Inspiration comes from many sources. 

In my as a part of the 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences community, including as Dean since July, I鈥檝e seen firsthand the inspiring work being done in our community.

I鈥檝e attended fascinating lectures and panels featuring our terrific faculty and students, sat in on a First-Year Seminar class and met Hoyas from all around the world who take pride in our scholars and our commitments to the values of a liberal arts education. I鈥檓 grateful for the energy of our 海角论坛 community and am constantly reminded of the impact we have. 

The Hoyas featured in our Fall 2025 Digital Magazine exemplify some of the best in the 海角论坛 and at Georgetown.  

In a new Ignatius Seminar for first-year students, How to Make a Decision, Fr. Peter Folan, S.J. teaches students to make decisions with greater awareness and purpose. Students in the Social Responsibility Network visited Shepherdstown, West Virginia this fall to learn about the social impact work happening there.聽

The journeys of two of our newest faculty members 鈥� Richard Desinord in the Department of Performing Arts and Liza Offreda in the disability studies program 鈥� serve as a reminder of the importance of teachers and the power of storytelling.

We also found inspiration from Maddi Niebanck (C鈥�17). Less than two weeks after graduating from Georgetown, Niebanck had a stroke. Since then, she has written two books and built a platform to advocate for other stroke survivors.聽

Our Hoyas are true representatives of our Jesuit values, and I hope you find them as inspirational as I do.

Hoya Saxa,

David M. Edelstein, Ph.D.
Dean, 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences
Professor of International Affairs & Government
Georgetown University

And that cutting off 鈥� the Latin word caedere, the root of 鈥渄ecision,鈥� means 鈥渢o cut鈥� 鈥� can be hard.

When I face a decision, I try to approach it in three stages, and during each, I pose to myself a series of questions and challenges to help me proceed as soundly as possible. Like the rest of us, I can make poor decisions; I can skip stages, questions and challenges, either intentionally or unwittingly; and I can be dissatisfied with the outcome of a decision, even when I make a 鈥済ood鈥� decision, that is, one that adheres to the following process. 

Stage One: The Conditions

No decision appears out of thin air. The circumstances of our lives and our worlds converge, and at some point out come the scissors to start cutting. I find that attending to three conditions underlying a decision is especially worthwhile.

How do I want to spend the time I have to make this decision? You may be the sort to want decisions on and off the table as quickly as possible, or the sort who waits until the very last moment to make a decision. Most of the time, you probably join me in being somewhere in the middle.

What is important to me? This is a question of values, only some of which will come into play in a given decision. Choosing between a cappuccino and a macchiato prioritizes the value of taste and pays no mind to the value of what one thinks it means to live a good life. Choosing between career paths should do the opposite. The most complex decisions we make will touch on a variety of our values. We do well to identify those values and weigh them, not with the goal of producing a ranked list, but in order to discover what is of great, and even greatest, importance to us.

What are my options? You own only so many shirts, and you know only so many people who could be a potential spouse or friend. The options before you in almost any decision are limited, and it is advantageous to identify as many of them as is reasonably possible. No, you cannot meet every person in the world before locking arms with one, but you can look at every shirt in your closet. When you are making a decision, devote time to unearthing the options before you, including options that might be hidden at first. Even though you are told to choose between  x and y, perhaps there is a z yet to be revealed or created.

Stage Two: The Making

Once the conditions become clear 鈥� and, note, they can shift throughout the decision-making process 鈥� I move from asking questions to presenting myself with some challenges. Two of them are vital.

Have some conversations. I try to find the Goldilocks zone between the extremes of crowd-sourcing my decisions (everyone but me has a say) and making them in total isolation (no one but me has a say). The sorts of voices I need to hear to empower me to make decisions in my life, especially major decisions, are varied: friends, family, mentors, wisdom figures and experts are just a handful of them. The two voices that I always strain hardest to hear are my own and God鈥檚. Neither comes to me in an auditory event, but both, if I give them time, well up in unmistakably clear ways.

Execute a decision. I can articulate this challenge even more briefly: cut! Many people find choosing a way forward, and as a result, leaving any number of ways behind, the single most challenging aspect of making a decision. They have good reason to think this way, especially when a decision is of a 鈥渙ne way鈥� nature, that is, I cannot undo it without great cost, time or effort. When I come to the moment of execution, I try to remind myself that I have taken seriously the conditions surrounding and listened carefully during the conversations informing my decision. And then I cut, sometimes nervously.

Stage Three: The Aftermath

All done, right? If we are talking about deciding between a turkey or tuna sandwich, yes, but for the more consequential decisions, no. A challenge and a question remain.

Live into the decision. Once I make a decision, especially an important one, I try to put it behind me and follow out its implications without immediately second-guessing myself. If my decision is to run a marathon, then I need to start training for those 26.2 grueling miles. Muscle soreness after the first few practice runs does not mean I decided poorly. If my decision is to become a physician, then I need to start studying my natural sciences. Earning a C on an organic chemistry exam does not mean I made a mistake. The fruits of an executed decision often require our work and our patience to mature. 

Do I want to reconsider my decision? There are, of course, decisions whose hoped-for fruits will not blossom, no matter how much work, no matter how much patience you devote to living into them. At some point, you might have to reconsider a decision, even a 鈥渙ne way鈥� decision, and return to the beginning of this process. When is the time to do that? Identifying that moment is more art than science, but there is a guiding question I have for myself when I suspect that I am approaching that moment: Is my decision integrating the various parts of me to help me become someone of depth and meaning, or is it disintegrating those parts and making me superficial and shallow? If I am walking the path of disintegration, it is time to find another path. 

