Staff
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Casey Beaumier, S.J.,听is the director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in United States religious history from Boston College and focused his dissertation on the development of Jesuit education in the 20th century. At Boston College, Fr. Beaumier teaches in the Capstone Program and lives in Fenwick Hall, where he serves as mentor and spiritual director for students, seminarians, women religious, and priests. In addition to directing the Institute, Fr. Beaumier also serves as Vice President and University Secretary.
Matt Schweitzer听is the associate director at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Boston College.听 After several years working in the investment services sector at State Street Bank, he decided to pursue a career within the nonprofit world, spurred on by his participation in the 19th听annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.听 He first worked as a financial consultant within the Archdiocese of Boston, then Director of Finance and Operations at two Catholic parishes and schools, and most recently, as Assistant Controller at Saint Anselm College.听 At the Institute, he oversees strategic planning, marketing, financial and administrative leadership, and fundraising, among other areas, to assist in the development and promotion of the programs offered by the Institute.听听He has deep regard for Society of Jesus and Catholic education and is passionate about furthering the work of the Society through the mission of the Institute.
Anu拧ka Lisec Gras听is the assistant director for finance and operations at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. She grew up and spent the majority of her life in Slovenia, where she received her B.A. in Sociology and served nineteen years in the Slovenian military, primarily as a human resource officer. While in the military she obtained her graduate degree in Military Science from Air University in Alabama, participated in several crisis management operations and met her husband Sam. They married in 2008, lived for several years in Slovenia and Italy, and decided to move to the United States. Before moving to Boston and joining the Institute in 2023, Anu拧ka worked five years in international admission at Oregon State University.听 She is excited to apply her diverse experience and interpersonal skills to support the mission, projects and staff of the Institute.
Elizabeth 鈥淏etsy鈥� O鈥橞rien is the Assistant Director of Marketing and Programming at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. Betsy received her undergraduate degree from John Carroll University. She also has a certificate in Marketing Strategy from Cornell University. While at John Carroll, Betsy was an Arrupe Scholar, studying the works of Pedro Arrupe and other Jesuit Scholars and leaders. This informative period in her life impacted her professional and personal life in profound ways. Betsy has worked in the private and nonprofit sectors with great organizations such as the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE) and Boston Globe Media. Betsy also proudly served the Boston community through a year of service with AmeriCorps, working alongside City Year. She is eager to collaborate with others to strengthen the mission of the Institute through its marketing and programming efforts.
Claude Pavur, S.J.,听an associate editor, specializes in the translation of Latin documents relating to the Society of Jesus. His graduate degrees are in scripture, philosophy, and classics. At the Institute he has produced English editions of the famous Jesuit plan of studies from 1599 (the Ratio Studiorum, 2005), Ribadeneira's life of Ignatius (2014), and the Latin texts in the first Jesuit pedagogy reader (2016). His recent overview of the historiography of Jesuit pedagogy is available at Brill's Jesuit Historiography Online. Other interests of his include Jesuit education and formation, classical humanism, and Latin pedagogy. He has been a member of the Society of Jesus since 1973. 听
Robert Gerlich, S.J.,听an associate editor, obtained his B.A degree in Philosophy from St. Louis University (1972), M.A. in European History from Saint Louis University (1977); Bakkalaureat in Catholic Theology from Hochschule Sankt Georgen, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (1980) and Ph.D in Modern European History from Saint Louis University (1987). Prior to coming to the Institute in 2021, Fr. Gerlich was a member of the editorial and research staff of the Encyclopedia of Jesuit History project under the direction of the Jesuit Historical Institute in Rome, Italy (1987-1988) and for a semester and several summers thereafter. 听He was an associate professor of history at Loyola University New Orleans from 1989 until 2021, when he was granted emeritus status.听 His present project at the Institute involves translating and editing a new biography of St. Ignatius by Enrique Garc铆a Hern谩n.
Taiga Guterres听is the managing editor of the听Jesuit Educational Quarterly听at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, where he engages and facilitates collegiality between the Institute and the global network of Jesuit Studies scholars. He assists and supports the Institute鈥檚 outreach efforts and special projects that promote educational research of the Jesuits and their educational and spiritual mission. Taiga holds a M.A. in Theology & Ministry and a M.S.W. from Boston College and is a current Ph.D. candidate in Formative Education. He is on the editorial board of听Integratus,听the Journal of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association, and is a core member of the Psychological Humanities & Ethics initiatives at Boston College.
Alessandro Corsi听is the digital scholarship editor at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. He obtained his听Ph.D in Modern History and Church History from Universit脿 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano and specialized听in qualitative and quantitative historical analysis of听Ancien R茅gime听social structures, observed through the lens of digital tools.听He joined the Institute as a fellow in 2022 and continued his postdoc project started in 2019 (Fondazione 1563 - Turin),听a database created from Triennales and Breves registration听catalogs听of the Old Society.听In his current position, he facilitates and promotes collegiality between the IAJS and the global network of scholars and research centers around the world, by overseeing all the Digital Projects sponsored by the Institute, including mobile phone applications.
