Providence, R.I.--Eight Providence College faculty members from eight different disciplines wrapped up the third year of the College's Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar (IFS) with a roundtable discussion on Monday, April 27.

Sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs and the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), the IFS is a collaborative teaching and learning experience that brings together faculty members from several disciplines. Participants devote an entire semester to the multidimensional study of a particular theme.

Chosen through an application and selection process, each IFS faculty participant leads one seminar during the semester, assigning readings in advance. This year's theme was "Are We Free?" Previous seminars examined "Being Human" (Spring 2007) and "Color" (Spring 2008).

Nearly 30 faculty members, including the IFS participants, attended the recent roundtable program in the CTE lounge in the Feinstein Academic Center. In a spirited dialogue, faculty members presented personal viewpoints and reacted to colleagues' perspectives in three areas: the concept of freedom as it pertains to the good of human nature, how communities shape individual identities and vice-versa, and the concept of knowledge as freedom.

Dr. Laurie L. Grupp, associate professor of education and director of the CTE, opened the program by thanking this year's IFS participants for their hard work and commitment.

Also expressing gratitude was Dr. Hugh F. Lena, vice president for academic affairs, who pointed out that 23 faculty members from 15 disciplines have taken part in the seminar in its first three years. "These seminars provoke important questions we should all ask ourselves," Lena said to the audience.

Coordinator underscores IFS value
This year's seminar coordinator, Dr. Deborah J. Johnson, professor of art history and of women's studies, called the IFS an "enormously impactful experience" for her colleagues and her. The seminar was impressionable on two levels, she said.

From a "concrete" standpoint, Johnson said the IFS was a boon to academic scholarship for faculty and their students. "We exposed ourselves to others' methods and ideas, and these creep into the classroom. More than ever, our classrooms are reflecting new scholarship and expanded approaches to our subject matter," she stated.

Johnson pointed out that, as a result of the seminar, two participants will collaborate to teach an honors seminar in the fall 2009 semester on this year's seminar theme. Dr. Dana L. Dillon, assistant professor of theology, and Dr. William E. Hudson, professor of political science and director of the Public Administration Program, will lead the seminar, and all of the IFS faculty will participate.

She also noted that one of the IFS participants has submitted a conference paper on the seminar theme and two others have applied for research grants.

A more subtle, yet rewarding, outcome of the seminar was the development of a sense of "community," said Johnson.

"It was a learning community; we learned what it is like to be a student again," she said. "We had three hours a week, unfettered, to talk, to discuss readings and philosophies. This was a dream come true."

In addition to Johnson, Dillon, and Hudson, the other IFS participants this spring were Dr. Christopher Arroyo, assistant professor of philosophy; Dr. Maia F. Bailey, assistant professor of biology; Dr. Lydia M. Barovero, assistant professor of Spanish; Dr. Anthony M. Esolen, professor of English; and Dr. Robert B. Hackey, professor of health policy and management.

Previous presentations
The roundtable discussion represented the seminar's third major presentation of the spring semester. In March, Hackey presented the seminar's first-ever open forum on his IFS project, "A Free Market Cure? Competing Perspectives on Choice and Competition in Health Care."

The intent of the open forum was to give faculty and other members of the College community an inside look into the format and dialogue of individual seminar presentations.

The second major event was the annual guest scholar presentation on April 6. Dr. William T. Cavanaugh, professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., spoke to an audience of approximately 160 students and faculty on "The Unfreedom of the Free Market."

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