Fine Tune Your Decision-Making

鈥淢easure twice, cut once.鈥� 

This maxim of tailors and carpenters ought to be the mantra of our decision making too. Measuring carefully, that is, following a process of decision making like the one I have articulated here, does not guarantee that each of our cuts, each of our decisions, will have perfect results. No process can do that. These three stages, though, reveal the component parts of decision making and allow you to fine-tune them so that you make the decisions of your day, of your life, with greater awareness and purpose.

Fr. Peter Folan, S.J. is an assistant professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies.

Her award-winning book, Unequal City: Race, Schools, and Perceptions of Injustice, examines how racial identity, neighborhood and school environments can shape young people鈥檚 understanding of themselves and their place in society. 

Shedd shares the books that have influenced her teaching and continue to inspire her.

What is a book that everyone should read?

Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins (1990) 

This book is a North Star for those seeking a model of how to use their unique biographies to generate and test foundational theoretical perspectives 鈥� 鈥渋ntersectionality鈥� is Collins鈥� concept 鈥� and it is a perfect example of the 鈥渟ociological imagination鈥� we seek to ignite in our sociology students. Similar to the literary strategy of another shero of mine, Toni Morrison, Collins moves an often marginalized group, Black women, to the center of rigorous theoretical and empirical analysis. Everyone could benefit from the insights and analyses she offers in this work.

What is a book that you revisit every year?

The Supreme Court, Race, and Civil Rights by Abraham L. Davis and Barbara Luck Graham (1995)

This book has been with me for over twenty-five years, usually on my shelf at home. As an undergrad, I was a junior year domestic exchange student at Spelman 海角论坛, and we were allowed to take classes at other schools in the Atlanta University Center Consortium. I was one of only two female students in Davis鈥� Race and Law class at Morehouse 海角论坛, and this course changed my academic trajectory. 

Davis, who retired after 40 years on the faculty of that all-male institution, would call on me first every class session in his booming baritone: 鈥淢iss Smith 海角论坛, give me the facts of [insert Supreme Court case here]!鈥� He gave me a taste of the pressures and rewards that I now know first-year law students feel while taking Constitutional Law, and it might鈥檝e been a big reason why I decided to pursue a doctorate in sociology instead. I now teach (sans the Socratic Method); this book鈥檚 coverage of landmark Supreme Court Civil Rights Cases is both informative and inspirational in our enduring struggle for equality in this country. 

What is a book that inspired your academic journey?

The Philadelphia Negro by W.E.B. Du Bois (1899) 

This is the book I was assigned my first year of graduate school that modeled how I could merge narratives, statistics and maps to present a fuller picture of sociological phenomena (e.g., my focus on adolescents鈥� educational experiences and contact with the criminal legal system). Although Du Bois has been installed to his proper place in the sociological canon in recent years, he researched and wrote this book while simultaneously navigating: 1.) immense disrespect in academia as the first African-American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University who wasn鈥檛 given a real professorship until he went to Atlanta University; 2.) scrutiny and skepticism from the Black residents of Philadelphia鈥檚 sixth ward whose lives he sought to examine empirically; and 3.) the resultant hesitation from his benefactors to accept Du Bois鈥� explanations of the challenges faced by this population because he connected them to an inequitable environment instead of the respondents鈥� personal failings.

What is the best new book that you’ve read in the past year?

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honor茅e Fannone Jeffers (2021)

I finally read the book this past year. It is a monumental debut work of fiction 鈥� it runs around 800 pages 鈥� by a poet who deftly weaves the life and words of Du Bois into the history, culture and experiences of one American family across centuries. Jeffers that she initially planned for this work to be short beach-read, but the stories just kept coming to her. I see this novel as a beautiful parallel to the non-fiction work I describe above, which is the closest I can get to a beach-read, without guilt. It centers on the central protagonist, Ailey Pearl Garfield, who is educated at a fictionalized HBCU similar to Spelman 海角论坛 and learns about her family and American society in her quest to become a historian. 

What books are you looking forward to reading?

Gardens of Hope: Cultivating Food and the Future in a Post-Disaster by Yuki Kato (2025) and The Undesirable Many: Black Women and Their Struggles against Displacement and Housing Insecurity in the Nation鈥檚 Capital by Rosemary Ndubuizu (2025)

I am super excited about new books by two of my colleagues in the 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences. Gardens of Hope is the final book we鈥檒l read in my Urban Inequality seminar this fall, and I can鈥檛 wait to discuss it with my students. It鈥檚 an account that centers the agency and collective efficacy shown by New Orleans residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This narrative of hope and resilience is just the tone I need for closing out a semester of intense focus on unequal cities. 

The second book, The Undesirable Many, examines Black women鈥檚 tenant activism in DC via a Black feminist materialism framework that I have a feeling will reveal itself as the next iteration of scholarship that furthers the intellectual work of our academic forebears 鈥� Collins and Du Bois 鈥� mentioned above. It just all comes together. 

(All photos by Oxana Ware Photography)

It was May of 2017, and she had just graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in Spanish and justice and peace studies. Niebanck planned to spend the summer relaxing, traveling and enjoying her time with friends before moving to Boston for a job in technology sales. The post-college life she envisioned for herself was just beginning. 

But 10 days after she walked across Healy Lawn as part of the , Niebanck had a stroke during a scheduled brain surgery. She woke up paralyzed on the left side of her body and couldn鈥檛 speak or swallow. Suddenly, Niebanck鈥檚 full-time job became rehabilitation.

