Roedlach Co-authors Chapter on Compassion Education

Alexander Roedlach, PhD, professor of medical anthropology in the Department of Cultural and Social Studies at Creighton, and Kathleen Clark, PhD, associate professor of Nursing at Augsburg University, contributed a chapter in the book, "Compassion als Schlüssel fuer eine zukunftsfähige Bildung nachhaltiger Entwicklung" (translation: Compassion as Key to Sustainable Development Education for the Future), edited by Maike Domsel and Maurice Steffens.

Their chapter, “Compassion in Pre-Health and Health Professional Education – Inspiration and Sustenance for Action”, draws on the political theologian Johann Baptist Metz’s concept of compassion to argue that students can cultivate compassion and a compassionate response to the United Nation’s sustainable development goals through reflection on values that inform professional practice, mentorship to hone skills for civic engagement, and immersion into the lives of individuals struggling with illness.

Such efforts are more effective if educational settings are genuine and authentic ecologies of compassion. The volume has been published in January 2024 by Kohlhammer Press.