McAnulty College and
Graduate School of Liberal Arts

SCHOLARSHIPS

In keeping with Duquesne’s Spiritan heritage, Advancing Our Legacy places an unprecedented emphasis on increasing endowed funds for need-based financial aid and scholarships. Our founders and sponsors were determined that the benefits of a Duquesne education should be available to all, regardless of ability to pay. Endowed scholarships ensure that Duquesne can attract and retain talented and motivated students for generations to come.

FUNDS TO SUPPORT LIVING AND LEARNING

Emerging Scholar Awards: These awards will promote undergraduate scholarship and creative activity outside the traditional classroom setting. Financial awards will be given to students whose projects explore abiding issues and questions in highly focused ways, explore connections among disciplines, and strengthen community through leadership and service. Students receiving these awards conduct individual or small-group projects under the mentorship of a faculty member, and present their research findings in a public context. The program enables students to pursue projects connecting academic education with experiential learning and service.

First-Year Residential Learning Communities: The first-year residential learning communities have become a distinctive hallmark of the College’s liberal arts curriculum, highly valued by students, parents and faculty members for the advantages they give entering students. In choosing their learning community, first-year students select four courses they will take as a cohort of no more than 36 students in their first year, three in the fall semester and one in the spring. Those living on campus also share the same residence hall floor. In addition to offering four integrated classes, the learning communities involve first-year students in service-learning and co-curricular activities outside the classroom. The learning communities have proven effective in helping first-year students quickly find friends and study companions; creating a sense of identity and community among students in the College; helping students learn how to relate topics in different courses and integrate their knowledge; and connecting the classroom with the community through service.

Internships: The College is working closely with the Career Services Center to help liberal arts students discern their vocation and pursue it with vigor. Internships are an increasingly important aspect of that pursuit. Small awards that will support students as they gain vocational experience in internships will make it more possible for students to choose positions that will give them experience in their chosen field, whether during the school year or in summer, rather than take a job simply to earn extra money.

ENDOWED CHAIRS

To consolidate its position in the first ranks of American Catholic higher education, Duquesne University has adopted a strategic plan that calls for increasing our “national reputation for academic excellence.” Among the ways this is to be accomplished is through an “increase in the number of endowed chairs,” the growth in both the quantity and quality of scholarship, and improvement in the quality of Ph.D. programs. Among some of the proposals that we have identified are:

Named Endowed Chair in Philosophy: As one of the largest and most visible Ph.D. programs at Duquesne, as well as one of the most central to its mission as a Catholic university, the Department of Philosophy has a long and storied history which makes it a prime candidate for an Endowed Chair. The recruitment of a senior scholar with a national or international reputation would position the department, the College and the University to increase dramatically the visibility and prominence of each in this critical academic area. Conducting research and teaching courses on both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the holder of the Chair would also be expected to engage the campus and the larger community in important and topical issues and questions of an academic nature on a regular basis.

Veterans’ Chair in American History: This Chair would be held by a qualified veteran from the American armed services who could offer appropriate course work in American History, military history or American diplomatic history. Such a person would bring the perspective of one who has served the nation honorably in a highly demanding capacity. This Chair would be placed on a four-year term to facilitate rotation and create a breadth of exposure for Duquesne and our students. Other responsibilities would include outreach to local veterans’ groups, working with the ROTC program, and directing Duquesne’s History Forum every four years.

LECTURES AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Named Endowed Lecture/First-Year Reading: To expose first-year students to an important work and author in the area of creative writing, the endowed lecture and first year-reading consists of a yearly lecture and workshop by an established author whose work all incoming Duquesne students read as part of their UCOR 102 (Imaginative Literature and Critical Thinking) course. This provides students with a unique experience and an enriching opportunity that will galvanize their interest in literature and the arts, while putting them in contact with a working writer.

Jewish Studies Program/Kristallnacht Lecture: Duquesne University has a number of faculty members and students from various disciplines who are interested in Jewish history, thought, culture, and faith. The College has hosted speakers and events to commemorate Kristallnacht in an ad hoc fashion. The College now seeks to institutionalize these yearly events and use them as an anchor for larger discussions toward developing a potential minor in Jewish Studies.

Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation: Contemporary ministry worldwide confronts a variety of social justice, peace and ecological issues. Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation is the distance-education program the College has developed, in partnership with the Spiritans, to provide a “tool kit” for those who serve in these challenging pastoral situations. Through PowerPoint presentations and micro-lectures it provides the necessary theory on a given topic, and then applies the concepts to actual cases and practical realities. It also allows students in different parts of the world to learn from each other.

FACILITIES IMPROVEMENTS

Psychology Clinic: The College’s Psychology Clinic is an essential and integral component of its highly regarded Ph.D. program in clinical psychology. The Clinic hosted almost 3,000 client sessions last year (more than double the number of sessions only seven years ago), for students, University employees and the public. On busy days demand exceeds the capacity of its five session rooms and necessitates use of faculty offices for counseling. The Clinic also hosts guest speakers for a monthly colloquium that is integral to the Ph.D. program, but must currently look for any available space on campus for the colloquiums. The University plans to make additional space available for the Clinic. The College seeks funds to build out the required faculty offices, session rooms and an adequate conference room to support the Clinic’s programs.