2025 Caritas Veritas Symposium

Location: Parmer 108
Presenter: Christine Platt
Panel: Mayra Chacon, Elyssa Salina Lazarski, and Ana Kelsey-Powell

Join us for an engaging session on the Pedagogy of Real Talk (PRT), an approach that centers honesty, vulnerability, and authentic connection in the classroom. Dr. Christine Platt will open the session by sharing her Real Talk, modeling the practice for the audience. Following her presentation, a panel of faculty and staff will reflect on how PRT has transformed their teaching, deepened their relationships with students, and created space for meaningful dialogue and growth. This session will highlight the power of Real Talk to humanize the learning experience and to foster stronger communities within and beyond the classroom.

Location: Lewis 306
Presenter: Josephine Sarvis
Co-presenter: Melizabeth Santos

This session engages participants in reflecting on Dominican University's School of Education’s commitment to social justice and the Illinois Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards. Through interactive discussion and self-reflection, attendees will explore implicit biases, examine their teaching or leadership practices, and identify strategies to foster equity and inclusivity. Participants will leave with concrete ideas and tools to integrate culturally responsive practices to dismantle barriers in classrooms and beyond.

Location: Parmer 109

When Compassion Burns: The Amānah of Advocacy and the Cost of Embodied Justice
Presenter: Marwa Abdullah

This session examines the responsibilities and challenges inherent in social justice and advocacy work. Drawing on the insights of academic scholars and reflections on lived experience, this presentation explores how compassion and care can both sustain and exhaust those who carry the weight of justice. Centered on the concept of amanah, attendees will consider how advocacy can feel spiritually ordained, how collective care becomes essential, and how sustaining commitment to justice requires balancing love, responsibility, and the risk of burnout. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the ethical and emotional dimensions of advocacy and how nurturing one another allows work for a just and humane world to continue.

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Soren’s Teahouse Revisited

Presenter: Jeff Carlson


“Soren’s Teahouse” is a metaphor for the university as a sacred space for probing the “why at all questions” at the depth, or horizon, of each of our disciplines, but today, our context is one of toxic polarization, attacks on higher education, and increasing threats to critical thinking itself. How do we encourage students to find their voices, draw from rich reservoirs of their own knowledge and experience, and participate in the co-creation of our courses, so that we truly “educate one student at a time in the company of others?”

Location: Parmer Atrium
Presenter: Ben DeBiasio

Lost in the info jungle? AI can be your machete. This workshop shows you how to use AI tools to fact-check, verify, and cut through the nonsense online - so you can actually trust what you find. Bring your laptop or mobile device for this interactive session.

Location: Lund Auditorium
Presenter: Lauren O'Connor
Co-presenter: Jennifer Stockdale

Join us for a conversation with Abdi Nazemian, author of "Only This Beautiful Moment," the 2025 Dominican University First-Year Common Read. Abdi Nazemian is a screenwriter, producer, and novelist whose works have received multiple Lambda Literary Awards, a Stonewall Honor, and a Stonewall Book Award. This conversation will welcome Nazemian to Dominican University and address themes from Only This Beautiful Moment, including family history, immigration, identity, justice, and community.

Location: Martin Recital Hall, Fine Arts Building
Presenter: Brent Friesen
Co-presenters: Mark Carbonara, Robin DuFresne, Gabrielle Frigo, Elizabeth Silk

This panel presentation will feature the reflections of the participants in the 2025 pilgrimage and study trip to the South of France. The program includes conferences on the life and spirit of Dominic and other notable Dominicans, as well as prayer, seminars, group sharing and tours. Every other year, Dominican University full-time faculty, staff and students may apply, through a competitive process, to participate in the Fanjeaux trip.

Location: Crown Library, Room 340
Presenter: Debra Vinci-Minogue

This mindfulness and belonging session will include guided meditation and contemplative exercises to help participants feel more connected to themselves, others, and their community. The session draws on evidence-based practices to help participants cultivate inner awareness that can foster genuine connection and belonging - participants will be able to implement these practices into daily life.

Location: Lewis 204
Presenter: Christine Wilson
Co-presenters: Sister Christin Tomy, Jariel Ramos, Allie Burdick

Sustainability is deeply rooted in our Dominican mission of fostering a more just and humane world. This panel recalls the founding sisters’ enduring commitment while challenging us to build on their framework today. Speakers will highlight curricular pathways--including the new Core-fulfilling sustainability minor--as well as co-curricular practices such as internships, student organizations, and volunteer opportunities. Together, these pathways invite learners to integrate knowledge, values, and action.

