious project.” (No. 69). 


Read of the Aug. 4-6 Institute in the University Incarnate Word student newspaper, the Logos, page 5. 

"The City encourages San Antonio’s institutions of learning to have all ages explore and teach compassion, based on the understanding that extensive research and resources validate the full spectrum of the benefits of compassion, from being good for the bottom line of business to being a part of the human DNA." Read an overview of the growing interest in the Charter for Compassion in San Antonio since 2009. 

"Stories of Truth and Transformation" is a part of the Compassion Movement in San Antonio, Texas, which has committed itself to be a "City of Compassion."  Learn of that here.  The 2020 Compassionate Institute has been documented in a Case Study that can help us continue and be a model. Read here.  Learn of "Compassionate Integrity Training"  furthering our "City of Compassion" and consider joining the next series. Information  here  


Learn of Compassionate Integrity Training (CIT), and possibilities to unite in compassionate action in San Antonio.   ***Learn about it  here.   and consider joining the next series.  

 College and university educators are working with civic engagement centers to co-create service learning to transform our city.

Educators from the University of the Incarnate may apply for a small stipend for using content from this for service and/or engaged scholarship  in their classes.  Click here for the application form.  

This carries forward the 2020-2021 academic year series for San Antonio Educators "Critical Thinking, Compassion, Paths to Civic Engagement." Learn, listen, and see resources from that Wabash Foundation "Pedagogies for Social Justice" grant here.

Sponsored by 

University of the Incarnate Word

Center for Teaching and Learning

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Ettling Center for Civic Leadership

Liturgical Outreach

Mission and Ministry Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Social Justice and Peace Concentration 

Sustainability Concentration


Compassionate San Antonio


Faith-Based Initiative, City of San Antonio

 

Interfaith San Antonio Alliance 

 

Justice, Peace, and Creation Committee of the Sisters of Charity of

the Incarnate Word


PaxChristi San Antonio

 

Raindrop Foundation San Antonio 


SoL (Source of Light) Center


We are grateful to GivePulse.

GivePulse is the community engagement platform bringing together individuals, businesses, social impact organizations, institutions of higher ed and their cities to volunteer, collaborate, research and fundraise for initiatives that address the wicked challenges of the community. To do this, we provide the foundational tools to streamline volunteer recruitment, scheduling and communication, abilities to convert volunteers to be donors, services to activate, engage and cultivate affinity groups, databases for administrators to report on their partnerships and impact and much much more. 

The University of the Incarnate Word 

4301 Broadway San Antonio, TX 78209