Caritas Veritas Symposium 2026 Call for Proposals
Celebrating 125 Years of Caritas & Veritas – 2026 Symposium Call for Proposals
Roots and Bridges: An Enduring Story of Mission, Connection, and Change
Wednesday November 4, 2026
Proposals accepted through September 15, 2026
On November the 4th, the birthday of Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, founder of the Sinsinawa Dominicans, we are delighted to host the 17th annual Caritas Veritas Symposium. Proposals are now welcome and accepted until September 15, 2026.
Our university mission statement affirms that as a Sinsinawa Dominican sponsored institution, we prepare students to pursue truth, to give compassionate service, and to participate in the creation of a more just and humane world. This year our Caritas Veritas Symposium celebrates and coincides with Dominican University’s 125th anniversary. Thus, our theme explores how our stories, and the stories of our sisters, help us understand both our past and our future. What is your contribution as a member of the University community to the story of love and truth in our world today?
The Symposium’s guiding questions, rooted in our four pillars, explore what animates our work in the classrooms, on the fields, at our internships, in our sacred spaces, and our offices. These questions invite you to reflect on the four pillars of the Dominican Order: prayer, study, community, and service. Our stories matter. This call for proposals invites you to bring forward your wisdom, creativity, and critical insight as you reflect on our roots - dating back to 1901.
Questions to guide proposals:
Prayer: Love and Spirituality
What is prayer? How is it expressed at Dominican? How does our commitment to love of God, neighbor, and self, impact what we do in our shared rituals, in our academic research, and in our community? How do we engage in the mystery that we experience in our relationships and sacred encounters each day?
Study: Pursuing Truth
What is study? How do we study at Dominican? How does our commitment to truth intersect with our work for justice and the commitment to the common good? Where does our education meet the needs of the community in which we exist? How do we attentively listen for and learn from the lived experiences, questions, and needs of others as part of our pursuit of truth?
Community: Love and Relationships
What is community? How is it expressed at Dominican? How does our motto of love and truth inform how we experience community? Where does collegiality, collaboration, and respect help our work grow? How do we embody the sisters' motto that “relationship is at the heart of everything”? How do we affirm the words of Father Samuel Mazzuchelli to make school like home? Where can we improve our communal impact?
Service: Preaching with Our Lives
What is service? How do we participate service at Dominican? How does what we say and do bring about the flourishing of every human person, especially those most vulnerable? How does our scholarship bring about justice and serve the world we engage in?
We welcome scholarly, creative, and artistic expressions of the ways we engage one another in the pursuit of truth and collective wisdom. The entire Dominican community - students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumnae/i. community partners - is invited to ponder and explore our common story as a university community and how our individual narratives contribute to the whole of who we are as an institution. We encourage interdisciplinary proposals. We invite students to consider their community-based learning, internships, research projects, clinical and field placements as loci of reflection and analysis on the guiding questions.
Proposals for formal papers, poster presentations, panel presentations, round-table discussions, workshops, and original creative work are all encouraged. We especially welcome proposals from student presenters. The committee is happy to work with any member of the community who has an idea for a presentation but would appreciate help or guidance in refining it into a proposal. Examples of previous presentations can be found on the Symposia Archives.
Presentation Formats
Lecture Style: 30-minute presentations grouped in sessions of two, followed by a shared Q&A. Ideal for sharing research, scholarship, or conceptual reflection.
Panel Presentation: 1-hour sessions exploring a shared theme or issue from multiple perspectives, with time for audience engagement.
Workshop: 1-hour interactive sessions that involve participants in skill-building, collaborative learning, or reflective practice.
Poster Presentation: 1-hour session where multiple presenters display visual summaries of their work for informal conversation and networking.
Other: Creative artwork, podcasts, film, and short dramatic presentations.
Proposal Length: Up to 250 words.
Submission Deadline: September 15, 2026