鈥淚 had to learn how to walk, how to sit up in a wheelchair, how to speak, how to swallow,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had to do everything all over again.鈥�

Niebanck watched her friends move to different cities, launch their careers and live what seemed like glamorous lives in her mind. The sense of being left behind grew. But conversations with her mentors, including a Georgetown professor, shifted her perspective and gave her a new mantra: Obstacles are opportunities.

In the years since Niebanck鈥檚 stroke, she has published two books 鈥� Fashion Fwd: How Today鈥檚 Culture Shapes Tomorrow鈥檚 Fashion and Fast Fwd: The Fully Recovered Mindset 鈥� and has become a public speaker and advocate for stroke survivors. In 2023, the World Health Organization invited Niebanck to speak about her rehab journey at its in Geneva, Switzerland. 

鈥淲e all experience obstacles in our lives,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about how we respond to it and decide how to turn that into something positive for ourselves and for our communities.鈥�

Finding a Place to Thrive

Niebanck grew up in Chatham, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City, as the oldest of three siblings. 

She knew from a young age that she wanted to study languages, and came to Georgetown because of its and location in Washington, DC. 

鈥淚t just seemed like a place where I could thrive,鈥� Niebanck said. 

At Georgetown, she joined an investment club at Georgetown Collegiate Investors, where she rose to a leadership position. She volunteered as an English language tutor for low-income immigrant families in DC through the and participated in the and . Niebanck also worked as a front desk clerk for the .

In her sophomore year, she became an Entrepreneurship Fellow through the McDonough School of Business. 

鈥淥ne of the things that I loved the most about Georgetown was that everyone was so driven and passionate about something,鈥� Niebanck said. 鈥淚 found it really refreshing that everyone was motivated and hard working and had diverse areas of interest, and we could all collaborate together.鈥�

As a senior, she took the Launching the Venture course with , an adjunct professor in the McDonough School of Business who would become one of her closest and most influential mentors.

Niebanck looked forward to the path she thought lay ahead after graduation. She didn鈥檛 even stress or think about her upcoming brain surgery. 

Since childhood, Niebanck had dealt with migraines, culminating in a series of migraines that lasted more than 20 days during high school. Doctors her with a in the right occipital lobe of her brain. She elected to have brain surgery after college to remove the risk of a potential rupture.

鈥淚n my mind, it was just like, oh, this is just a thing that’s gonna have to happen, and then, you know, I’ll rest for a month, and I’ll be fine,鈥� she said.

鈥榃hat Really Matters鈥�

Before surgery, Niebanck had a pre-operative procedure. It caused a blood clot in her brain that burst, leading to a brain hemorrhage. She was rushed into emergency surgery. 

After her stroke, Niebanck spent 15 days in the intensive care unit, five weeks as an inpatient and two and half years as an outpatient.

Niebanck stayed in touch with Koester after graduation, and during one of their conversations while Niebanck was struggling with the constant physical and cognitive and speech therapy, Koester encouraged her to view the stroke as an opportunity to explore her interests and dive into her passions. 

鈥淗e was like, if you could do anything and work any job, what would you do?鈥� Niebanck said.

For Koester, Niebanck embodies the idea of cura personalis, or care of the whole person, through her willingness and ability to inspire others with her story.

鈥淢addi is one of those people who never sought recognition, but her actions day in and day out brought people hope, joy and lessons for their own journeys,鈥� Koester said. 鈥淚 think what’s amazing about her is she never once let any limitations she faced as a stroke survivor slow her down. In fact, quite the opposite. She was the one who wouldn’t let others slow her down.鈥�

Niebanck describes Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., as another influential figure in her recovery journey. Carnes, the vice president for mission and ministry who taught in Georgetown鈥檚 Department of Government and School of Foreign Service from 2009 to 2024, met Niebanck through her work for CLAS. Carnes said that Niebanck 鈥減oints us to what really matters.鈥�

鈥淪he kept her eyes on what was possible, and this has allowed her to make such amazing progress, and eventually to succeed in her career, and as an author, and in so many other ways,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not the success or the stroke that defines her. It鈥檚 the spirit that beats in her heart and has nourished her to this point, and the way she shares that spirit generously with others.鈥�

Building a Supportive Community

When Koester challenged Niebanck to think of her dream job, she thought back to a self-published fashion magazine 鈥� Passion for Fashion 鈥� she designed in eighth grade. 

On the cover is her younger sister, Bridget, striking a model pose. Colorful headlines coat the page: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 in Style?鈥�, 鈥淎 Day in the Life of Model Bridget Niebanck鈥�, 鈥淔ashion Advice: Just Be Yourself!鈥�

Niebanck鈥檚 first job after her stroke was as a reinsurance underwriter for a Spanish company. But while she was rehabbing, Niebanck reached out to her network and cold emailed people for connections in the fashion industry. This time would eventually lead to her first book, Fashion Fwd, published in 2018, which explored fashion trends and how the fashion landscape was evolving.

鈥淚 interviewed everyone from small business owners to fashion executives to the [former] Washington Post fashion editor Robin Givhan,鈥� Niebanck said.

She also worked for three years as the client relations coordinator for Herm猫s, a French luxury goods company, and is now a marketing manager for Cionic, a biotechnology startup that makes clothing to aid mobility. 

Today, Niebanck lives independently and works full-time in New York City, but still struggles with her vision. She lost half of her peripheral vision on the left side of both of her eyes. She does not drive.

