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fairfieldustudyabroad · 7 years

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Jonathan ('19) reflects back on his time in St. Petersburg

As a student of history and the Russian language, the study abroad opportunity to St. Petersburg was the pragmatic option. Though I had taken 4 semesters of the language, I was still nervous about getting my way around the city. To my surprise, the program didn’t require any formal speaking skills. I found out why when I stepped foot outside of the newly renovated airport, greeted by signs in both English and Russian. Rather than being a place totally alien to me, driving into the city surrounded by buildings with pastel facades, people walking the streets and shop signs made me feel like I could quite easily fit in.

As we disembarked the bus, bags in tow, we stood in front of the hotel, modest from the outside. To get into the hotel, a button must be pressed to let the administrator unlock the door. This, along with keys being required for both the door and, in my case, the hallway made me feel very safe. The hotel rooms possessed everything you’d expect from a modern hotel, including a full bathroom, Wi-Fi and daily cleaning service. We stayed together as rooms of two students, living comfortably with enough room for each of us.

Pretty quickly, we fell into our rhythm. In the morning, we would meet at 8:30 for breakfast, the adventurous daring to order the russkiy zavtrak, patties of egg and cream cheese served with jam or condensed milk, while the more reserved could order French toast with ham. While we ate and drank our coffee or tea, Professor Syssoeva would teach us survival Russian to help us communicate with the locals. Next, we would prepare for our excursion out into the city. Every day we would visit a historic site in the city, observing the city’s history firsthand as we gazed upon palaces, fortresses and art lead by experienced and knowledgeable tour guides. We would then gather in a classroom a few blocks from the hotel to discuss what we saw and how they tie into the readings that were assigned daily for homework, stopping to eat as a group beforehand. After the class, the students would have free time, exploring around the city, shopping, eating and doing further sightseeing.

During the free time, we also met with Russian students of the English language studying at Herzen University. Being roughly our ages, these 6 or so students used their near-flawless English to great effect. The students helped us navigate the city, communicate with others, and spent time with us, chatting about each other’s lives and cultures. It’s no understatement to say that these students greatly helped us become immersed into the city and helped us to learn not only the history, but the culture as well. In fact, so strong were the friendships formed that I still chat with one of the students, who took an interest in learning about Boston. Perhaps in a few years, I’ll be the one showing him around.

The classes we had taken focused mainly on the history of Peter I and Catherine II, touching briefly upon the revolution of 1917. We explored these topics primarily through readings of fascinating texts, taking our knowledge into the field and observing the history we read about embodied in architecture and art. Although the time we spent as a class was reminiscent of the classes at Fairfield, the city and sights were so integrated into the course that it would be hard to truly teach in America. For instance, one cannot truly understand the magnitude of Peter’s influence until you observe the Bronze Horseman and stand beside the Winter Palace.

The sights we saw were unforgettable. From the might of Peter and Paul Fortress to the grandeur of the Hermitage, the architecture was certainly one of the most striking parts of the city. Along Nevskiy pr. alone, one can see sights like the Church of the Spilled Blood, Kazan Cathedral, and the Winter Palace. We watched dancers twirl along the stage from our booths at a showing of the Nutcracker and walked along the rows of mass graves from the days of the siege. From ancient icons to Rembrandt, the art we saw was truly marvelous, and the Museum of Political History reminded us that the city was truly the heart of revolution. The wonder that is inspired from even one of these locations justifies the excessiveness of my favorite Russian word: Достопримечательности.

However, cities are not solely determined by the monuments that they possess. To look into stores, eat at local restaurants and walk in the parks were experiences in themselves. For example, my fellow Fairfield student and I ventured into an Uzbek restaurant where the staff spoke little to no English. Being able to use my knowledge in the language, I taught him how to order in Russian and we broadened our horizons, trying new foods like borsch and pierogi (not the Polish kind). This only served to heighten our experience, as we fully enveloped ourselves into the city.

In all, the most challenging portion of the trip was simply sleeping. Between the excitement for the next day and the White Nights, we often found ourselves up at odd hours. This, however, is hardly a reason not to take up this opportunity. To travel to a place so unique and full of rich history and character like St. Petersburg is an amazing whirlwind of sights, sounds, color and wonder. I would highly recommend to any student, Russian or otherwise, to go. It firmly convinced me to continue pursuing my studies into the language and history and I truly believe that anyone, no matter what major or field of interest, can find something to take out of it.

#Fairfieldabroad #fairfieldu #fairfieldsummerabroad #stpetersburg

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gseap · 7 years

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Self-Care: The Missing Link in Best Practice – Part II

By Paula Gill Lopez

This is Part II of a two-part article. Part I, published last month, highlighted the ethical mandate for self-care among school psychologists to effectively manage stress and prevent burnout. Part II describes an effort to promote self-care, its application to preservice training, and student responses.

Recognizing the critical need for self-care not only for graduate students but also for school professionals, pro bono self-care workshops were offered last year and eagerly attended by colleagues in public school districts across the state of Connecticut. School psychologists and teachers seemed desperately to want permission to set aside time to focus on themselves. Initially, it appeared that the ethics and burnout arguments for self-care were not persuasive enough to extract a long-term commitment until two additional pieces were added to the message. The first was a neurobiological explanation of the importance of being good role models for students and how self-care facilitates being at one's best. The second is increasing the likelihood that people actually engage in self-care by helping them customize a plan that works for them, including strategies that have long lasting effects.

A Neuropsychological Rationale for Modeling Self-Care

We are a perverse profession when it comes to self-care. We self-sacrifice; we put others first; it's who we are. There is a reluctance to take care of oneself because it is perceived as being selfish. Neuroscience research describing the development of a child's prefrontal cortex (see Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1993; Montgomery & Schore, 2013; Moore, Pfeifer, Masten, Mazziotta, Iacoboni, & Dapretto, 2012; Porges, 2004) was shared to persuade workshop participants and students to put themselves first for the sake of the children with whom they work. The prefrontal cortex, where responsible decision-making and self-regulation occur, is still developing until the mid-20s for some. Youth learn to self-regulate through emotional contagion (“catching” another's emotions by unconsciously mimicking facial, vocal, and postural feedback) and mirror neurons (transmission of internal states from one to another). The condition of an adult's nervous system, as expressed in the adult's behavior and perceived by the student, has a great influence on children and youth– more so than what comes out of an adult's mouth. A child's parasympathetic nervous system is incomplete; it is completed through the unconscious attunement to adults in their environment–for better or for worse.

