About the Course
Class Inspiration
This course emerged from a mismatch between an idea found in the Catholic tradition and the “negative contrast experience” of our students. On one hand, the Catholic account of virtue ethics suggests that hope is essential for human flourishing. On the other hand, today’s students find themselves facing feelings of hopelessness more than any generation before them.
The Nourishing Hope course directly addresses this tension. By exploring both the dark side of hope and the promise of hope as a virtue, the course grapples with the role of hope in human flourishing. It also uses research in virtue ethics to help students grasp the true nature of hope. Finally, recognizing the Jesuits’ prioritization of “journeying with youth…in the creation of a hope-filled future,” the course includes a “hope lab” that allows students to experiment with the practices that can counteract hopelessness in their lives.
When it succeeds, the course is not merely a class about hope, but one that helps enact hope in the world today.
Class Features
In addition to the signature “hope toolkit” assignment, Companion Groups give the Nourishing Hope course its distinctive identity. Modeled on the group of “companions” (and fellow classmates) who joined St. Ignatius to become the first Jesuits , these small groups meet once per week to discuss the implications of ideas for real life. Led by trained peers, the Companion Groups form students to initiate and sustain compelling conversations about what matters most in life. Just as important, Companion Groups allow students to forge new bonds that serve as a source of hope in a time of loneliness and isolation.
Class Goals
Marquette Core 4929 Learning Goals
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Articulate their own overarching commitment(s) to values transcending self-interest in order to define their post-graduate plans in vocational terms.
- Apply different methods of inquiry to analyze a social problem affecting the local or global community.
- Use the tools of discernment to evaluate personal and social decisions in light of the implications for diverse communities and the common good.
Signature Course (SC) Learning Goals
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Define a personal vision of hope as a component of flourishing, using resources from the Christian theological tradition and contemporary sources.
- Analyze the experiences of exemplars of hope to refine their personal definition of hope as a component of flourishing.
- Design concrete practices for cultivating hope in the face of reasons for hopelessness.
Student Growth (SG) Learning Goals
By the end of this course students will have:
- A stronger spirit of hopefulness for the future.
- More confidence in their own conversation skills.
- A deeper sense of belonging and improved social connection.
- A way to recapture hopefulness when feelings of hopelessness threaten to overwhelm them.
Class Design
The creation of this class was supported by a Signature Course Fellowship at Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethics and the Common Good.