鈥淲hen I鈥檓 walking down the busy streets of New York City, I have to constantly scan and turn my head to make sure I鈥檓 not missing anything,鈥� Niebanck said. 鈥淚 get bumped into all the time.鈥�

For a while, she said, the challenges of her recovery left her dejected and questioning, 鈥淲hat did I do to deserve this?鈥�

But while writing her second book, Fast Fwd, published in 2020, Niebanck started to build a community of stroke survivors. She decided to share her journey with the public in hopes of meeting others with similar stories.

Since then, she has chronicling her experiences and co-hosted a live video every Sunday with another stroke survivor on . Niebanck has also given talks about her journey to college students. 

More recently started hosting , where stroke survivors and caregivers get together in person to 鈥渃onnect with others who share similar experiences and build a supportive community.鈥� Niebanck has hosted four so far, with the first summit taking place in New York City in April 2024 and the most recent in Birmingham, Alabama, this October.

鈥淩eal life events are super impactful for people to be able to connect with the community and meet other people who are like them,鈥� she said.

Embracing New Opportunities

There is a specific moment that Niebanck remembers as an inpatient.

She was walking up and down the hall in the hospital with her cane, trailed by her mother pushing her wheelchair. She passed the rooms of other patients and thought to herself, 鈥淚 am so lucky and fortunate that I have this opportunity to work hard.鈥�

Niebanck credits her family members, friends, New Jersey network, Georgetown community and the people she met in rehab for keeping her motivated. By working on her recovery, she wanted to show herself and her supporters that there is life after a stroke, Niebanck said.

鈥淚 don’t let my disability stop me or hold me back from achieving the things that I want to in my life,鈥� she said. 鈥淥bviously I had a stroke, but I view it as a testament to my resilience and my ability to adapt and overcome and take a different step 鈥� literally and figuratively.鈥�

Niebanck thinks back to when she was on the Hilltop and wants students to remain open minded to opportunities they might not have considered in school. If she hadn鈥檛, Niebanck said, she would never have written one book, let alone two, or become a public speaker and disability advocate. The unexpected things that happen in life aren鈥檛 necessarily an ending, she said. They can also be a new beginning. 

鈥淵our path can change,鈥� Niebanck said. 鈥淚t will change, actually, and that鈥檚 okay.鈥�

His trumpet teacher, a retired member of the United States Marine Band, taught Desinord how to learn scales by providing the first few and then challenging him to figure out the rest based on patterns he saw. It became a game for Desinord.

鈥淚 would sit and I would write out everything,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e only asked me to do the next scale for the next week, but I did all of them. From that point, I was hooked.鈥�

Desinord is now the one teaching others.

This fall, the he joined the 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences as a and an assistant professor of music in the Department of Performing Arts. He will spend his first year researching before teaching music theory courses starting next fall. Desinord鈥檚 current research focuses on harmony and gospel music. 

鈥淏asically, I look at how harmony is used as a communicative tool,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ow it transmits emotions and feelings within a song but also within church services.鈥�

The interdisciplinary nature of the 海角论坛 excites Desinord. He hopes to collaborate with colleagues in philosophy, linguistics and Black studies, among other fields.

鈥淚 look forward to Richard taking advantage of the interconnections within the department and across the university,鈥� said , a professor of music and chair of the Department of Performing Arts. 鈥淗e is poised to produce impactful scholarship that reflects the generosity and collaboration of colleagues here. I also look forward to seeing him develop new intellectual spaces that invite students into his expertise and curiosity, particularly in how he thinks about music theory and race.鈥�

Sources of Inspiration

Desinord was born and raised in DC to Haitian immigrant parents who he calls his 鈥済reatest source of inspiration.鈥�

鈥淭hey exemplified hard work, perseverance and selflessness in pursuit of a better life for our family,鈥� he said.

Midway through elementary school, Desinord and his family moved to Prince George鈥檚 County in Maryland, and he graduated from the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) at Suitland High School. 

It was during his time there that the teaching spark first emerged. By senior year, Desinord鈥檚 music theory teacher had given him opportunities to tutor his peers and lead lessons.

鈥淭hose experiences revealed how rewarding it could be to help others engage with and understand new material, and they solidified my interest in education as a vocation,鈥� Desinord said. 

Teachers have always had a big impact on him, and Desinord marveled at the influence his teachers had over students. 

鈥淚 was really inspired by teachers who really cared about what we were doing, who really emphasized core parts of teaching but also were just really human,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 understood that I was growing in their presence.鈥�

Prior to Georgetown, Desinord served as an assistant professor of music theory at Michigan State University and a lecturer of music theory at Howard University. He also taught music at a public middle school in DC for three years. 

Desinord has a Ph.D. in music theory from the Eastman School of Music, an master’s in music theory from Penn State University and a Bachelor of Music in music education from Howard University. 

At Georgetown, Desinord said he plans to teach courses on Black music, including analysis and the history of gospel and R&B. 

鈥淭hat 鈥榓ha moment,鈥� to watch somebody learn something 鈥� I don鈥檛 care if it鈥檚 me doing it or anyone else 鈥� that moment is really inspiring to see,鈥� Desinord said.

Academic Role Models

There were moments during Desinord鈥檚 academic journey where he doubted himself. 

While flipping through a copy of Music Theory Spectrum, a leading journal in the field of music theory, as an undergraduate, Desinord thought to himself, 鈥淚 cannot do this. I鈥檓 not intelligent enough to do this.鈥�

He explains that part of the reason he felt that way is because he did not see many Black people studying music theory nor many academics in the field studying it from a Black perspective. Desinord鈥檚 professors urged him to keep going.