Once, after I had shared this simplification of brain science with a group of teachers, one of the teachers looked a bit horrified. She recounted an incident that had happened that afternoon with her class. She was walking around the room, as she often did, telling her students to “relax.” But she herself was clearly not relaxed and the students got louder and more unsettled until she realized, not in the moment but in the workshop, that she was shouting “Relax!” in an extremely unrelaxed way. It was a powerful moment for the group and really drove home the critical importance of our ability as adults to provide a calm, self-regulated presence for students’ nervous systems to involuntarily emulate. This is especially crucial for those children who may have unstable, dysregulated adults in their home environments. I have found this information to be most persuasive in motivating practitioners to commit to engaging in self-care.

Shifting a Paradigm

It is a somewhat counterintuitive mindset that cares for the self before others, especially for a school psychologist. The goal is not just to mitigate burnout, but to proactively promote well-being. In the field of school psychology, putting all others before oneself is the norm. Practicing self-care proactively requires a drastic paradigm shift. Consequently, workshops were designed according to the ADKAR model for change (Hiatt & Creasy, 2003). Hiatt and Creasy maintain that there are five steps for promoting successful change: 1) raise Awareness for the need for change, 2) nurture a Desire to participate in the change, 3) provide Knowledge regarding how to change, 4) develop the Ability to change, and 5) Reinforce the change. The workshop content described below is not provided to preservice graduate students in as concentrated a form; instead, using the same model for change, students receive content gradually and repeatedly throughout their program (e.g., practica and internship classes begin with a 5–10 minute self-care strategy). Professional workshops were developed corresponding to the ADKAR steps as follows.

Raise awareness of need to change. Using video clips, empirical data, and neurobiological research, participants were introduced to self-care as an ethical imperative. I define self-care as the intentional, proactive pursuit of integrated wellness through balancing mind, body, and spirit personally and professionally. This definition has several elements. Intentional means to do something deliberately. It is a purposeful premeditated act (self-care should be planned and scheduled to ensure it is accomplished). To be proactive is to be preemptive (doing something before it has to be done). It is the difference between treating mental illness and promoting mental health. It is essential to proactively practice self-care; otherwise, one is likely to miss warning signs of imminent burnout. Integrated refers to caring for and functioning as a whole person. Finally, to achieve balance one must attend to all aspects of their person (mind, body, spirit) with equal frequency.

Nurture a desire to change. A rationale for and benefits of practicing self-care were shared to create an incentive to engage, including ethical behavior, avoiding burnout, and the effects of adults’ internal states on children. Mindful awareness practices (MAPS) were introduced as a means for creating a calm emotional state (Crum, Salovey, & Achor, 2013; Jazaieri et al., 2013; Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). MAPS comprise a variety of nonjudgmental, present-moment focus strategies and produce two primary benefits: (a) greater focused attention and (b) self-regulation (Holzel et al., 2010). There is an emerging literature demonstrating the benefits of educators avoiding burnout through practicing mindfulness. One study found that teachers’ mindfulness was negatively correlated with Maslach's burnout components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and perceptions of low accomplishment (Abenavoli, Jennings, Greenberg, Harris, & Katz, 2013): There are other researchers who have found similar results using mindfulness as a primary self-care intervention for educators and therapists to effectively manage stress and combat burnout (see for instance Flook, Goldberg, Pinger, Bonus, & Davidson, 2013; Jennings, Frank, Snowberg, Coccia, & Greenberg, 2013; Roeser, Skinner, Beers, & Jennings, 2012; Shapiro, Brown, & Biegel, 2007).

Educators' mindfulness is one aspect of social–emotional competence that may protect them from experiencing burnout and its negative consequences ... the protective effect of mindfulness was most pronounced among more stressed and more ambitious educators. This study adds to accumulating evidence that mindfulness promotes resilience in educators and may foster healthy educators, classrooms, and students. (Abenavoli et al., 2013, p. 57) Provide knowledge of how to change. After reviewing the literature, I conceptualized two categories of self-care: temporary and enduring. When employing temporary strategies, neurotransmitters are released in the brain depending on what is happening in different regions. For example, dopamine is released when gratitude is practiced, while norepinephrine is discharged when looking at a picture of a loved one (Hanson, 2013). Examples of temporary strategies are spending time with friends (spirit), eating more protein (body), and reading for pleasure (mind). These strategies do not have long-lasting effects because the “feel good” neurotransmitters are released and then subside.

Enduring strategies permanently strengthen the neurological functioning of the brain (see Carter, 2015; Davidson & Begley, 2012; Hanson, 2013; Newburg & Waldman, 2009). Simply put, when information flows through the nervous system, consciously and unconsciously, and neurons fire collectively in regular patterns based on the information represented, neural structures change. Enduring strategies have a mindfulness component. Activities in this category include practicing mindfulness (spirit) and gratitude (spirit), journaling positive events (mind), being awe inspired (spirit), exercising aerobically (body), and conversing about abstract ideas (mind).

Develop ability to change. Participants practiced various self-care strategies to determine those that felt comfortable.

Reinforce the change. The final portion of the workshop was devoted to developing comprehensive self-

care plans, using SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound) to create habits that cement self-care into daily routines. An example of a temporary SMART goal is: I will meet a friend for a dinner or a movie on the last Friday of every month (spirit, mind, and body). An example of an enduring SMART goal is: After making my tea in the morning, I will focus on my breath for 7 minutes and then study one chapter in my Bible (spirit and mind). As mentioned, the most critical element in developing a self-care plan is to choose strategies that are likely to be regularly utilized based on particular stressors and life circumstances.

