Calling on institutions of higher education to focus on the psychological well-being of their students, the Very Reverend Father Arturo Sosa, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, said on Tuesday that networking and collaboration could provide solutions to the pressing problems before mankind today.
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Addressing students and faculty at St. Xavier’s Autonomous College, Fort, as part of the sesquicentennial celebrations of the college, Fr. Sosa called for an appreciation of critical thinking and inclusion of alumni as extended family.
Emphasising depth in the areas of academic reflection, teaching and research, he said it was important to overcome “globalisation of superficiality”.
“We need our students and faculty to appreciate the value of critical thinking that will enable us to collectively create a free and equal society, and use the resources on the planet judiciously. More than ever before, one needs to go beyond institutional silos and work with those from other disciplines to integrate both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of academic life in a productive symphony,” he said.
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Calling networking a key characteristic for growth, he asked students to inculcate the value of personal integration. “There are various types of integration such as spiritual, emotional, interpersonal and social that are connected with the human development. The method of spiritual conversation that was used by the early Jesuits in order to arrive at decisions may equally well be extended to various forms of meetings, for the quality of interactions to have respect, openness to new ideas and a desire to arrive at decisions that are not purely pragmatic,” he said.
He added, “Issues such as growing insecurity, anxiety and depression are experienced by many students coming from a culture of increasing individualism, excessive consumerism, and the experience of loss of personal human interaction and accompaniment. Students need to experience a wholesome sense of acceptance and belonging that is not insular or in opposition to other social groups,” he said.
Advocating for social inclusion, Fr. Sosa recommended training students in productive collaboration. “We want to create a world where human beings can live together in harmony, crossing several artificial boundaries that divide us. Fundamentalism and regional narcissism are a serious threat to the international social fabric. There are numerous issues, like forced migration, that we need to address as common citizens of the world if we are to live together in peace.”