鈥淚 was fortunate to take classes with Black professors at Howard University in the field who not only modeled exceptional teaching but also encouraged and nurtured my research interests,鈥� he said. 鈥淪eeing them excel in a space where representation is still limited was profoundly inspiring and affirmed my desire to contribute to the discipline in my own way.鈥�

, Desinord wrote for Music Theory Spectrum, and his scholarly work has also appeared in the , and . 

鈥淚 understand the difficulty of looking at a field and seeing how few numbers there are of people like you and how daunting that could feel,鈥� Desinord said. 鈥淎 piece of advice is to not let the scarcity of people like you keep you from doing something. It just takes one.鈥�

鈥淭he stadium exploded,鈥� she said in American Sign Language through an interpreter. 鈥淭he stadium went wild, and everything else just disappeared.鈥� 

Team USA won the match, 4-0, and took home gold 鈥� the first of four gold medals that Offreda would win with the , which has Offreda also won gold at the 2013 Deaflympics and at the Deaf World Cup in 2012 and 2016. She officially retired from competitive soccer in 2016.

Offreda was 鈥渂orn with a soccer ball鈥� at her feet and started playing soccer around age 3, she said. Sports have always been a part of her story.

This fall, Offreda joined the 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences as an assistant teaching professor in the disability studies program. She currently teaches Introduction to Disability Studies and Deaf Culture and Literature. Next semester, she will be teaching Disability in Sports, which will 鈥渃hallenge traditional narratives of ability鈥� and explore how access and representation transforms communities, she said. 

Prior to Georgetown, Offreda served as the head women鈥檚 soccer coach, senior woman administrator and Title IX coordinator for 鈥檚 athletic department, as well as an and a middle school English teacher. 

“We are extremely lucky to have Professor Offreda join Georgetown and the disability studies program,鈥� said , who is the director of the program. 鈥淪he brings a wealth of not only scholarly and lived knowledge, but also leadership.鈥�

Creating an Accessible Space

The disability studies program at Georgetown is one of the first of its kind.

The program was launched in 2017 by English professor and has grown to include a minor, a graduate certificate and now a major. This fall marks the first opportunity for students to declare a major in disability studies. 

In addition to the program, Georgetown鈥檚 Disability Cultural Center (DCC) opened on the ground floor of the New South building in 2023, which is an accessible space for disability cultural events and meetings. 

Georgetown鈥檚 commitment to the community and investment in disability studies attracted Offreda to the university, she said. 

鈥淚 was drawn to the opportunity to contribute to a space where disability is approached as a form of knowledge and culture, not simply as a medical condition,鈥� she said. 

Disability studies is an interdisciplinary field, as much connected to the humanities as it is to sports. The discipline also greatly overlaps with the Jesuit commitment to cura personalis, meaning 鈥渃are of the whole person,鈥� and faith that does justice, said Reynolds. 

“At the core of disability studies is an appreciation that we are complex, embodied creatures that rely upon one another to flourish,鈥� Reynolds said. 鈥淲ithout education, faith and justice, it’s hard to see how one could flourish. In so many ways, [disability studies] and Georgetown are a perfect fit.”

A Love of Storytelling

Offreda is a storyteller, and she incorporates this love for storytelling into her classes. 

Going from teaching, to coaching and then to working within athletic administration, Offreda sees athletics and teaching as being connected. For Offreda, athletics are simply an extension of the art of storytelling. 

Sports are a 鈥渓anguage, a form of expression and an expression of identity,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 on the field, when I鈥檓 coaching on the field, I feel like I鈥檓 bringing my true self.鈥� 

Offreda鈥檚 father was born in Italy and introduced soccer to her at a young age. He told that he saw her potential in the sport by the time Offreda was 5 or 6 years old.

鈥淭he way she ran, the way she moved, anybody that knew soccer, you could tell, she had the potential to be something, to be somebody,鈥� he said.

Soccer allowed Offreda to travel internationally, and in 2016, Offreda was named one of the top deaf soccer players in the world. She was 鈥渢hrilled,鈥� but the moment was bittersweet, as she knew she was about to retire. When she got the news, the first thing she thought about was her gratitude for the people she had met on her athletic journey. She also thought of her dad, who taught Offreda 鈥渟o much about resilience and never giving up.鈥�

Offreda encourages students to consider the power of narrative and how language shapes our understanding of the world and of each other. In her classes, students explore the narratives and perspectives of people who have disabilities and come from a wide range of backgrounds. 

Her students consider how their definition of disability changes over time, and many credit these narratives for expanding and shifting their perspective. Storytelling becomes a way to 鈥渞edefine disability,鈥� Offreda said. She believes sharing stories is a way of bridging the gap to understanding. 

It connects people and brings them together, Offreda said.

During the trip, the group spent a few days at the (NCTC), a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conference and training center, met with local politicians, artists, environmentalists and nonprofit leaders and toured the historic homes of local residents. 

鈥淭he goal of the whole trip and this experience was to provide our students with avenues to learn from different individuals and different sectors of the social impact space directly by visiting with them in their own spaces and to see the work that’s going on in Shepherdstown,鈥� said Thom Chiarolanzio, the senior associate dean in the 海角论坛 who helped launch SRN in 2019.

Mary Fortuna (C鈥�89), a member of the SRN Board of Advisors who lives in Shepherdstown, proposed the idea of bringing students to the town last spring, and was instrumental in organizing the trip鈥檚 itinerary and lineup of speakers that included the .

Fortuna is an alumna of the 海角论坛鈥檚 , which influenced SRN鈥檚 cohort and mentorship-based model. SRN has around 30 total students and is open to rising 海角论坛 sophomores, juniors and seniors. Fortuna wanted to use the trip to introduce students to Shepherdstown and give them opportunities for personal connections with its leaders.