Proactively practicing self-care is a necessity to productively manage stress and prevent burnout and, as such, should be required practice and reflected in all professional documents, including those that guide ethical behavior and training. Specific issues can be addressed by practicing concepts like taking in the good to increase optimism (Hanson, 2013), for example. Self-care may seem out of reach for those who think they are too busy (or too anxious, depressed, physically hurt, etc.). But there are strategies that can actually reduce perceptions of busyness by finding the minimum effective dose (Carter, 2015). Selecting the right self-care activities and them consistently in small quantities several times a day can help to alleviate the negative effects of stress (Carter, 2015; Hanson, 2013). Small efforts can produce big returns. Carter, a former marathon runner describes adjusting her expectations so she can be more efficient with her time, ultimately feeling less busy and doing more.

This morning I ran for only nine minutes ... For a former marathon runner, slowly jogging less than a mile a few days a week seems pathetically unambitious. But here's the thing: I'm now consistently running twenty miles more per month than before I drastically reduced my ambitions.” (Carter, 2015, p. 11) She goes on to write that she is stronger, physically healthier, pain-free, and sporting her prepregnancy, athlete weight by exercising consistently in small doses. For this reason, workshop participants are encouraged to thoughtfully develop their self-care plans and adjust them as often as necessary.

Self-Care Testimonies

In preservice training, self-care has been increasingly spotlighted in my courses in the last 2 years, from the first introductory course to the last internship seminar. Students in a variety of ways have informally highlighted the importance of intentionally making self-care a focus of the program. Primarily, appreciation for the self-care focus has been anecdotal. Students have brought up the wisdom of practicing self-care in conversation with advisors and in class, and a few students have referenced their gratitude for self-care in my course evaluation data.

As described in the literature and in the personal stories of alumni, being a school psychologist is an extremely challenging job. The most persuasive and poignant data I have that self-care is a worthwhile preservice initiative is from unsolicited intern reflections I have received over the last 2 years. I secured permission to share them and I have included excerpts from two of them here.

Reflection 1: Self-Care

As a child, my parents always taught me how important it was to go to work. They embodied the concept of a “Protestant work ethic” and expected me to follow in their footsteps. Regardless of their health condition, they would arrive at work to do their duty and make sure to take care of their responsibilities. In addition to going to work, they would ensure that everyone else's needs were met before their own. They always emphasized hard work, dedication, and most importantly, putting others before you. No matter what, they found a way to take care of family members, coworkers, and friends even at the expense of themselves. Therefore, when I began this program I found it very difficult to grasp the concept of self-care.

As I began to practice self-care, I struggled to fully accept the idea and was concerned that practicing self-care would be contrary to my family's values. In fact, at times, I felt like putting myself first was selfish or even self-indulgent. Certainly, I did not want to be accused of being self-absorbed. However, I found that taking a small amount of time to practice self-care helped me to feel better and be more efficient. In the end, I found myself having an internal debate about self-care.

As the new school year approached, I started to think about how I could be the best me and what goals I could set for myself. While searching the Web, I found a quote that spoke to me: “Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” The more I thought about the quote, the more I realized that I needed to make self-care a priority. I have come to accept that I need to take care of myself and that self-care is an act of survival. I need to find a way to be as compassionate toward myself as I am to others. I recognize that self-care is not narcissistic or selfish but an act of self-respect. So this year, I promised myself to take time to practice self-care and take time off when I am ill, ultimately knowing that taking the time to practice self-care will help me to be healthier, happier, and better equipped to do my job.

All that being said, I am proud to say that when I got sick recently, I stayed home. Despite feeling a bit guilty, I resisted the temptation to go to work ill. I was proactive and went to the doctor. While this may not seem like a big step to some, this was a huge success for me. Overall, I am thankful that my graduate program has challenged me to practice self-care.

REFLECTION 2: ILLNESS AND SELF-CARE - I THINK FAIRFIELD IS SAVING MY LIFE

In the past week, I developed a tonsil infection, learned I am allergic to clindamycin, and have a pending referral to visit an ENT to explore the possibility of surgically removing my tonsils. Being sick and having to slow down has made me focus a lot on self-care, which has made me reflect on the impact of our program on my practice of self-care. It may not seem related to self-care, but I am glad on a weekly basis that I got into Fairfield [University].

The truth is, I have taken horrendous care of myself through my academic career and hadn't really realized the extent of which until this week. I am no stranger to all-nighters, or to forgetting to eat or drink water while completing work, or to consuming far too much caffeine to try to get myself through “the rest of the day,” when I knew I was going to continue the same pattern all week just to keep up. When I got to Fairfield, I was sleeping between 4 hours and 30 minutes a night, driving over 2 hours a day 6 days a week, and consuming probably 250mg of caffeine daily just to keep myself from falling asleep behind the wheel, at work, or in my classes. I spent all my time working, going to school, commuting, and taking care of other people who took my effort for granted. I was not taking care of myself. Naturally, this had an impact on my mood and my body. I was angry and sad and afraid most of the time, doubting my choice to continue directly into graduate school instead of taking a year off, and feeling like I was barely able to keep my head above water. I made it through my first year and decided to continue on with the program.

At the beginning of year 2, I really started to notice the effect that caffeine and sleep deprivation was having on my body. In our counseling methods class, I volunteered to share the difficulties I was having with sleep and got to explore some different options for changing my habits. I made little progress in changing these habits that semester, but I was becoming aware that this was not a sustainable way to live if I didn't want to burn out in my first year on the job. Things started changing for me when we started practicum supervision. Practicum supervision really woke me up to the amount of stress I was under and how little I did to cope with that stress besides smash it down inside and try to go about my day as normal. As we started to go through our different group facilitations, I noticed that I was almost always close to tears, and that my back was holding so much tension that my hands frequently felt numb. I set goals for myself based on our screening tools: I wanted to get at least 6 hours of sleep a night, and spend time doing physical activity instead of spending all of my free time lying in bed watching movies and YouTube videos. Sure enough, as I started to make changes, I started to feel a little better. I cut down on caffeine because of a recommendation by my doctor. I started practicing yoga during some of my free time. At the end of the semester, I made the commitment to find a counselor by the end of the summer to develop better coping skills for dealing with stress.

