ASSESSMENT TASK 1: REFLECTIVE TASK
In Laudato Si’ Pope Francis writes extensively about our complex and interrelated world. He draws attention to what he sees as pressing social, environmental, and moral issues, and the need for integral rather than piecemeal approaches for positive change and transformation.
In this task you will reflect on how key themes of Laudato Si’ and principles of Catholic social thought relate to your course of study.
Course of study: the degree program you are enrolled in at ACU.
Why does thinking deeply and critically about both human dignity and the common good matter to theprofessional work you would like to do in communities? In this respect, how has ACU prepared you for post-university life with your qualification, or not?
Answer the question by writing the script for a short graduation speech that reflects critically on your
course of study and its ideal connection with your future profession.
Use one of the following two excerpts from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ as a springboard for your speech andinterweave it with your reflection on your course of study. Put another way, base your reflection on the keyideas in one of the excerpts, and incorporate these ideas throughout to show their significance.
Francis, Laudato Si’, paragraph 142: “If everything is related, then the health of a society’s institutions has consequences for the environment and the quality of human life. “Every violation of solidarity and civic friendship harms the environment”. In this sense, social ecology is necessarily institutional, and graduallyextends to the whole of society, from the primary social group, the family, to the wider local, national and international communities. Within each social stratum, and between them, institutions develop to regulate human relationships. Anything which weakens those institutions has negative consequences, such as injustice, violence and loss of freedom. A number of countries have a relatively low level of institutional effectiveness, which results in greater problems for their people while benefiting those who profit from this situation.”; or,
Francis, Laudato Si’, paragraph 157: “Underlying the principle of the common good is respect for the human person as such, endowed with basic and inalienable rights ordered to his or her integral development. It hasalso to do with the overall welfare of society and the development of a variety of intermediate groups, applying the principle of subsidiarity. Outstanding among those groups is the family, as the basic cell of society. Finally, the common good calls for social peace, the stability and security provided by a certain order which cannot be achieved without particular concern for distributive justice; whenever this is violated, violence always ensues. Society as a whole, and the state in particular, are obliged to defend and promote the common good.”
It is a requirement that you:
demonstrate engagement with Module 1: Laudato Si’.
cite at least the following three resources:
Francis, Laudato Si’ (including either paragraph 142 or paragraph 157, as per the specifications above).
Lisa Sowle Cahill, “Laudato Si’: Reframing Catholic Social Ethics,” The Heythrop Journal 59 (2018) 887-900.
one course of study-specific reading/resource from Module 1: Laudato Si’.
identify your course of study.
identify your chosen paragraph from Laudato Si’ (N.B.: when citing Laudato Si’, please ensure you include specific paragraph number(s)).
Further instructions:
Submit the script – and only the script (i.e., the text) – through Turnitin. You are not required to deliver or record the speech yourself.
Given this is a speech, remember that it would be read aloud in a formal setting. Use the first person. Incorporate in-text citations where appropriate.
For assistance writing in this genre, please refer to ACU’s Academic Skills Unit resources: ‘Reflective writing: Introduction to reflective writing in Education’ and ‘Academic writing: Reflective writing’.
Students are encouraged to review the AT1 student writing guide (which can be found in ‘Assessment’ folder/tile on LEO) and attend/participate in the AT1 drop-in session with the unit lecturers and other university professional staff (details will be published in the ‘Assessment’ folder/tile on LEO and via a LEO announcement, approximately 2-3 weeks before the due date).
Students are encouraged to review AT1 assessment criteria (below in Appendix A) and the ‘General Assessment Writing and Research Guidelines’ (which can be found below and in the ‘Assessment’ folder/tile on LEO) as part of their preparation to submit this task.
Students are also encouraged to review the: 1) UNCC300 unit bibliography; and 2) General Core Curriculum bibliography for suggestions of course of study-specific readings and resources (which can be found in the ‘Information and resources’ folder/tile on LEO)