{"id":623,"date":"2020-12-08T17:40:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T17:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/?p=623"},"modified":"2020-12-17T21:54:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T21:54:40","slug":"jpii-institute-gains-momentum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2020\/featured-stories\/jpii-institute-gains-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"JPII Institute Gains Momentum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" data-attachment-id=\"624\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2020\/featured-stories\/jpii-institute-gains-momentum\/attachment\/jpii_blog_600x300\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/12\/JPII_Blog_600x300.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"600,300\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/12\/JPII_Blog_600x300-300x150.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/12\/JPII_Blog_600x300.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/12\/JPII_Blog_600x300.jpg\" alt=\"JPII_Blog_600x300\" class=\"wp-image-624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/12\/JPII_Blog_600x300.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/12\/JPII_Blog_600x300-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>With her thoughtful gift of land valued at $200,000, Dr. Ewa Thompson is leading the way to put UST\u2019s Saint John Paul II Institute on stable and sustainable ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Thompson, professor emeritus of Slavic Studies at Rice University, and her late husband James, served as faculty at Rice University for 40 years. Dr. Thompson attended events and met the director of UST\u2019s JPII Institute when it was established. Her gift supports operating expenses and the long-term operation of the Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Thompson was born in Lithuania and is one of the top scholars of Slavic studies in the United States. Her philanthropic support for the JPII Institute will give new life to the Slavic studies work she holds dear \u2014 especially exploring Polish history and culture.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cProfessor Ewa Thompson\u2019s generosity will help the Institute to share the gifts of this great pope,\u201d UST President Richard Ludwick said. \u201cHer commitment to, and passion for, the richness of Polish society and its lasting contribution to our world is remarkable and will continue to inspire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. John Hittinger, director of the JPII Institute, said the gift will help provide a deeper connection to the culture of the modern pope.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHer gift shows the way forward, with the support of the community, to achieving our goals of becoming an outstanding testament to the study of John Paul II in the context of Polish history and culture,\u201d Hittinger said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Thompson believes the legacy of John Paul II Institute is not just a legacy of another pope.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere have been quite a few popes, but not every pope leaves the stream of wisdom that John Paul II has left,\u201d she said. \u201cBy studying his features of civility \u2014 spiritual and physical \u2014 and his ability to relate to the individual, we can bring back these qualities for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Graduate students can comprehensively study the thought of the philosopher pope, including all of his 14 encyclicals, with a Master of Arts in John Paul II Studies. This online program includes a capstone course with travel to Poland. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more: <a href=\"http:\/\/stthom.edu\/sjpii\">stthom.edu\/sjpii<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UST\u2019s new JPII Institute offers the only program of its kind focusing on John Paul II in the context of Polish history and culture. With Dr. Ewa Thompson\u2019s transformational gift, the Institute will expand its offerings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,6,8],"tags":[272,319,320,321,324,322,323,325,50,288,10],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-accolades","category-featured-stories","category-giving-opportunities","tag-272","tag-ewa-thompson","tag-john-hittinger","tag-john-paul-ii-institute","tag-master-of-arts-in-john-paul-ii-studies","tag-poland","tag-polish-history-and-culture","tag-pope-john-paul-ii","tag-richard-ludwick","tag-winter-2020-issue","tag-winter-issue"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>JPII Institute Gains Momentum - Encounter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2020\/featured-stories\/jpii-institute-gains-momentum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JPII Institute Gains Momentum - Encounter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UST\u2019s new JPII Institute offers the only program of its kind focusing on John Paul II in the context of Polish history and culture. 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