Without the facilitation of honest reflection and skill building that has been built into our program, I know now that I would have burnt out. I have been too hard on myself with the standards that I set for my own behavior and what I expect that I should be able to do in a day. I have to slow down and listen to my body. Thank you for focusing on self-care with us. I think this is something that many more academic programs need to explicitly teach as a prevention strategy.

A Parting Plea

Consider this analogy. At the beginning of every airline flight, passengers are told, in the event of a drop in cabin pressure, to put on their own oxygen masks before helping others. These instructions ensure that the persons who are in a position of responsibility are not compromised so they can do what needs to be done to care for others. It recognizes that people cannot help those in their charge unless they protect themselves first. Even this analogy is slightly flawed in that it does not account for the proactive, self-aware necessity of self-care that would not require a reminder to put on the oxygen mask first because the primacy of self-care has been ingrained.

A healthy school psychologist has appropriate boundaries, objective insight into the issues of those with whom they work, the ability to self-regulate their behaviors, and is a model for wellness and adaptive coping. That can only happen through ongoing self-care. It is posited here that proactively practicing self-care is a necessity for school psychologists to productively manage stress and prevent burnout and, as such, should be required practice and reflected in all professional documents, including those that guide ethical behavior and training. There are precedents to guide us. To truly engage in best practice, we must begin with self-care.

References

Abenavoli, R. M., Jennings, P. A., Greenberg, M. T., Harris, A. R., & Katz, D. A. (2013). The protective effects of mindfulness against burnout among educators. The Psychology of Education Review, 37(2), 57–69.

Carter, C. (2015). The sweet spot: How to find your groove at work and home. New York, NY: Ballantine.

Crum, A. J., Salovey, P., & Achor, S. (2013). Rethinking stress: The role of mindsets in determining the stress response. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(4), 716–733. doi:10.1037/a0031201

Davidson, R. J., & Begley, S. (2012). The emotional life of your brain: How its unique patterns affect the way you think, feel, and live—and how you can change them. New York, NY: Penguin.

Flook, L., Goldberg, S. B., Pinger, L., Bonus, K., & Davidson, R. J. (2013). Mindfulness for teachers: A pilot study to assess effects on stress, burnout, and teaching efficacy. Mind, Brain, and Education, 7(3), 182–195. doi:10.1111/mbe.12026

Hanson, R. (2013). Hardwiring happiness: The new brain science of contentment, calm, and confidence. New York, NY: Crown Publishing.

Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1993). Emotional contagion. New York, NY: Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme.

Hiatt, J. M., Creasey, T. J., & the Change Management Learning Center (2003). Change management: The people side of change. Loveland, CO: Prosci Research.

Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Evans, K. C., Hoge, E. A., Dusek, J. A., Morgan, L., ... Lazar, S. W. (2010). Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(1), 11–17. doi:10.1093/scan/nsp034

Jazaieri, H., McGonigal, K., Jinpa, T., Doty, J. R., Gross, J. J., & Goldin, P. R. (2013). A randomized controlled trial of compassion cultivation training: Effects on mindfulness, affect, and emotion regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 38(1), 23–35. doi:10.1007/s11031-013-9368-z

Jennings, P. A., Frank, J. L., Snowberg, K. E., Coccia, M. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2013). Improving classroom learning environments by cultivating awareness and resilience in education (CARE): Results of a randomized controlled trial. School Psychology Quarterly, 28(4), 374–390. doi:10.1037/spq0000035

Montgomery, A., & Schore, A. N. (2013). Neurobiology essentials for clinicians: What every therapist needs to know. New York, NY: Norton.

Moore, W. E., Pfeifer, J. H., Masten, C. L., Mazziotta, J. C., Iacoboni, M., & Dapretto, M. (2012). Facing puberty: Associations between pubertal development and neural responses to affective facial displays. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(1), 35–43. doi:10.1093/scan/nsr066

Neff, K. D., Kirkpatrick, K. L., & Rude, S. S. (2007). Self-compassion and adaptive psychological functioning. Journal of Research in Personality, 41(1), 139–154. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2006.03.004

Newberg, A. B., & Waldman, M. R. (2010). How god changes your brain: Breakthrough findings from a leading neuroscientist. New York, NY: Random House.

Porges, S. W. (2004). NEUROCEPTION: A subconscious system for detecting threats and safety. Retrieved from http://www.stephenporges.com/images/neuroception.pdf

Roeser, R. W., Skinner, E., Beers, J., & Jennings, P. A. (2012). Mindfulness training and teachers’ professional development: An emerging area of research and practice. Child Development Perspectives, 6(2), 167–173. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00238.x

Shapiro, S. L., Brown, K. W., & Biegel, G. M. (2007). Teaching self-care to caregivers: Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on the mental health of therapists in training. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 1(2), 105–115. doi:10.1037/1931-3918.1.2.105

Retrieved From

Lopez, Paula Gill. (2016, December). Self-Care: The Missing Link in Best Practice – Part II. NASP Communiqué, 45(4).

#FairfieldU #gseap #psychology #self-care #ethics #burnout

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fairfieldart · 8 years

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Today Art History Professor Katherine Schwab and Fairfield University President Fr. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J. hosted Dr. Konstantinos Koutras, the new Consul General of Greece to NYC.

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fairfielduam · 1 year

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Direct from the Director Spring 2023

Spring has sprung, and we have a new exhibition opening this Thursday in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries to celebrate the new season! In Their Element(s): Women Artists Across Media is a landmark exhibition that is the 1st in the museum's history to have been solo-curated by a student, Phoebe Charpentier '23, the 1st to feature recent acquisitions to the collection, and one that marks our 1st collaboration with the Westport Town Permanent Art Collection (WestPAC) which kindly lent 7 artworks.

