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The Ignatian City

Dr. Ness Sandoval, Professor of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences

A professor stands at the center of an outdoor lecture space with rows of students seen from the back

Course Description

About The Ignatian City

This course is designed for students who come to SLU with a desire to learn about the faces of urban oppression, social suffering, and urban marginality.

By introducing first-year students to contemporary theories of American cities, The Ignatian City invites students to focus on action for justice and to develop a sociological imagination capable of conceiving of and working towards a Just City - an Ignatian City.

Professor’s Perspective

When SLU announced an opportunity for faculty members to teach a seminar on our passion, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. I knew immediately that I wanted to design a class that included the words Ignatian and City. I wanted a class that would be distinctive and unique to SLU. I also wanted to teach my passion, which is Urban Sociology. The influence of the Ignatian Intellectual tradition can be easily found in Philosophy and Theology courses. But students often don’t think about how this tradition also lives in classes rooted in the Social Sciences. For me, the word Ignatian signals to students that this will be a class built on the Ignatian Intellectual values and traditions that challenge students to think deeply about justice, equality, and dignity."

Ness Sandoval, Ph.D.
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Student’s Perspective

I came to SLU from a small town in Ohio. I signed up for Dr. Sandoval’s class, The Ignatian City, because I was excited to learn about St. Louis, and also cities in general. I enjoyed The Ignatian City because it’s a class specifically about St. Louis, and it asks you to relate what you are learning in class to your own life, to the cities you’ve lived in, and to your ideas about where you want to live in the future. I liked that this class forced us to develop a deeper understanding of the living spaces around us, and to reflect on where we come from and where we are going.

This class was discussion and reflection based. We related everything we covered in class to our own lives and the lives of the people around us. How could we use our college degrees beyond the classroom? How would we ideally like to impact the world? Dr. Sandoval always asked us to think about our own lives and the physical space we inhabit in the world, and then ask ourselves how we are negatively or positively affected by the systems and policies that surround us. It was clear to me that my professor really cared about us as human beings, and wanted us to see ourselves as capable of creating meaningful and positive change in the world around us.

I came to SLU undecided, but because of The Ignatian City I’ve decided to major in Sociology. My advice to future SLU students is to choose an Ignite Seminar that interests you. Once you’re in the class, really engage with the class material and with your professor and your fellow peers, so that you can allow the experience to affect different aspects of your life."

Faith, Sociology, Class of 2025