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September 2023
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students in the Klingler College of Arts & Sciences,
I hope that your semester has been a great one thus far. There seems to be a spirit
of renewed energy in the air this academic year. Our open house for new A&S students
drew record numbers, with students actively engaging in a “What’s your and?” activity to illustrate the power of our College tagline, “the difference is in
the and.” Some examples included “Biology and Psych,” “Spanish and Criminology,” “Student
and Mom,” “Historian and Artist,” “Full-Time Employed and College Student” and “Environmental
Science and I’ll figure it out.”
As I’ve met with alumni both in Milwaukee and beyond, this embrace of the and has likewise found a warm reception. Our community understands that the kind of integration
we foster goes beyond a simply additive logic to help all of us pursue whole-life
flourishing. And we know how to have fun! Our Arts & Sciences Bash on September 15,
aided by beautiful weather and hard work by the staff and faculty organizers, attracted
a large number of participants who enjoyed putting artistic touches on A&S banners,
trying the giant tricycle race or basketball toss, and getting some beautiful plants
courtesy of a mobile greenhouse truck. Our A&S Student Ambassadors and many colleagues
were on hand to facilitate the games, bestow prizes and create a welcoming environment
for all. Thanks to everyone who made this such a wonderful event.
Our focus on integration spans many crucial topics in research and teaching, including
integral ecology, or care for one another as well as for all of creation. This month,
around the world, people of faith have been celebrating the Season of Creation. This is an ecumenical effort to draw attention to care for our common home. Stephen
Pluháček and I co-authored a brief essay on this topic that appeared in Marquette Today. In it, we suggest that today’s challenges are not simply ecological or social, but
fundamentally spiritual and theological. The essay is available here; I welcome your comments and questions.
This academic year, as we pursue student success, excellence in research, community
engagement and other top-level goals, integral ecology will remain at the center of
these efforts. I’d like to highlight the work of the Laudato Si’ Action Planning Task
Force on campus, led by Fr. Jim Pribek SJ, Lora Strigens and Chelsea Malacara. I appreciate
Chelsea’s description of this work as envisioning a “livable future.” Across Arts
& Sciences, we have much to contribute to the deepening and enriching of this theme.
Within Arts & Sciences, many of you are actively involved in research and teaching
along these lines. One goal of mine is to continue to highlight this work, which spans
the humanities, social sciences, computational and natural sciences. Our A&S Sustainability
Fellow, Tim Tharp, is at work on a grant-funded geothermal feasibility study for our
campus. If you have ideas related to integral ecology and sustainability, please share
them! These efforts are also crucial to our planning for a new BioDiscovery building.
Please remember to share your good news with the College! Email A&S Communications
Coordinator Kirsten Boeh if you have a publication, grant or other news or if you have an idea for a story
we could develop. As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, concerns or suggestions. I appreciate hearing from you and exploring
ways we can all work together for the common good.
Dr. Heidi Bostic
Dean, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
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