I am particularly proud of this exhibition because it reflects some of the work we have accomplished during my tenure as museum director in terms of diversifying the collection (both through donations and through purchases from the Black Art Fund, which we created in 2020). In Their Element(s) is quite truly a show of recent acquisitions, as all of the works in this exhibition were donated or purchased since I became the director in 2019. Our student curator chose to focus on work by women artists, and we now have over 360 works by women in the collection from which she was able to choose. We acquired 42 works by women just in the last year! Work by women artists now makes up about 13% of our collection of over 2600 objects – an improvement from where we started, at less than 10%, but we know we still have a long way to go.

You may wonder how we acquire artworks for the museum, so I thought I would take this opportunity to provide some brief insight into the process. As a young museum, just in our 13th year, we do not yet have an acquisitions budget or fund, except for the small Black Art Fund, which we have used to purchase 34 works to date (of which 15 are by women). All other artworks acquired by the Museum come to us as donations or bequests through planned giving; most are solicited, but some come unsolicited from a variety of sources including University alumni, local collectors, artists and dealers. Solicited gifts are specific artworks that we ask people if they would consider gifting to the museum – these are objects that we know will fit into our collecting goals and plans. Some of these sources include Museum Exchange, artist foundations and estates, living artists, and collectors with whom we have close relationships. All donations (accessions) of artwork to the museum's collection must be approved first by me and then by the Museum's Collections Committee to ensure that they meet all of our Collections Plan criteria. Our Collections Committee is comprised of collectors, artists, and museum and gallery professionals, many of who are alumni.

As a young academic art museum, we are committed to assembling a collection that is broadly diverse and representative of the lived experience of the many communities that use our museum. As we continue to thoughtfully grow our collection, we increase the opportunities for object-centered learning, both in the study of individual artworks, in class-specific sessions for undergraduates and Art in Focus session in the galleries led by our Curator of Education and Academic Engagement, and in exhibitions such as this one. I hope that if you have a museum-quality artwork that would augment our collection you will consider donating it or making a bequest to the museum so that it can become a part of our teaching mission.

I would like to end with a quick preview of our fall 2023 exhibition. Both of our galleries will be dedicated to the work of Polish Jewish artist Arthur Szyk (1894-1951), in a remarkable exhibition created by the Magnes Collection for Jewish Art and Culture, at UC Berkeley, and now on view at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. At Fairfield, Dr. Philip Eliasoph is the exhibition coordinator, and will be presenting the opening night lecture. I know it seems far away, but we are hard at work readying a fantastic experience for you that will open in late September, with lots of exciting programming. Please take the time to read about it on the exhibition website.

The Women's Rights Are Human Rights international poster exhibition was extended through July 1, so also please don't miss the chance to see it in the Walsh Gallery, if you have not already done so.

Wishing you a lovely art-filled spring. I hope to see you in the galleries.

Artfully yours, Carey

Captions: Lucy Sallick, Studio Floor Still Life #4, 1975. Oil on canvas. Lent by Westport Public Art Collections, 530. Bicentennial Trust for Westport Art, 1976-1978. © Lucy Sallick Sonya Clark, Afro Blue Matter, 2017. Offset lithograph on paper. Edition 38/70. Partial gift of the Brandywine Workshop and Archives and Museum Purchase with funds from the Black Art Fund, 2022 (2022.17.10) © Sonya Clark Miriam Schapiro, Shrine, 1962. Oil on canvas. Gift of Charles P. Regensberg, 1991. (2022.36.01) © 2023 Estate of Miriam Schapiro/ Artist's Rights Society (ARS), New York Arthur Szyk, Thomas Jefferson's Oath, watercolor, gouache, ink and colored pencil on board. Courtesy of Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley Nancy Hom, Catalina’s World, 2011 © Nancy Hom

#fairfieldu #museum #fairfield university #lucysallick #sonyaclark #arthurszyk #miriamschapiro #nancyhom

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cascornerfairfieldu-blog · 6 years

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What’s Happening in Social Sciences?

Social scientists study societies and the relationships of individuals within them. Here, at Fairfield, this is often done with an eye toward identifying injustice and working to improve people’s lives. In the Departments of Communication, Economics, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology & Anthropology, our faculty are engaged in world-class, innovative, exciting research.

Psychology students are studying how cognitive risk factors impact suicide in Dr. David Hollingsworth’s lab, and how social cognition and childhood trauma impact intimate partner violence in college dating relationships in my lab. Others are investigating how animal models can be used to evaluate treatments for autism with Dr. Shannon Harding. Students learn how positive and negative emotions impact relationships with Dr. Michael Andreychik, and how technology can influence our memories with Dr. Linda Henkel. Many of these students will be presenting this work along with their faculty mentors around the country and regional, national, and international conferences. For example, Jennifer Mezzapelle, just found out that her senior honors thesis was accepted for at the Psi Chi student journal, and Chelsea Salvatore won a prestigious travel award to present at The Society for Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science.

In the Politics Department, Dr. Gayle Alberda is a nationally recognized scholar who is participating in a national Election Day Field Research Project in 2018. With Dr. Marc LeClair, she co-founded the MPA Summit – an annual public forum held every spring at Fairfield— that brings citizens, state and local leaders together to discuss critical social and political issues facing Connecticut. She has also helped create and implement Ready to Run CT, a one-day workshop designed to empower women to become active participants in Connecticut’s political process.

New books are also hitting the presses and making an impact. Dr. Gwen Alphonso, Polarized Families, Polarized Parties: Contesting Values and Economics in American Politics, portrays a century-long battle for the power to define the meaning, function, and purpose of the family—a Manichean struggle that animates the raw and disruptive partisanship of our political time. Dr. Kevin Cassidy is finishing a book manuscript, Beyond the Good Friday Agreement: How Former Enemies are Building Peace and Working Class Power In Northern Ireland.