Location: Parmer 002
Presenter: Cortez Watson, Jr. M.Ed., LSMA, MA - Dominican University PhD Student, Applied Social Justice & Graduate Assistant, Office of Justice Equity & Inclusion
Co-presenters: Amy Omi, Precious Porras, Michel Harris

Participants will experience a simplified "walk through" of each of the L.O.V.E. or "Liberatory, Opportunities (for) V.O.I.C.E. & Empowerment" learning modules. This will function both as an introduction to the RLI experience as well as give them the opportunity to ask questions about the professional learning experience from a "behind the scenes" perspective. This will also allow participants to learn how the OJEI embeds TRHT into professional learning as Dominican University is a TRHT institution.

Location: Crown Library, Room 330
Presenter: Dr. Nkuzi Nnam and Andrea Leinweber with STA 272.01 - Trinidad and Tobago students

Students will share in a video about their studies which included Igbo culture, history, and philosophy of the islands and the African Diaspora.

Location: Parmer 113
Presenter: Angelica Guillen
Co-presenters: Dominican University MSW alumni

This session showcases how three transformed MSW courses use bilingual/bicultural pedagogy to break down language barriers in social work. DU alumni will demonstrate improved Spanish-language skills and cultural competence gained through vocabulary exercises and case studies, highlighting impacts on client relationships. The session reveals how such innovations promote equity in social work education and practice.

Location: Parmer 107
Presenters: Mark Ishaug, Anne Kohler ’81, Kathy Scherer, Matthew Toles ‘97

DU’s mission is constant but never stagnant. In this conversation, members of the Board of Trustees will reflect on their commitment to DU’s mission and how they have experienced that mission as members of the community. They will consider the ways in which relationship impacts their work, the challenges and successes of creating communities of belonging, and how they center justice in their lives and as a Board. Learn about some of our board members, their work, and how they animate caritas and veritas.

Location: Springer Suites, Crown Library Lower Level
Presenter: Sandra Garcia Cruz with Illinois Workers in Action
Co-presenter: Paul Simpson

Maintaining our commitment to justice during periods of systemic injustice calls us to engage more deeply and work to more fully understand how our country’s laws and policies can protect our community members who are being subject to persecution. This workshop works to deepen Dominican University community members capacity for active engagement by providing a clear-eyed view of what immigration and customs enforcement personnel have the power to do, presenting the very important differences between judicial and administrative warrants, and reviewing the rights we can assert in different settings (at home, at work, in school, in public places, or in detention). As it provides explicit advice on what to do if a family member who is detained and the rights we have to film and document law enforcement officials without obstructing them, this workshop not only applies to those subject to detention, but to those who seek to advocate for their safety.

Location: Martin Recital Hall, Fine Arts Building
Presenter: Dr. Claudia Herrera-Montero (Facilitator)
Co-presenters: Current and former students in Latina and Abuelita Theology classes:

• Fatima Carmona
• Martha Carranza Toledo
• Karina Chavez
• Juan Garza, Jessica Villarreal, Andrew Murillo
• Yesenia Muros
• Viviana Tellez, DU alumna and current graduate student at CTU

This panel proposal features short storytelling as a creative teaching and learning methodology, centered on the theme of the kitchen and dining table, to reflect on resilience and resistance to the struggles of everyday life. A small group of current and former students from both Abuelita and Latina Theology courses at Dominican University will share stories about cooking, recipes, and food, while celebrating cultural identity, generational wisdom, memory, and hope.

Location: Crown Library, Room 330
Presenters: Joseph Heininger and Jennifer Stockdale

Jennifer Stockdale will investigate how a sense of presence and process infuses the natural world and the perspective explored in the poetry of Joyelle McSweeney and Ada Limón, especially in The Hurting Kind and Startlement. Then Joseph Heininger presents a few poems in which images of embodied work show how love and work may combine to make bodily transformations, changed identities, or a new consideration of people who have been historically marginalized.

Location: Parmer 002
Presenter: Nan Metzger (panel host/emcee)
Co-presenters: Student study abroad alumni

Exploring the world beyond our borders fosters new ideas and opens students up to new truths about the world. Supporting our students through preparing and participating in study abroad opens doors to opportunity that further builds equity and justice. This panel will include recent study abroad alumni who have participated in both short-term, faculty-led study abroad programs (such as to Italy) and semester options (to Spain and UK) who can speak to how their horizons have been broadened through their study abroad experiences.

Location: Crown Library, Room 340
Presenter: Christina Perez
Co-presenters: Kaylanah Strange Owl, Angelina Bella Eguia, Santi Brito

Led by Indigenous undergraduate students, this panel acknowledges Indigenous peoples on campus and beyond, highlighting stories of survival, resistance, and reconnection. Students invite the community into deeper dialogue and alliance-building, fostering understanding and justice through cultural survival and collective resistance.

