News and Events

The Matteo Ricci College would like to congratulate Dr. Daniel Peterson on his ordination as a Lutheran Minister! The ordination service took place on July 28th at Mountain View Lutheran Church.

Dr. Peterson's ordination is possibly unprecedented as it is rare to call a pastor to a teaching ministry. Pastors are normally called to a specific congregation, but Dr. Peterson has been called to the Matteo Ricci College as a minister and as a teacher. This also means that Dr. Peterson has a chance to further explore ministry at Seattle University. He is looking forward to discovering how he will live out that component of his call, possibly through Campus Ministry or life as a Resident Minister on-campus.

Says Dr. Peterson, "[I] already have a sense, for me, what it means to be a teacher." He believes that patience is an integral element of teaching, whether ordained or not. This is why he feels that "it is necessary to spend so much time working with students." Through patience, Dr. Peterson believes that we can become better communicators and deeper human beings. "The call validated and encouraged me."

Once again, the Matteo Ricci College would like to commend Dr. Peterson on his ordination!

The Poverty Education Center, hosted by Matteo Ricci College and directed by Dr. Ben Curtis, was recently featured on Seattle University's online platform The Commons.

To learn more about the great work the center is doing read this feature article or visit the Poverty Education Center webpage.

The Matteo Ricci College will soon hang a copy of a famous map on its office walls created by its namesake, Matteo Ricci S.J. It will be prominently featured in the office.

Commissioned by Emperor Wanli of China in 1602, the original map put China at the center of the world, and was the first Chinese map to identify the Americas. It is currently valued around $1 million.

The map was on display for four months in 2010 at the Library of Congress before it was returned to the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota. You can read more about the map here and here. 

The Matteo Ricci College would like to congratulate Robert Gavino and Beth Williams for receiving 2013 Student Recognition Awards. Gavino--a sophomore Humanities for Leadership student--received The Mission Award for Faith, while Williams--a junior Humanities for Teaching student--received The Mission Award for Justice.

Gavino serves Seattle University as an Orientation Advisor and Tour Guide, while planning programs for students of faith at the NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program among other things. He is also a liturgical volunteer for Campus Ministry.

William works as a Student Leader for the Common Good for the Center for Service and Community Engagement while serving as a facilitator for the Seattle University Youth Initiative class. She also participates in and leads immersion trips each year.

You can find out more about the Student Recognition Awards here: http://www.seattleu.edu/leadership/recognition/sra/about-the-awards/

The Matteo Ricci College is thrilled to announce that several students of the college participated in the "Celebration of Student Research" hosted by the Seattle University Undergraduate Research Association (SUURA)! Participants from the Matteo Ricci College are Theda Hovind, Alison Pauley, Leonardo Rozal, and Cailtin Terashima. The Matteo Ricci College would also like to recognize Professor Jennifer Sorensen, Professor Audrey Hudgins, and Dr. Serena Cosgrove for sponsoring the students as faculty mentors.

The program offers students from every discipline the chance to present research papers or projects to a larger audience through poster sessions, or oral presentations and panels. For example, Pauley's research focused on the international issue of rape of the "untouchable" women in India while Hovind's research took a look at a domestic topic - the rise of engaged citizenship through volunteering. 

Said Pauley, "I am so grateful to Dr. Cosgrove for encouraging me to submit my research to SUURA." 

Added Hovind, "Overall, I enjoyed the experience and I can't wait to do it again!" 

Below is a list of the students and the subject of their research:

Theda Hovind

"Restoring Cheasty Greenpeace"

Faculty Mentor: Professor Audrey Hudgins

Alison Pauley

"Rape in India: Caste-based Violence and the Women Fighting Against It"

Faculty Mentor: Professor Serena Cosgrove

Leonardo Rozal

"Using Density Functional Theory to Calculate the Anomeric Effect in Hydrazide and Methoxyamine Derivatives of Tetrahydropyran

Faculty Mentor: Professor Jennifer Sorensen

Caitlin Terashima

"The New War in El Salvador: Gang Warfare and its Effects"

Faculty Mentor: Professor Serena Cosgrove

Like every other unit on campus, Matteo Ricci College faculty and staff give 110% on the job every day. And for the second year in a row, Matteo Ricci College set the pace for 100% giving in the annual Faculty and Staff Campaign. This year they were inspired to give early and generously by the opportunity to donate to the newly established John F. Foster, SJ Scholarship, which benefits continuing students. This is the first endowed scholarship for the College and it honors one of its co-founders. An official launch is set for May 22 at FX McRory's.

Matteo Ricci College faculty member Dr. Daniel Peterson has recently published his book Tillich: A Brief Overview of the Life and Writings of Paul Tillich. The book offers an introduction to the Protestant theologian who challenged conventional notions of God and was called "the most dangerous theologian alive" during the height of his career. Peterson's book is a great resource to those new to Tillich and to those who are already well aquianted with him.

read more about Dr. Peterson's book