Other faculty in the Social Sciences are contributing to their fields on the national stage. Dr. David Downie will attend the Second Conference of Parties to the Minimata Convention on Mercury during which he will contribute to the official UN report on the content and result of these important negotiations. And Dr. Janie Leatherman will offer her innovative and path-breaking course, United Nations Security Council Crisis Simulation, giving students a hands-on learning experience in world diversity by simulating a United Nations Security Council crisis in international peace and security. Dr. Rachelle J. Brunn-Bevel of Sociology & Anthropology is examining how students’ race, ethnicity, class, gender, and immigrant status intersect to influence their educational experiences and outcomes. And Dr. Annemarie Iddins studies transnational media industries and cultural politics in the Maghreb and its diaspora. Among the most popular undergraduate courses, Dr. Maggie Wills is offering her groundbreaking and well received alcohol course this fall.

As this brief survey highlights, our social science faculty have been active researchers and publishers in their fields, and many of their projects involve student co-authors and contributors. To date, they have authored or co-authored 41 peer-reviewed journal articles and 14 book chapters, we have given 67 conference presentations and 31 invited talks or exhibits. It’s a very exciting time in the School of Social Sciences!

#FairfieldU #FairfieldCAS

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fairfieldutech · 6 years

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Here is some motivation to kick start your Monday morning #motivationmonday #its4u #fairfieldu

#its4u #motivationmonday #fairfieldu

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bellarminemuseum · 6 years

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Direct from the Director, Spring 2018

Art is life-enhancing, to paraphrase the maxim coined by the celebrated connoisseur of Italian Renaissance art, Bernard Berenson. Museums around the world embrace and affirm that premise by presenting to the public works of art from myriad cultures and time periods in permanent gallery displays and special exhibitions. This spring at the Fairfield University Art Museum, an extraordinary group of dazzling and historically significant works of Italian Baroque art are on view in our landmark exhibition The Holy Name. Art of the Gesù: Bernini and his Age. Headlined by a portrait bust by the great Gian Lorenzo Bernini of the towering Jesuit theologian Roberto Bellarmino (patron saint of Fairfield University)—known in his day as the “Hammer of the Heretics” for his steadfast defense of the church and the pope against all challengers—the exhibition recounts the epic first century of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in Rome and its glorious mother church, the Gesù, strategically sited in the very center of the city. Bernini’s sculpture, which has never before left Rome, is one of five great artistic treasures lent by the church itself, which have thrilled thousands of visitors to the museum these past months. You have until May 19, when the exhibition closes, to experience for yourself just how life-enhancing great art can be.

Art can also function as a universal language—a mode of expression and communication that transcends barriers of language and culture. That is the premise informing the striking and monumental series of prints by renowned contemporary South African artist William Kentridge, Universal Archive, on view in the museum’s Walsh Gallery, also through May 19.

And finally, among the many roles it plays in contemporary society, art can also provide avenues of conversation and reflection about challenging, disturbing, polarizing and inflammatory subjects. One such subject confronting the country today is gun violence. The charged debate it fuels is the impetus behind the powerful exhibition #UNLOAD: Guns in the Hands of Artists—our upcoming exhibition in the Walsh Gallery, opening on the evening of May 31 and on view through October 12. As always, we are offering a rich roster of programming. Like the exhibition, the many lectures, conversations and other events, free and open to all, will serve to promote community engagement with the galvanizing and disturbing reality of gun violence in America.

I look forward to seeing you in the galleries!

Artfully yours,

Linda

Image: William Kentridge: Universal Archive at the Walsh Gallery, 2018.

#FUAM #baroque #bernini #fairfieldu #kentridge #unload #rome #museum

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fairfieldustudyabroad · 7 years

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Hannah ('19) checks in from Madrid!

Greetings Stags! Sending a big “Hola” from Madrid! I have been abroad for a little over a week now and I cannot express enough how much I am enjoying myself. I am currently enrolled in a Spanish Language and Culture Program at Comillas Pontifical and I am loving every second of it. Who would have guessed “summer school’ would be so desirable?

Being that I am the only Fairfield student in this program, I was beyond nervous as to what I should expect once in Spain. However, I see now that there was truly nothing to worry about. My classes consist of 18 students from around the United States and Canada. There is even one student from Brazil! That being said, there are also several other American students studying in different programs at Comillas as well. The environment is so friendly and welcoming that I cannot help but feel at home even in this short time period.

Walk to Comillas (above)

Gran Via (above)

As for daily life as a student at Comillas, my classes are going very well. While I have found the majority of the material to be a review of an Intermediate Level at Fairfield with a new spin: real life scenarios. The program consists of two classes, the first which is at 9am, is solely grammar. However, it’s way more exciting than I thought it would be. Our professor loves to act out scenarios and draw in a lot of current events. Around 11am, we’re dismissed for a brief 30-minute break where I have found to be the best time to cross the street for (dare I say it) the most delicious cappuccino. After I’ve had my caffeine fix, I walk back to class at 11:30. This class consists of the culture portion of the program. The professor is one of the most captivating women I have ever encountered. It is here that we discuss anything and everything that is Madrid; museums, parks, restaurants, where to get the best ice cream, you name it! Following the cultural portion, we are dismissed for lunch around 1pm and typically have a free afternoon. However, some days, for example, Wednesdays, the class attends a museum which entails a guided tour by our culture professor. For the days when there are no designated activities, my classmates and I have made it our mission to see all the key spots of Madrid. This is a schedule that is pretty regular for Mondays through Thursdays. And lastly, Fridays and the weekends are designated times travel both in or outside of Madrid!

Toledo

One key take-away I have learned this far is, be ready to jump outside your comfort zone. It has definitely been adjustment adapting to the differences between Spain and the United States. But not only that, it’s be quite the adventure learning and practicing a completely different language. I cannot think of a better way to do so than to taking the big leap and making the mistakes that are bound to happen. The best part is all the laughs and friends you make out of it. My host mother speaks absolutely no English, and yes that was in fact a bit tiresome when overcoming the jetlag the first few days. That being said, I cannot say it enough! Living with a host family will not only improve your Spanish skills, but it also just makes everything a little bit easier handle. It’s also one more familiar face to know.