鈥淚 wanted the students to learn from their personal anecdotes 鈥� what鈥檚 been difficult, the pivots they鈥檝e made and their successes and failures,鈥� Fortuna said.

Meaningful Outdoor Experiences

When Daisy Fynewever (C鈥�26) first arrived at Georgetown, she felt she needed to save the world.

But her time on the Hilltop and with SRN has opened her eyes to the possibility of making a difference in smaller communities and at the grassroots level. The trip to Shepherdstown reinforced that in her mind, said Fynewever, who is double majoring in environmental biology and justice and peace studies with a minor in Spanish. 

鈥淚 think we’re used to hearing about national and international organizations, so seeing the type of changes that can be made in a small community through a tight knit network of people was really interesting and super inspiring,鈥� she said.  

One speaker that Fynewever connected with in particular was , the executive director of the Potomac Valley Audubon Society.

During her talk, which took place during a morning hike through the , Alexander spoke about how meaningful childhood experiences in the outdoors often leads to people caring about the natural world as an adult. She helps create those opportunities through events like youth day camps.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen so many kids grow up through our programs and they鈥檙e now environmental lawyers, they work for Habitat for Humanity, just so many incredible stories of how these campers have grown up to do good work,鈥� she said.

Over the summer, Fynewever worked for , the senior scientist for West Virginia Rivers, a nonprofit organization, and speaker for the SRN trip. In her internship, which was supported by an SRN stipend, Fynewever worked on a research project exploring the link between ambient water quality and cancer incidents. 

Hitt, a tenth-generation West Virginian and former research fish biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, shared lessons he learned from his career in the federal government and nonprofit space. 

He asked students to think of their future careers by drawing a Venn diagram that includes three circles: 1) What are you good at? 2) What does the world need? 3) What brings you joy?

鈥淲hat you鈥檙e looking for is, where is that overlap? That will guide your next steps,鈥� Hitt said.

The students also heard from Maria Parisi, a who recently retired from NCTC.

鈥淚t was super interesting to see how each of the speakers had a different perspective on the best way to make a difference and the best way to do social impact work,鈥� Fynewever said. 鈥淎nd I think that we need all of those perspectives to build the future that we want to see.鈥�

Preserving Arts and History

For Cici Sprouse (C鈥�26), the trip spotlighted the importance of the arts and historic preservation for social impact work. Shepherdstown, , is known for its historic architecture and vibrant arts scene.

鈥淚t was really, really cool to see how arts and culture were huge in creating this sense of identity and also instilling a sense of civic duty,鈥� said Sprouse, a justice and peace studies major who is minoring in Spanish and government.

, the festival director of the American Conservation Film Festival, shared with the group that she accepted her job in part because of the ability for 鈥渟tories to change hearts and minds.鈥� As an example, the students watched a screening of , one of the films shown at the festival this March. The documentary features Zambian attorney (L鈥�13) and follows journalists as they investigate the dire environmental consequences of foreign governments and private investors seizing food and water resources around the world.

鈥淭he Grab was extremely impactful, because it bridged the social impact lens and environmental conservation lens that we were exploring on this trip,鈥� said Madison Ross (C鈥�27), a government major who is minoring in .

Students also met , the artistic director for the Contemporary American Theater Festival. The mission of the festival is to produce and develop with a vision of being the ultimate theater experience for artists and audiences. 

In her talk, McKowen highlighted the beneficial impact of arts on someone鈥檚 health and wellness and the festival鈥檚 commitment to its social values and the local economic impact. 

Eliana Mlawski (C鈥�26), a government and Spanish double major pursuing a minor in , found McKowen鈥檚 session particularly inspiring for emphasizing the value of the arts in Shepherdstown.

鈥淭he importance of local organizing and action is huge, and sometimes can be forgotten, but I think this trip was a really fun way to deep dive to see that impact,鈥� she said.

Social impact can mean preserving history, as well.

When the students arrived at O鈥橦urley鈥檚 General Store, a group of musicians treated them to a , held every Thursday night year-round. The musicians sat in a circle and played various instruments, including the guitar, harp, banjo, mandolin and violin. These jam sessions have continued for , preserving a piece of Shepherdstown that has been passed down for generations.聽

鈥淚t might not seem like it is directly related to social impact upon first glance,鈥� Ross said. 鈥淏ut I think the preservation of artistic culture is so important to maintain that community. It was so cool to see that they were still doing it.鈥�

On the final day, students went on a tour of the Historic Shepherdstown Museum located in , led in part by John Kavaliunas (F鈥�68, G鈥�73), visited residents Pia Peltola and Andy Singletary at their re-imagined loft-style home in the , explored the with owners Adam Thomas and Shannon Thomas and learned about the by Rod Glover and Tom Mayes.  

The group also spoke with the co-owner of the Shepherdstown Opera House, Steve Pearson (MBA鈥�92), who completed a full rehabilitation of the structure in 2023. Local artist and professor of art at Shepherd University, , gave a public art demonstration, and the students wrapped up the weekend with a walking tour of Shepherdstown with , an associate professor of history at Shepherd University.  

鈥淭he word that really came to mind for me was civic duty,鈥� Sprouse said. 鈥淓very person that we talked to felt this responsibility to improve their community in the way that they saw that they could.鈥�

Socially Responsible Careers

The Shepherdstown trip broadened the perspective on socially responsible careers for the students.

鈥淪RN has kind of taught me that being mission driven in your career doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to work at a nonprofit,鈥� Sprouse said.

