Ignite Seminar/ Course Design Materials / Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm Resources

Some examples of what other Jesuit universities have done that are similar to the philosophical approach taken by our Ignite Seminar as articulated in our Core document include:

• Xavier University’s first year seminar that is “designed to excite your intellectual curiosity in an intimate seminar setting”.  Examples of their course offerings can be found here.

• Gonzaga University’s first year seminar is designed to take “a unique look at academics at Gonzaga, studying unusual topics in a fresh format and from the perspectives of multiple disciplines. Students and faculty alike love that the seminars feature the freedom to be as creative as possible”.  Examples of their course offerings can be found here.

• The University of San Francisco’s first year seminar is “designed and taught by faculty with a special passion for the topic…and most include excursions into the city and a variety of enrichment activities” which provides an example of how the Ignite Seminar might creatively add Cura Personalis 1: Self in Community.  Examples of their course offerings can be found here.

In developing an Ignite Seminar, the only limits are your own passion, imagination, and the essential criteria (listed above) as dictated by the Saint Louis University Core Document. 

The authoritative document on the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm is Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical approach (1993).

While the Spiritual Exercises provide the inspirational source of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, the actual document Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical Approach (1993) was produced by a body established in 1980 called the International Commission on the Apostolate of Jesuit Education (ICAJE), that had also drafted Characteristics of Jesuit Education (1986).

The 1993 document was updated with footnotes by the Jesuit Institute in 2013, and the Jesuit Institute also produced a glossy document titled Ignatian Pedagogy: An abridged version of the document on teaching and learning in a Jesuit school (2014).

The International Commission on the Apostolate of Jesuit Education (ICAJE) houses a collection of Jesuit documents on education here. Xavier University houses jesuitresource.org that curates a number of foundational documents on Jesuit Catholic education, as well as Jesuit A to Z.

International Commission on the Apostolate of Jesuit Education (ICAJE), discusses the development of the Characteristics of Jesuit Education (1986) document, that eventually led to development of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm in Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical approach (1993)