I cannot begin to put into words how happy I am to be in Madrid. I have already seen so many things and done so much that I cannot even imagine how it could surpass this. But it definitely will, and I cannot wait to continue this adventure!!

#hannah #madrid #fairfieldabroad #fairfieldu #comillas #fairfieldsummerabroad

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gseap · 7 years

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Self-Care: The Missing Link in Best Practice – Part I

By Paula Gill Lopez

“Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” — Eleanor Brownn

Several years ago, something happened that changed the way I think about school psychology and how I train school psychologists. During a break at a PREPaRE workshop, a school psychologist working at a middle school approached me. He shared that while I was defining trauma and crisis, he realized that his entire school staff was currently traumatized and in crisis as a result of all the recent emphases on the Common Core, standardized testing, and personnel evaluations. His words touched a chord in me and I reflected deeply on what he said.

Similarly, I have more than once heard from former students who lament the fact that they did not know that their lives as school psychologists would be so stressful. The defeat in their voices made me wonder if there was more I could do to prepare them.

This work describes a journey I have undertaken that has revealed a detrimental omission in the way we train and practice as school psychologists. The good news is that steps can be taken to remediate the omission and a whole new generation of school psychologists can learn how to protect themselves against burnout and, more fundamentally, care for themselves in proactive, healthy ways.

The Ethical Mandate For Self-Care

Self-care is an ethical imperative of the utmost importance. For the purpose of this discussion, this claim is supported from three perspectives: (a) ethical codes, (b) burnout literature, and (c) neuroscientific research on the development of the prefrontal cortex; followed by a brief description of global self-care intervention.

The conversation begins in the field of ethics itself. Regardless of the field of practice, the universal ethical principle across all professions is do no harm. Specifically, “School psychologists have a legal as well as an ethical obligation to take steps to protect all students from reasonably foreseeable risk of harm” (NASP, 2010, p. 2).

Several authors writing in the area of clinical psychology have urged us to “[b]egin self-care at the top” (Norcross & Guy, 2013, p. 752) by petitioning professional associations to explicitly include self-care in their ethics, accreditation standards, and beyond (Barnett, Baker, Elman, & Schoener, 2007; Norcross & Guy, 2013, Wise, Hersh, & Gibson, 2012).

The NASP Principles for Professional Ethics (NASP, 2010) hold school psychologists to the highest standards. Yet, noticeably absent is any explicit mention of self-care in service of that high calling. The same omission is found in the American Psychological Association Ethics Code (APA, 2002). However, self-care is implied in both documents where they highlight the importance of psychologists, in their words and actions, demonstrating respect for and a commitment to just and fair treatment of all individuals with whom they work (APA, 2002; NASP, 2010).

Jacob, Decker, and Hartshorne (2011) criticize ethical codes “because they tend to be reactive” (p. 3). Take, for instance, Standard II.1.3:

School psychologists refrain from any activity in which their personal problems may interfere with professional effectiveness. They seek assistance when personal problems threaten to compromise their professional effectiveness. (NASP, 2010) Although self-care is necessary to ameliorate one's “personal problems,” in a field that has prevention as one of its 10 prioritized domains, proactive self-care should be one of the ethical standards in its own right. In the same way that mental health is much more than the absence of mental illness, nurturing positive emotional states through self-care is not the same as alleviating harmful disruptive emotional states after the fact.

There is precedent for including self-care proactively in ethical codes in an attempt to avoid personal problems. The American Counseling Association's Code of Ethics (ACA, 2014) names self-care as an ethical requirement, as does the Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics. See the relevant excerpts below:

IV. Therapist Accountability

E. A feminist therapist engages in self-care activities in an ongoing manner outside the work setting. She recognizes her own needs and vulnerabilities as well as the unique stresses inherent in this work. She demonstrates an ability to establish boundaries with the client that are healthy for both of them. She also is willing to self-nurture in appropriate and self-empowering ways. (Feminist Therapy Institute, Inc., 1999)Section C. Professional Responsibility – Introduction

[C]ounselors engage in self-care activities to maintain and promote their own emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being to best meet their professional responsibilities. (ACA, 2014, p. 8) Additionally, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2010) mandates that school counselors “practice wellness” for optimal ethical practice.

E. Responsibilities to Self

E.1 Professional Competence

Professional school counselors ... E.1.b. Monitor emotional and physical health and practice wellness to ensure optimal effectiveness. (ASCA, 2010). Jacob et al. (2011) define ethics as a “system of principles of conduct that guide the behavior of an individual” (p. 1). We require school psychologists to employ best practice; to accomplish this they must be at their absolute best. If this is true, it follows that one of the principles of conduct that guides behavior in the field of school psychology without question must be to proactively practice self-care.

Burnout

Is it really necessary to legislate self-care? The answer is a resounding yes. There is an epidemic of stress in our society today and working in schools can be the epitome of stressful, especially in the current climate. Stress that is not mitigated effectively can lead to burnout. Those who practice in the mental health field have very high burnout rates due to the stressful nature of the work (Barnett et al., 2007; Shapiro, Brown, & Biegel, 2007; Wise et al., 2012). Moreover, school psychologists may have the highest burnout rates among all helping professionals (Burden, 1988; Huebner, Gilligan, & Cobb, 2002; Wise, 1985). Perhaps, this is due in part to the fact that “psychologists employed by the schools may have less control over aspects of service delivery than practitioners in private practice” (NASP, 2010, p. 2).

