The Sacramental Nature of Community

This essay will focus on ways the ELSJ Core Curriculum requirement and TNI enact the Jesuit way of proceeding to promote dialogue and critical engagement with underserved communities in order to contribute to the common good. Particularly important in these community-engagement practices is attention to the distinction Jewish theologian Martin Buber draws between the subject-object knowing, I – It relationships, characteristic of traditional university learning, and I -Thou relationships possible through “genuine meeting,” “genuine dialogue,” leading to wholeness and “real living,” “actual life.”12 Buber’s description of I - Thou encounters is reminiscent of the relational encounters with God outlined in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Both Buber and Ignatius value “so-called ‘objective knowledge.’” In Philosophical Interrogations Buber specifies, “I have often indicated how much I prize science, so-called ‘objective knowledge.’ Without it there is no orientation in the world of ‘things’ or of ‘phenomena,’ hence no orienting connection with the space-time sphere in which we have to pass our individualized life on earth.”13 However, without I-Thou relationships, according to Buber’s thinking, individuals are limited to being “an object among objects.”14 Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of Equal Justice Initiative, advocates a similar idea when he emphasizes theimportance of “proximity,” “getting close to people and the actual problem.”15 We propose that the principles of community-engaged teaching and scholarship, project-based learning, and participatory action research16 espoused by ELSJ courses and TNI promote the common good and animate the mission of the University in ways that can be understood as a sacrament of community, closely related to the sacrament of marriage. Community-based engagement goes beyond supporting the Catholic identity of many of our students and community partner organizations to support the formation of responsible citizens who will contribute to the common good.1

Large carbon export, but short residence times, of transparent exopolymer particles in the global ocean

ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2023, Resilience and Recovery in Aquatic Systems, 4–9 June 2023, Palma de Mallorca, SpainAcidic polysaccharides released by phytoplankton and prokaryotic heterotrophs promote the formation of gel-like transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs). TEPs can have a relevant contribution to the biological carbon pump due to their carbon-rich composition and their ability to coagulate and sink towards the deep ocean. However, little is known about TEPs distribution, carbon export, and residence times below the export (200 m) and sequestration (1000 m) depths. We provide the first comprehensive inventory of TEP from the ocean surface to a depth of 4000 meters in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, evaluating its contribution to carbon export and sequestration into the deep ocean. Results indicate that TEP concentration is primarily determined by primary production, with higher concentrations located above the deep chlorophyll maxima. In the deep ocean, TEP concentrations are lower yet mirror the concentrations in the surface, demonstrating the significance of TEP sinking below both the export compartment (2.8 Pg C yr-1; 27% of total POC flux at 200 m) and the sequestration compartment (0.8 Pg C yr-1; 36% of total POC flux at 1000 m). In situ incubation experiments conducted across ocean basins indicate short TEP residence times, averaging 27 and 333 days in the export and sequestration compartments, respectively. These findings reveal that the export and subsequent sequestration of carbon by TEP sinking into the deep ocean diverts it from the long times observed for the dissolved carbon fraction (i.e. centuries) in the global carbon cycleN

Madres emprendedoras, entrepreneurial mothers: Reflections from a community-based participatory action research course with Mexican immigrant madres in the Silicon Valley

In this paper we present and discuss the creation and implementation of a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) university course, and corresponding action projects, developed in collaboration with 11 Mexican immigrant madres (mothers). The Greater Washington community constitutes the setting for this project, as it is characterized by growing economic disparities reflective of the gentrification that characterizes the Silicon Valley (California, United States). We begin with a discussion of CBPAR, the community context, and the development of the CBPAR course, and associated projects. Furthermore, we discuss and highlight how the lived experiences of Mexican immigrant madres surfaced in the development of their action projects. All three projects were interconnected and inherently tied to the Mexican immigrant madres’ community experiences, which reflected their personal, political, and economic challenges. The action projects included identifying resources for students with special needs, affordable housing, and public safety. Via these projects, the Mexican immigrant madres demonstrated their leadership, agency, hope, and resilience in the face of increasing systemic inequities, and gained an increased ability to address long-standing issues in their community. We conclude with implications for engaging in CBPAR, as well as lessons learned from this community-based collaboration