鈥淚 think that the entire trip as a whole gave me a wider overview of what having a socially impactful life looks like and also the type of people that care about social impact work,鈥� said Ashland Ross (C鈥�28), who is majoring in the and minoring in environment and sustainability. 

Ross is interested in doing work in the environmental justice space with the intention of going to law school after graduation. Being on the trip provided her with a sense of community with other people who are passionate about social impact work and related career paths, she said.

Life as a college student can be exceptionally busy, Mlawski said, with students being pulled in multiple directions. The trip, therefore, allowed them to pause and listen to people who found a fulfilling career by following their passions, she said. 

鈥淚鈥檓 pursuing international environmental work, which can feel really challenging sometimes,鈥� Mlawski said. 鈥淪o understanding how other people have navigated their own careers to make it work is invaluable.鈥�

(Top photo courtesy of the West Virginia Department of Tourism)

Their professor, , has provided them with a meeting time and location but has otherwise kept details vague. Today is the first out-of-the-classroom 鈥淒ecision Lab鈥� assignment as part of Folan鈥檚 first-year Ignatius Seminar, How to Make a Decision.

At 9:02 a.m., the students鈥� phones buzz with a GroupMe notification from Folan. 

You didn鈥檛 think I would be meeting you in person, did you? 

But I did tell you that I would see you at 9 am. Help me make that statement true by taking a selfie of the whole group and sending it to me.

I鈥檓 here with the students, both as a participant and observer, to learn what goes into the decision-making process. My first and only decision of the day comes as every student except one has made it to the starting point. I have to choose a photographer.聽

I pick Sophie Erlinger (C鈥�29), who has already started to round up her classmates. But as she attempts to get everyone in the shot, another student, Sam Baghdadchi (C鈥�29), suggests that Randy Fu (C鈥�29) take the photo instead. 鈥淩andy has longer arms,鈥� Baghdadchi says.

I鈥檝e wasted no time, it seems, in making the wrong decision.

After the selfie is sent, Folan divides the class into three groups. Thirteen of 16 students in the cohort are here for the assignment. I鈥檓 sorted with Lily Carroll (C鈥�29), Yulian Dlaboha (C鈥�29), Manavi Gupta (C鈥�29) and Brandon Hsu (C鈥�29).

Our team鈥檚 first task is to walk to Tatte Bakery & Caf茅 in Georgetown. Gupta has been directed by Folan to lead the way, and at one point, Carroll wonders out loud: 鈥淚s this supposed to be a race?鈥� 

We don鈥檛 know the answer, but we pick up our speed just in case.

Our group arrives at Tatte, and Carroll asks the barista for an envelope marked 鈥淕eorgetown Decision Lab 鈥� Group 2.鈥� It鈥檚 starting to feel like we鈥檙e in Folan鈥檚 version of the reality competition show, Amazing Race. Inside the envelope are five SmartTrip Metro cards. 

Folan, meanwhile, is in an undisclosed location with his colleague, , a professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, and co-conspirator in today鈥檚 assignment. We select our next destination: the headquarters of the Association of Jesuit 海角论坛s and Universities in Dupont Circle, and start heading toward the door.

Not so fast, Folan responds. 鈥淚鈥檝e asked twice now for a group name鈥nd none has come!鈥� 

There will be a small penalty, he tells us, as we each slump back down in our seats. Carroll offers to buy Folan a croissant, but he declines. If this is a race, we鈥檙e not off to a good start. 

Time to make better decisions.

Reflective Decision Makers

One of Folan鈥檚 inspirations for the course is , founder of the Jesuits.

鈥淥bviously, I don鈥檛 know Ignatius personally, but it is the Jesuit tradition of being very serious about discernment and decision making that is part of the deep bass background music of what I’m doing in class,鈥� Folan tells me between sips from a cup of espresso. 

It鈥檚 a few days before the 鈥淒ecision Lab,鈥� and we鈥檙e sitting in Folan’s office in the New North building on campus. He has just finished teaching his seminar course for the week and is curious how the class will react to the lab assignment. Students must attend at least one of the three out-of-the-classroom labs during the semester.

First-Year Seminars like the one Folan is teaching are small, unique courses designed exclusively for first-year students in the 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences, and this is the first time his Ignatius Seminar is being offered.

鈥淚 hope they don鈥檛 just give it a whole shoulder shrug,鈥� Folan says of the lab. 鈥淚 figure, worst-case scenario, the 海角论坛 is treating them to lunch at the end of the day.鈥�

Folan radiates coffee-fueled energy and his eyes widen behind his dark-rimmed glasses as he鈥檚 explaining his inspiration for the class.

鈥淚 want them to be able to do more than simply choose from a field of options,鈥� Folan says. 鈥淚 want them to be reflective about the decisions they make and to know why they are making those decisions.鈥�

The idea for the seminar developed over time as Folan reflected on his own significant life decisions and conversations he鈥檚 had with alumni of the , where he serves on the Board of Trustees.

He hopes that instead of being 鈥渄ecision-making machines,鈥� the undergraduates he teaches become people who feel comfortable with decision making. 鈥淚 want them to feel,鈥� Folan says, moving his hands for emphasis, 鈥渢hat when the record skips in their lives, they can still move to the music, and hopefully I鈥檓 giving them some tools to do that.鈥�

Folan grew up in Massapequa Park on Long Island, as the oldest of three siblings. All four of his grandparents are immigrants from Ireland, and Folan describes his family as a 鈥減retty typical middle-class home.鈥� Neither of his parents had a college degree; his father worked for the Federal Aviation Administration, and his mother was a secretary at a law firm. They went to Mass every Sunday. 