According to Maslach, burnout is defined as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity” (Maslach, 1986, p. 61). Emotional exhaustion develops when work demands exceed personal resources, resulting in weariness to the point of no longer caring. Depersonalization happens as a consequence of not seeing people as people any longer but, instead, as problems to fix. Perceptions of reduced personal accomplishment foster a learned helplessness of sorts—the realization that no matter how hard one tries, nothing makes a difference. Maslach and Leiter (1997) cite work variables that can lead to burnout: work overload, lack of control, insufficient reward, unfair treatment, breakdown of community, values conflict, and lack of fit between the person and the job. There is a strong likelihood that anyone who works in schools has experienced at least one of these work variables at some point in their career.

To counteract the negative mental health effects of stress and burnout, practitioners must take care of themselves before they can care for others; otherwise, those with whom they work may be put at risk. “Poor therapist self-care is associated with increased personal vulnerability, reduced self-monitoring, poorer judgment, and, as a result, greater ethical breaches” (Keith-Spiegel & Koocher, 1985 as cited in Porter, 1995, p. 248). In contrast, characteristics of a healthy fully engaged worker are: energetic, involved, and efficacious (Maslach & Leiter, 2008). These characteristics can be cultivated through self-care.

Wityk (2003) maintains, “Self-care is one of the primary methods of preventing and treating therapist burnout” (p. 5). Furthermore, when discussing the sometimes seemingly insurmountable stressors psychologists face that can lead to burnout, Barnett pleads, “[W]e must engage in active attempts to effectively manage these challenges and demands through ongoing self-care efforts. Failure to do so may result in harm to our clients, our profession, ourselves, and others in our lives” (Barnett et al., 2007, p. 603).

In the literature on burnout prevention in mental health professionals, several authors address preservice interventions. The importance of emphasizing and practicing self-care in preservice training programs increases the odds that self-care will be practiced in service (Barnett et al., 2007; Bamonti et al., 2014; Heubner et al., 2002; Newell & MacNeil, 2010; Shapiro et al., 2007).

One way this can be done is through the modeling of wellness, stress management, and personal growth by faculty (Heubner et al., 2002). Self-care facilitates these positive psychological states. If self-care figures so prominently at the training level for protecting against practitioner burnout, shouldn't it be included in training standards?

At least one helping profession agrees. Section 2.F.1.l. of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) states “self-care strategies appropriate to the counselor role” must be included in the training curriculum included in Area 1. Professional Counseling Orientation and Ethical Practice (Retrieved from http://www.cacrep.org/section-2-professional-counseling-identity).

To address concerns about maintaining well-being and practicing effectively given the current stressful educational landscape, I resolved to promote self-care to members of my community (inside and outside the university). My efforts to promote self-care and subsequent outcomes will be described in Part 2 of this article published in next month's issue of Communiqué.

References

American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code

American School Counselor Association. (2010). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016Draft.pdf

Bamonti, P. M., Keelan, C. M., Larson, N., Mentrikoski, J. M., Randall, C. L., Sly, S. K., ... McNeil, D. W. (2014). Promoting ethical behavior by cultivating a culture of self-care during graduate training: A call to action. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 8(4), 253–260. doi:10.1037/tep0000056

Barnett, J. E., Baker, E. K., Elman, N. S., & Schoener, G. R. (2007). In pursuit of wellness: The self-careimperative. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38(6), 603–612. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.38.6.603

Burden, R. L. (1988). Stress and the school psychologist: A comparison of potential stressors in the professional lives of school psychologists in three continents. School Psychology International, 9(1), 55–59. doi:10.1177/0143034388091009

Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Section 2: Professional counseling identity. Retrieved from http://www.cacrep.org/section-2-professional-counseling-identity

Feminist Therapy Institute, Inc. (1999). Feminist Therapy Institute code of ethics (Revised, 1999). Retrieved from http://chrysaliscounseling.org/feminist-therapy-ii.html

Huebner, E. S., Gilligan, T. D., & Cobb, H. (2002). Best practices in preventing and managing stress and burnout. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology IV (pp. 173–182). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists. Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/resources/intonline/12-Huebner.pdf

Jacob, S., Decker, D. M., & Hartshorne, T. S. (2011). Ethics and law for school psychologists (6th ed.). United Kingdom: Wiley.

Maslach, C. (1986). Stress, burnout, and alcoholism. In R. R. Kilburg, P. E. Nathan, & R. W. Thoreson (Eds.) Professionals in distress: Issues, Syndromes and solutions in psychology (pp. 53–76). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2008). Early predictors of job burnout and engagement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(3), 498–512. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.498

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (1997). The truth about burnout. San Francsico, CA: Jossey-Bass.

National Association of School Psychologists. (2010). Principles for professional ethics. Retrieved from https://www.nasponline.org/Documents/Standards and Certification/Standards/1_ Ethical Principles.pdf

Newell, J. M., & MacNeil, G. A. (2010). Professional burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue: A review of theoretical terms, risk factors, and preventive methods for clinicians and researchers. Best Practices in Mental Health, 6(2), 57–68.

Norcross, J. C., & Guy, J. D. (2013). Psychotherapy self-care checklist. In G. P. Koocher, J. C. Norcross, & B. A. Greene (Eds.), Psychologist's desk reference (pp. 745–758). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Porter, N. (1995). Therapist's self-care: A proactive ethical approach. In E. J. Rave & C. C. Larsen (Eds.) Ethical decision making in therapy: Feminist perspectives (pp. 247–266). New York, NY: Guilford.

Wise, P. S. (1985). School psychologists' rankings of stressful events. Journal of School Psychology, 23(1), 31–41. doi:10.1016/0022-4405(85)90032-9

Wise, E. H., Hersh, M. A., & Gibson, C. M. (2012). Ethics, self-care and well-being for psychologists: Reenvisioning the stress-distress continuum. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 43(5), 487–494. doi:10.1037/a0029446

Wityk, T. L. (2003). Burnout and the ethics of self-care for therapists. Alberta Counsellor, 28(1), 4–11.

Retrieved From

Lopez, Paula Gill. (2016, December). Self-Care: The Missing Link in Best Practice – Part I. NASP Communiqué, 45(4).

#FairfieldU #gseap #psychology #self-care #ethics #burnout

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