User:Haydiemar/Eloquentia Perfecta

Introduction
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Eloquentia perfecta, a tradition of the Society of Jesus, is a value of Jesuit rhetoric that revolves around cultivating a person as a whole, as one learns to speak and write for the common good. Eloquentia perfecta is a Latin term which means "perfect eloquence". The term connotes values of eloquent expression and action for the common good. The goal of the Eloquentia Perfecta requirement is to assure and further develop each student’s abilities to gather, evaluate and disseminate information and ideas. Eloquentia Perfecta derives its goals from rhetorical traditions stressing excellence and logical clarity in communicating. For Jesuits, the term eloquentia perfecta was understood as the joining of knowledge and wisdom with virtue and morality.

The overall goal of the humanistic studies was eloquentia perfecta which one commentator has translated as "right reason joined to cultivated expression"

https://www.scranton.edu/academics/provost/Eloquentia%20Perfecta.shtml https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6368577M/The_Jesuit_code_of_liberal_education

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Origins in Greek rhetorical thought
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Eloquentia was born, as a concept, in the rhetorical studies of ancient Greece. However, the term eloquentia perfecta was coined in 1599 with the Ratio Studiorum, which laid out the groundwork for Jesuit educational curriculum.

1534–1599: The early Jesuit order and the first Jesuit school
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Ignatius and his six students took vows of poverty and chastity in an attempt to work for the conversion of Muslims. After being unable to travel to Jerusalem because of the Turkish wars, they went to Rome instead to meet with the pope and request permission to form a new religious order. In September 1540, Pope Paul III approved Ignatius’ outline of the Society of Jesus, and the Jesuit order was born. The Jesuits adhered to Ignatius's meditative practices, the Spiritual Exercises and centered their lives on active service rather than subdued monasticism. The Jesuit order played an important role in the Counter-Reformation and eventually succeeded in converting millions around the world to Catholicism. The Jesuit movement was founded in August 1534 by Ignatius de Loyola.

1599–1773: Ratio Studiorum and expansion of Jesuit schools through Europe
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Jesuit institutions were enhanced by many influential mantras. Some of these phrases (and their direct translations) include Cura Personalis (care for the whole person), Magis (to do more), Nuestro Modo de Procedor (our way of proceeding), and Eloquentia Perfecta (perfect eloquence).

1900s: Translation of traditions into the modern perspective
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While the Ratio Studiorum description of rhetoric emphasized only oratory and poetry, today’s Jesuit rhetorical education accepts the appreciation of multiple genres in different media These rhetoric classes promoted both useful skills and cultural enrichment. The classes combined general ideas and stylistic practices from Greco-Roman culture and joined these ideas with the learnings of the church.

Jesuit Rhetoric
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Eloquentia perfecta is built on “the classical ideal of the good person writing and speaking well for the public good and promotes the teaching of eloquence combined with erudition and moral discernment. Developing this tradition in modern composition study and communication theory, the course of rhetorical art complements the other foundation courses with topics such as ethics and communication, virtue and authority, knowledge and social obligation.” In sum, the courses offered at a school with Jesuit values aim to foster critical thinking, moral reflection, and articulate expression. A Jesuit education centers itself around the goal to provide its students with “the ability to use speech and writing effectively, logically, gracefully, persuasively, and responsibly”

Eloquentia perfecta in Jesuit colleges and universities
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Steven Mailloux, a professor of rhetoric at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), concluded that "an optimal orator would combine written and oral language concepts such as morality or ethics and intelligence". This concept has expanded from education in Jesuit colleges and preaching this tradition and guiding Spiritual Exercises to courses in American colleges such as LMU, University of San Francisco, and Fordham University.

According to the dean of Fordham University in New York, Robert Grimes, eloquentia perfecta is composed of three characteristics—"the right use of reason ... to be able to express your thoughts into words ... [and] to [communicate] gracefully, that is, do it in a way so that people are willing to listen to what you say".

LMU's core curriculum provides a few aspects that construct eloquentia perfecta, the first being that it "incorporates the traditional mode of rhetoric through writing, reading, speaking, and listening". The second aspect is the "remediation of this form of rhetoric in terms of adapting to the information age and its digital elements".

Eloquentia Perfecta is a long-valued tradition of Jesuit education meaning “right reason expressed effectively, responsibly, and gracefully.” Jesuit schools find ways to incorporate these values into their core curriculum to help students develop skills in oral and written expression, which will serve them well in college and beyond. These courses also incorporate the Jesuit value of cura personalis; the caring for a whole person, to ensure that each student is valued as a unique and multifaceted individual.

Contemporary reach of Eloquentia perfecta
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As John Callahan, S.J. says in their essay Jesuits and Jesuit Education, “no longer is Jesuit education the exclusive property of Jesuits. Rather, Jesuits and Jesuit education is the property of all the men and women who work in educational institutions which claim the Ignation heritage.” While Jesuit institutions and their corresponding eloquentia perfecta rhetorics have grown in the United States and worldwide, the number of active Jesuit individuals has dropped over the past fifty years, going from 36,000 in the 1960’s to approximately 19,000 in 2013 (with many of those 19,000 being in retirement age). Many of these modern Jesuits do their work through Jesuit ministries and other social justice organizations worldwide, with only 5.8% of Jesuit-school faculty and staff directly belonging to the Jesuit community.

Eloquentia perfecta in the digital age
According to Cinthia Gannett, many universities have integrated eloquentia perfecta at all tiers of their institutions. She further adds that several universities are revising their Core curriculums to include aspects of eloquentia perfecta tied in with digital literacy and communication. Specifically, Gannett highlights the everchanging new technologies, and how to navigate them in the space of higher education.