鈥淚 was always close to God,鈥� Folan says. 鈥淐hurch, God, things like that were always important to me, as were playing baseball and soccer, doing well in school and being a Cub Scout. But for me, even as a child, the priest was a very interesting figure.鈥�

He applied and was accepted to Chaminade High School, a private Catholic school on Long Island. Attending that school is a decision Folan calls one of the top three most important he鈥檚 made in his life. Seeing the schools that graduates of Chaminade attended 鈥� University of Notre Dame, Boston 海角论坛, the University of Chicago, Stanford University, Georgetown University 鈥� opened his eyes to what was possible.

Folan would go on to Notre Dame and faced another major decision after graduating: follow his friends and a familiar path to Notre Dame鈥檚 Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) or take a leap into the unknown and accept a job offer with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in DC. 

鈥淭here was just a sense of adventure of going to Washington, DC,鈥� Folan says.

Afterward, he taught at Bishop McNamara High School in Maryland for two years before applying to become a Jesuit priest 鈥� another major life decision.

鈥淧robably the best piece of discernment data I could have ever gotten was that I was in love with teaching at that high school, and still, I wanted to apply to become a Jesuit,鈥� Folan says.

Folan became a priest in 2013 and spent his first year after ordination at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, right outside the gates of Georgetown University. He earned a Ph.D. in theology from Boston 海角论坛 in 2019. Later that fall, Folan joined Georgetown as a faculty member in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He thought it would be the best fit.

鈥淚 talk a lot in class about options,鈥� Folan says. 鈥淲hat are the options before you when you have to make a decision? Are there options you do not see? Are there options that you can create? Luckily for me, when it came to Georgetown, my best option was right in front of my eyes.鈥�

Time, Value and Options

In his Ignatius Seminar, Folan has three overarching goals for students:

• To get under the hood of decision making.
• To identify their strengths and their yet-to-be strengths in decision making, honoring the former and developing the latter.
• To build a foundation in theology and religious studies for further learning.

Students are taught that in order to make a decision, one should identify the conditions, carry out the act of that decision and embrace the results or re-think the decision. 

The conditions surrounding a decision include time, values and options, Folan says. Making decisions often means choosing between options; the Latin roots of the word decision mean to cut off, Folan explains. 

An evaluation process follows.

鈥淎fter making the decision, one has to live into the decision and hopefully confirm that it was a good decision,鈥� Folan says. 鈥淢aybe it wasn鈥檛 a perfect outcome, but it might have been a good decision.鈥�

In class, students learn from religious texts like Abraham Joshua Heschel鈥檚 The Sabbath. In the book originally published in 1951, Heschel, a Polish-American rabbi, describes the Sabbath as a sanctuary of time and emphasizes the value of choosing time over space.

鈥淚t is not a thing that lends significance to a moment; it is the moment that lends significance to things,鈥� Heschel writes.

鈥淥ftentimes, when we think about time, especially in decision making, it’s kind of like an hourglass 鈥� how much of it do I have left?鈥� Folan says. 鈥淚 hope The Sabbath can give us a different perspective on time: how I measure it, what it is, how it can form me, how it can be a gift.鈥�

Working Together

Our team 鈥� which finally has a name, Aesthetic Instagram 鈥� is lost.

We race through the hallways of the sixth floor of , the new interdisciplinary hub on Georgetown鈥檚 Capitol Campus, and homestretch of the 鈥淒ecision Lab,鈥� but can鈥檛 find the right room.

鈥淎re we sure it鈥檚 on this floor?鈥� Gupta asks. 鈥淪hould we split up and message each other?鈥�

We make an unspoken decision to stick together and round another funhouse mirror corridor. Finally, at 11:48 a.m., nearly three hours after we started our journey, we spot Folan and Cline sitting inside a conference room, with wide grins on their faces.

鈥淲elcome!鈥� Folan shouts, as we push open the doors. 鈥淒id we have fun? Did we learn something?鈥�

Aesthetic Instagram is the first team to arrive. Nine minutes later, another group 鈥� HTMADness (a pun on the course name) 鈥� makes its way through the doors, and seven minutes after that, the third group 鈥� Deciding Factors 鈥� arrives. 

On the digital board, Folan and Cline have been taking notes of the teams. In addition to finishing first, we learn that we are the only group to have walked to the first three locations. My watch has recorded more than 14,000 steps. We receive points for our decisiveness, creativity and negotiation skills. (Folan declined Carroll鈥檚 croissant offer earlier because he had already gone to Tatte.)

But the race isn鈥檛 the point of the exercise. 鈥淧unctuality is a value, but there are other values too,鈥� Folan says.

Throughout the lab, Folan has included prompts in his instructions to help group members learn about each other. After a rocky start, our team now resembles one that worked together each step of the way. Even our team name, Aesthetic Instagram, comes from a shared joke of the quintessential fall morning in Georgetown. 

We learn that Carroll is in an improv group on campus and had never ridden the DC Metro before today. Dlaboha plays club volleyball and is thinking of becoming a Georgetown basketball manager. Gupta鈥檚 goal is to visit every cafe on M Street before graduating. Hsu wants to join an investment club.

The purpose of the lab, Folan tells the group gathered around the table, was more than just to test our navigation skills and attention to detail. It was an opportunity for students to spend time together and have meaningful conversations to get to know each other better, all while exploring the city and Georgetown鈥檚 newest campus. In a sense, Folan wanted us to slow down time.

As we leave the building and walk toward The Dubliner for lunch, the students continue chatting and sharing laughs. Folan looks on and smiles. No one is in a rush to leave.