Location: Parmer Atrium
Presenter: Sarah Jones
Co-presenters: Audrey Santora (Undergraduate Teaching Assistant) and students in NUTR 420: Introduction to Writing about Nutrition and Health

The field of nutrition is rapidly changing with new scientific findings and products being introduced, which only leads to confusion among consumers. Students either majoring or minoring in nutrition sciences take the course, NUTR 420: Introduction to Writing About Nutrition and Health, where they explore and become experts around current “hot topics” related to nutrition and health. During this session, students will present academic posters about their topics, providing an accessible way for our audience to learn up-to-date and innovative science behind topics such as microplastics in food, intermittent fasting, “healthy” sodas, bee pollen, brain-gut axis, shilajit mushrooms, and many more.

Location: Lewis 306
Presenter: Jane Hseu
Co-presenter: Samina Hadi-Tabassum

We invite faculty, staff, students, and sisters to this generative writing workshop in which facilitators will share brief readings from books by women of color writers, including Tricia Hersey’s Rest Is Resistance and Mimi Khuc’s dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss, in order to inspire participants’ own creativity and writing. Participants will generate writing (bring something to write with, like a computer or notebook/pencil!) in response to writing prompts, one of which participants will create together. Participants will be invited (but not required!) to share their writing and thoughts especially about how one defines “wellness,” “unwellness,” and “mental health,” and the relationship of these things to creativity.

Location: Parmer 107
Presenter: Tony Martinez, Jr.

During this time of financial uncertainty, the Office of University Advancement shares timely information about fundraising initiatives that impact the entire campus community. Panel members Tony Martinez, Jr., Vice President of University Advancement, Mary Beth Ficht, Director of Alumnae/i Relations, Melanie Dykstra, Associate Vice President of University Relations, and (a student and/or donor) will share stories, insights and impacts, followed by group discussion and activities. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss and share ideas about campus philanthropy, and have a chance to win some DU swag!

Location: Parmer 109

Innovation Through My Lens 
Presenter: Ana Zuniga Sanchez

In this presentation, Ana Zuniga Sanchez reflects on her work as the Rebecca Crown Library Social Media Intern. She discusses what she has learned, the content she created, and what she is proud of over the last year.

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With, Not For: Design as Civic Engagement
Presenter: Monica Petek 

This presentation shares Monica Petek's experience working with community partners through two roles: as a Willenborg Civic Action Intern at Dominican University and through design work with PASOS Network. As a Willenborg intern, she collaborated with Second Baptist Church of Maywood’s food pantry, Erie Neighborhood House, Beyond Hunger, and Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago, supporting food justice, housing access, and neighborhood revitalization. Separately, an early opportunity facilitated by a professor led to her design contributions for PASOS Network’s 2025 conference and Nepantla publication. This path illustrates how early community engagement in school can open doors for students to pursue justice-centered work. This interdisciplinary portfolio reflects on how love—through community care—and truth—through lived experience and systemic realities—shaped her understanding of justice. It shows how design can be a tool for advocacy, accessibility, and civic engagement, emphasizing the power of designing with rather than for communities.

Location: Springer Suites, Crown Library Lower Level
Presenter: Ji Zhu
Co-presenters: Yijun Gao

Will AI take over your job? This session explores how AI is transforming careers in every field—and why human creativity, judgment, and adaptability remain irreplaceable. Leave inspired with a clearer vision of your future in the age of AI.

Location: Parmer 113
Presenter: Maggie Andersen, faculty advisor
Co-presenters: Yaritza Alicea and Isabella Zizzo, editors (plus featured contributors)

Please join us for the launch party celebrating the newest issue of Stella Veritatis. The editors will discuss their process, the contributors will give a reading, and everyone will leave with a free copy of our student-run literary magazine. We have stories about Congolese mothers and haunted mansions, monologues from our newest Latina playwrights, and poems inspired by Greek mythology, technology, and Midwestern friend love.

Location: Lewis 204
Presenters: Natalie Soriano, Monserrat Romero, Sara Sidak

An exploration into the policies of various clinical settings that work to ensure infections do not spread or pose a threat to the safety of others. It will examine how well hospitals follow these guidelines as well as the consequences of negligence and noncompliance.

Location: Parmer 114
Presenter: Anjali Chaudhry
Co-presenters: Students of MGMT297

The students of MGMT297, ‘Developing Next-Generational Mindset,’ and I will be leading the participants through an environmental sustainability simulation roleplay. Sustainability, defined as meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, is first and foremost a justice issue. Actions we take (or don’t take) have implications for diverse communities. We cannot commit to sustainability without understanding the full scope of our action on those who are most vulnerable and impacted. This session is very much in line with our mission to guide our students to strive to create a just and humane world.

Location: Parmer 108
Presenter: Sister Priscilla Wood, OP

Hear the stories of some of the significant Sisters who were the force behind the reality that is Dominican University. Participants are invited to ask to ask questions, share their own experiences, and consider how past decisions rooted in Caritas and Veritas created the Dominican University we love today.