The International Visiting Jesuit Fellows program brings Jesuit faculty from colleges and universities around the world to Holy Cross as visiting fellows. The program is a joint initiative of the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture and the Holy Cross Jesuit Community. Since 2000, 32 Jesuits have enjoyed a semester or a year engaging with the Holy Cross community.
The program is designed to give Jesuits from many different countries the time and resources to pursue scholarship, to collaborate with American scholars, and to build a better sense of the Jesuit global community. Fellows have come from Benin, Zimbabwe, India, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Indonesia, Australia and beyond. The Holy Cross community benefits a great deal from the presence of Jesuits from around the globe, while our many resources can be of help to the Society in its mission.
The Jesuit Fellows are provided with office space, access to Holy Cross libraries, other research libraries, and outstanding electronic databases. They will receive financial support for designated research activities and/or to attend a professional conference, and secretarial and logistical support. Housing is provided in Ciampi Hall, the Jesuit residence at Holy Cross. Holy Cross also will provide a stipend, health insurance, and airfare to and from the United States.
The program complements Holy Cross' other efforts to develop collaborative programs with Jesuit colleges and universities outside the U.S., including a number of the College's study abroad sites for students. Approximately 20 percent of our third year students study outside of the United States. Our many active collaborations include several Jesuit institutions: Université Catholique D'Afrique Centrale in Yaoundé, Cameroon; the Catholica, in Lima, Peru; Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Casa de la Solidaridad in San Salvador, El Salvador; Universitas Sanata Dharma in Yogyakarta, Indonesia; and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
Applications
Review our process for Inquiries, Applications, and Nominations. We are currently in conversation with several Jesuits about possibilities for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Current Appointments
2022-2023
Rev. T. Nishaant, S.J. is former principal of St. Xavier's College of Management & Technology in Patna, Bihar, India. At Holy Cross, he is teaching a course titled "Social Stratification in India" in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
Public Lecture | The Oppression and Resilience of India’s Musahars
SPRING 2023
Rev. Ferenc Patsch, S.J., a Hungarian Jesuit, is a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and previously served as chair of its Department of Fundamental Theology. At Holy Cross, he will teach a course on systematic theology. A prolific author of Hungarian books on the theology of religions, he will work on finalizing a book chapter in English.
Lunch Presentation | Maturing Faith, Science, and Theology
SPRING and FALL 2023
Rev. Selva Rathinam, S.J., a Jesuit priest ordained in Bangalore, teaches Scripture at Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth (JDV) Institute of Philosophy and Theology, the Pontifical Athenaeum in Pune, India. From 2014-2020, he served as president of JDV. A Hebrew Bible scholar, he is teaching a course on the Hebrew prophets at Holy Cross.
Public Lecture | Suffering, Resistance and Freedom: A Postcolonial Subaltern (Dalit) Study of Isaiah 52:13-53:12
SPRING 2023
Rev. Joachim Zoundi, S.J. is a lecturer of systematic theology at Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya. At Holy Cross, he will teach a course on Christian anthropology in a time of uncertainty. A native of Burkina Faso, he also plans to research a characteristic of interpersonal relationships in the country that make peace and reconciliation possible among different ethnic and tribal groups.
Public Lecture | Evil and Sin in African Traditional Religion and Christian Revelation
Upcoming Appointment
SPRING 2024
Rev. Gerard Ryan, S.J., a Jesuit of the Canada province, is assistant professor of political theology at Regis College. A native of Ireland, Fr. Ryan was a visiting research fellow at Trinity College Dublin. At Holy Cross, Fr. Ryan will investigate whether faith communities can contribute toward the sustainability of our common home by developing and prioritizing ecological accompaniment to offset the experience of human loneliness.
Recent Fellows
Learn more about some of our recent fellows below, and watch their lectures online. (View the complete list of fellows.)
SPRING 2020
Rev. Peter Dubovsky, S.J., a native of Slovakia, is professor of the Old Testament exegesis at Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He previously taught Old Testament studies at Trnava University, Slovakia. He is author of "The Building of the First Temple: A Study in Redactional, Text-Critical and Historical Perspective" (Mohr Siebeck, 2015) and "Hezekiah and the Assyrian Spies: Reconstruction of the Neo-Assyrian Intelligence Services and Its Significance for 2 Kings 18–19" (Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 2006). At Holy Cross, he continued his research in biblical studies and taught a course titled "Cultures of the Bible."
Public Lecture | Hope in Times of Crisis
FALL 2018-SPRING 2019
Rev. Lawrence Fernandes, S.J., who belongs to the Province of South Asia, teaches philosophy at the national Jesuit Philosophate at Satya Nilayam, and at Loyola College, Chennai, India. He is director of Satya Nilayam Research Institute and serves as editor of the bi-annual journal Satya Nilayam: Chennai Journal of Intercultural Philosophy. He is the author of three books: "Popular Religiosity: A Quest for Meaning," "Shrines and Pilgrimages: Philosophy and Practice," and "Popular Devotions: Philosophy and Practice." At Holy Cross for the 2018-2019 academic year, Fr. Fernandes researched patterns of lived Catholicism and its intercultural philosophical orientations in the context of cultural pluralism. He taught a course on the "Religions of India," introducing students to three major religions: Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism.
Public Lecture | Lived Catholicism: An Indian Experience