Saint John’s Abbey
College of Saint Benedict / Saint John’s University
Saint John’s Preparatory School
Saint Benedict’s Monastery Sesquicentennial
Benedictines in Central Minnesota — 150 Years
Dancing on the Edge
A Day in Honor of 150 Years of Benedictine Education in Central Minnesota
March 14, 2007
In 1857 when Benedictine monks and Sisters came to central Minnesota in 1857, they imagined they were traveling to the edge of the world. In the 1850s – before Minnesota became a state in 1858 – this region certainly teetered on the front edge of Euro-American settlement. Native people in large numbers still, but not for much longer, inhabited the Upper Mississippi Valley but were being pushed beyond their traditional boundaries while Yankees and Germans and Irish established new homelands in this place. Benedictine women and men – among the earliest white settlers here – have for 150 years ministered, taught, tended, and nursed the people of central Minnesota, including both Anishinabe and Dakota, and have extended their ministry through the founding of other communities in the U.S. as well as in the Bahamas and in Japan. On Heritage Day in the fall we honor the religious work of these two communities. On March 14, we are honoring the educational work of the men and women of these monasteries by exploring, thinking about, playing with the concept of “edge.” Where is the edge? Of what we know? Of what we can do? Of where our learning can take us? Of our willingness to take risks?
Part 1: 9:30 am, Petters Auditorium, BAC
David O’Fallon
President, McPhail School of Music
“From the Edge to the Center:David O’Fallon
President, McPhail School of Music
The Arts at the Center of Learning and Community”
Departmental Lunches
TBA
Part 2: Student and Faculty Extravaganzas
1-2 Fine Arts
2:15-3 Social Sciences and Humanities
3:15-4 Natural Sciences and “Free for Alls”
Students, increasingly, are asked to push themselves beyond passive learning to active engagement with their own learning. In some fields students write theses, in others they perform recitals or carry out research projects. In each of these cases, the students are stepping away from their teachers and into their own intellectual lives. In two sets of concurrent sessions, individual students – nominated by their peers or their teachers – will show their work in progress. Depending on the nature of their work students will present poster sessions, talk about their research, show how they put together a recital, or select whatever format best suits their individual intellectual journey.
What Faculty Really Do When They’re Not in the Classroom
Or, Why I Do What I Do
Quality education of students requires that faculty be well trained in their fields, and that they stay current through their own scholarship and creative work. In three sets of concurrent afternoon sessions, faculty members will demonstrate, talk about, and show what they do when they’re not in the classroom.
Indoor Picnic Supper for Faculty
5:30 – 6:30 pm HCC
Part 3:
Let’s Dance, 7 – 10 pm, HCC, Alumnae Hall
Lessons, 7 – 7:30
Irish Ceili
Music by Doon Ceili Band
Mike Whalen, caller
Tony Cunningham, impresario!
Please plan to stay for this.
A ceili is an Irish kind of square dance with a caller.
Only the band will really have much experience with dancing,
so all of us will look equally silly and could have an equally wonderful time!
Family and friends are invited, too.
Annette Atkins
Professor of History
Saint John's University
College of St. Benedict
Collegeville, MN 56321
320 363 2138
aatkins@csbsju.edu