Cavanaugh, Oele Honored With Post Sabbatical Merit Awards

Professor Cavanaugh

Conducted during a half-year sabbatical, in the Fall of 2014, Cavanaugh completed and had accepted for publication an article, “DER and Policy: The Recommendation of a Topic,” which appeared in a special issue of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly devoted to Double-effect Reasoning.

He also had three book chapters accepted for publication. “Dignity, Pet-euthanasia and Person-euthanasia” will be published in a book provisionally entitled Dignity in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Thought of Gertrude Anscombe; “Abuses of Double Effect, Anscombe's Principle of Side Effects, and A (Sound) Account of Duplex Effectus” will be published by the University of Notre Dame Press in a book provisionally entitled Intention and Double-Effect: Theoretical and Practical Challenges; and “The Ethical Relevance of the Intended/Foreseen Distinction According to Anscombe” is slated for inclusion in a book entitled G.E.M. Anscombe and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.

Professor Oele

Oele was recognized for the substantial creative progress she has made on her book manuscript, Rethinking Affectivity with Aristotle.

In the book, Oele “seeks to make use of Aristotle's account of passivity and suffering to articulate and unlock the depth and complexity of numerous affective phenomena key to life,” she said, “such as photosynthesis in plants, touch in bird feathers, mimetic mediation in placentas, and human resilience in the face of illness and suffering.”

Additionally, during her sabbatical Oele wrote seven conference papers and finished a book chapter "Folding Nature Back upon Itself: Aristotle and the Rebirth of Physis" for her co-edited volume Ontology of Nature: Continental Readings of Nature, which is under initial contract with Springer Publishing.

The Award

The Post Sabbatical Merit Award, dispensed for exceptional productivity in research, scholarly or creative work during a sabbatical period, represents a monetary bonus of up to $5,000 ($2,500 for a one-semester sabbatical) in post sabbatical merit pay.

According to the guidelines of the award, faculty are eligible to apply in the beginning of their seventh year of continuous full-time service at the University. “Exceptional productivity in research, scholarly or creative work” may be proven by various avenues, including the publishing of articles in top-level scholarly journals; progress on a book with a national or international publisher; a positively reviewed art installation, work, or performance; a significant research grant or award, etc.

Cavanaugh is a professor in the Philosophy Department, and teaches in the Honors Program in the Humanities and the Saint Ignatius Institute. Oele is an Associate Professor with the Philosophy Department and also teaches with the Saint Ignatius Institute. Additionally, she is the Faculty Salon Coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences and a facilitator for the Faculty Learning Community on Student Engagement.