In 2013, the University of Prince Edward Island committed to fostering an “active learning curriculum” as part of its Strategic Plan: a vision that continues to shape the university as a centre of academic excellence, innovation, and forward-thinking pedagogy.  In response to this commitment, the class of RS 388, “The Age of Francis,” undertook the creation of this website as an experiment in active learning.  The project has been generated by group of nine researchers, organized as three separate research units, all under the leadership of Grace McCarvill, the project manager;  the project manager maintained responsibility for coordinating the research findings and their presentation in ways that capitalizes on new media, highlights interactivity, and within a technical framework intuitive for 21st century learners.

      Each researcher conceptualized his or her own project with an eye to how individual contributions formed a single, organic whole.  As group, the research team evaluated the narrative they chose to tell: with the result being a creative, educational, analytic, and, at times, whimsical understanding of “The Age of Francis.”  

      As a lead-in, Courtney Ward has constructed a comprehensive timeline for the life of Jorge Mario Bergoglio.  Courtney worked closely with Ross MacEwan who, “thinking outside the box,” created a comic-strip with some of these moments, furthering a project aim to make research findings accessible to visual and younger learners.  Engagement with youth has been a key theme of the Francis pontificate, and so Laura Mark has opted to engage youth with their perspectives and reactions to Pope Francis.  The Vatican, an age old institution steeped in tradition, has done a remarkable job adopting new technology (as it did under Francis’s predecessors), which is the topic of Taylor Walsh’s contribution.  Francis has, likewise, been accessible continuing St. John Paul II’s commitment to global travel; Alex Dunne explores this activity, of which Dr. Seuss might have said, “Oh, the places you will go!”  Francis has demonstrated a care for the global community in many ways, along with “Care for Our Common Home,” which is assessed by Morgan Bourque.  Morgan’s project focuses equally on the praxis of environmental theology, challenging people to evaluate their own habits and providing valuable tips on how to becoming better environmental citizens.  Pope Francis’s perspective on the environment, however, has not been uniformly received.  Jordan Johnston examines this questions as well as other contentious questions under the title of “Catholic controversies.”  Krista Dillon examines the most serious challenge that Francis has faced since his elevation to the papacy: the abuse of children within the Church, and the ongoing, proactive steps that the Pope has taken though the Pontifical Commission for the Protection for Minors.  Finally, Morgan Sandiford gives readers an up-close perspective on Pope Francis’s intellectual and spiritual formation by examining two saints that have been, arguably, most influential on the Holy Father.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam