Xavier Centre for New Humanities and Compassion Studies (XCHCS)
The first Centre of its kind to be established in India, XCHCS is a timely response to the call for reclaim our humanity through systematic and sustained studies and action. [To continuously strengthen this effort to reclaim our humanity, additional Centres of Excellence (COE) will be started over the next five years with the aim of forming the Xavier School of New Humanities and Social Sciences based on Transdisciplinarity.]
The vision of the Xavier Centre for New Humanities and Compassion Studies (XCHCS) is a world where the Self is deeply Other-centered, actively nurturing a compassionate world. The Centre will do this through innovative academic programmes and social initiatives to promote the New Humanities in line with the innovative transdisciplinary framework. Compassion studies will not only go beyond the traditional disciplinary streams (or silos) but also go beyond the inter-disciplinary studies framework. Compassion will be a transdisciplinary object(-subject) of study.
Through engaging with outreach programmes, field research, social immersion, specific public intellectual communities, unconventional sources (the arts), contemplative traditions and digital humanities, XCHCS is poised to investigate the transdisciplinary complexity of compassion and compassionate action in contemporary society. It will also work in both real and digital classrooms as well as meaningful public events.
There will be an effort to draw from the principles and practices espoused by M.K. Gandhi and other visionaries and practitioners of non-violent dialogic co-existence…Compassionate existence. Persons like Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and Pope Francis will figure in the courses of the Centre. In addition, the Centre will also explore the compassionate contributions of ordinary people in extraordinary situations. It will specifically explore public compassion. It would also go beyond the health and the religious fields in relation to its programme development and public action.
XCHCS will specially develop scholarship on compassion around the principles and practices espoused by Mahatma Gandhi and other visionaries and practitioners of non-violent dialogic co-existence like Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and Pope Francis.
Among its students, XCHCS will nurture a critical but compassionate outlook and encourage public compassionate action. It will encourage a willingness to engage in contemplation, a readiness to mindfully venture into uncharted territories, participate in dialogue and reach out to people and communities who need help and support. From this foundation, XCHCS hopes to encourage glocal concerns, civic engagement, intellectual and emotional flexibility, and professional and personal development for its students.
We believe the programmes of the Centre will prepare students for the social sector. It is to prepare young people to serve the universal Common Good in the local and national government sector, in the local, national and international social sector, as well as in regional bodies. Fellows will also be able to initiate independent public action for the Common Good.
Gateways
XCHCS Development Gateways and Pathways, 2018 – 2021
- Gateway 1: Public Engagement & Student Involvement
- Gateway 2: Partnership/Co-Creator Platforms
- Gateway 3: Online and Onsite Academic Activities
- Gateway 4: Transdisciplinary Research Activities
- Gateway 5: Documentation & Compassion Knowledge Base
- Gateway 6: Special Initiatives
Initiatives
Specific Initiatives, 2018-2019
- Gandhi and Compassion Project (Events and Books).
- SIGNIS Laudato Si Global Fellowship Programme for Young Media Professional (On Compassion and Social Communication)
- Cultivating Critical Compassion (Sessions/Lectures)
- Xavier Public Intellectuals Doctoral Fellowship Programme (for young scholars from disadvantaged communities)