Creating Space for Courage: Reflection, Service, and the Common Good with Dr. Jennifer Maney

What if one of the most courageous acts in today's noisy, distracted world is simply to slow down and reflect? In this episode of The Need for Courage, John Byrne speaks with Dr. Jennifer Maney, Director of Marquette University's Center for Teaching and Learning and recipient of Marquette's Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award. Together, they explore how Ignatian pedagogy, service learning, discernment, and reflection can help students become not only successful professionals, but people committed to justice, solidarity, and the common good. The conversation examines the challenges facing higher education today, from AI and social media to rising polarization and anxiety among students. Maney explains why Jesuit education remains uniquely relevant in this moment, offering practices such as reflection, contemplation, and community-building that help students develop moral and intellectual courage. Along the way, she shares powerful stories from Marquette's nationally recognized service-learning program, reflects on the difference between charity and justice, and offers a hopeful vision for how education can prepare students to create a more peaceful world. She is co-editor of Educators reflect in 2021 on the "triple pandemic" in higher education: COVID-19, racial injustice, and crises in higher education.