Dan Balk听is the program director for Ever to Excel at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. He received his B.A. in History from the University of Rochester and a M.A. in Educational Leadership from Boston College's Lynch School of Education.听Dan听has extensive experience in teaching, coaching, and program management. Prior to joining the Institute,听Dan听worked for over 12 years at Dedham Country Day School where he taught middle school history and served as the Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Service Learning for the middle school.听Dan听greatly enjoys working with high school students and has coached high school varsity baseball at Codman Academy and Beaver Country Day School.
Elizabeth Campbell is the assistant program director for Ever to Excel at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. After receiving her B.A. in English from Boston College, Elizabeth returned to 51茶馆 in 2015 to lead the Church in the 21st Century Center鈥檚 marketing and expansion of the Agape Latte program to colleges, high schools, and parishes nationwide. As part of her work with the C21 Center, she collaborated on the development and promotion of the Ever to Excel program since its inaugural year in 2016. Elizabeth joined the Institute team in 2022 to focus her work on Ever to Excel and the formation of the college and high school students who journey听through the program. She is excited to utilize her creative background and interest in digital media to support the mission of the Institute and inspire young people to learn about and share their stories of faith.
Research Scholars
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Cristiano Casalini, Ph.D.,听is a Professor and Endowed Chair in Jesuit Pedagogy and Educational History, and a Research Scholar with the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College. He teaches History of Jesuit Pedagogy, Social Justice in Jesuit Contexts, and Philosophy of Education. Casalini鈥檚 field of research is mainly early modern education and especially Jesuit education. He has worked on critical texts and commentaries of 16th and 17th century classics of education, especially in and around the Jesuit order. He is currently working of editing educational writings and documents as produced by Jesuit during the early modern period. He recently edited a collective volume on听Jesuit Philosophy on the Eve of Modernity听(Leiden-Boston, 2019).听He also provided with Claude Pavur the first volume of a series devoted to the history of Jesuit pedagogy, entitled听听(Boston: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2016). He also wrote a book on the Cursus Conimbricensis and the education at the Jesuit college of Coimbra (Rome: Anicia, 2012; and, in Portuguese, Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, 2015; in English, New York: Routledge, 2017), which was awarded with the Pr茅mio Joaqu铆m de Carvalho, 2016. Casalini serves as editor-in-chief of a series published by Brill on History of Early Modern Educational Thought.
Barton T. Geger, S.J., is a research scholar at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, Assistant Professor of the Practice at the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College, and general editor of Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits. He holds an M.A. in philosophy from Saint Louis University, a M.Th. in Systematic Theology from Heythrop College, an STL in historical theology from (then) Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and a doctorate in sacred theology from Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid. He writes on Ignatian spirituality and early Jesuit history. His essays include "Ten Things That St. Ignatius Never Said or Did" and 鈥淲hat Magis Really Means and Why It Matters.鈥� He currently edits new editions of the Jesuit Constitutions and of the "Autobiography" of St. Ignatius Loyola.听听
Emanuele Colombo听Ph.D.,听is a Professor at the Boston College Lynch School of Education and a Research Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies (Boston College). His research focuses on early modern religious history, theology, politics, Jesuit missions, Christian-Muslim encounters, and global Catholicism. He is the editor of the听Digital Indipetae Database, a digital humanities project engaging hundreds of international high school and college students. Additionally, he serves as the executive editor of the Journal of Jesuit Studies (Brill) and is a member of the Accademia Ambrosiana in Milan.
Senior Affiliated Scholars
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Andrew Barrette (Ph.D. Southern Illinois University Carbondale)听 is an Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Philosophy Department at Boston College. His research with the Institute focuses upon philosophy and theology in the Post-Restoration Society. He is also the General Editor of the Collected Works of Joseph Mar茅chal, S.J. with Jesuit Sources. 听
Claudio Ferlan (Ph.D. University of Trieste) is a full-time researcher at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler in Trento, Italy, where he is also working as听. Ferlan was a fellow at the Institute for a semester in 2019 to conduct research on the food history of the Society of Jesus in the early modern Atlantic world. He is the author of a number of works, including The Jesuits: A Thematic History (2023).
2024 鈥� 2025 Research Fellows
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Silvia Mostaccio (PhD, University of Padua, Italy) is professor of Early Modern History at UCLouvain, Belgium. She is interested in cultural and social history through religious and gender studies. After studying the Jesuit system of obedience in the Society of Jesus, Silvia coordinated a collective research project on Ignatian women religious congregations. For some years now, she has been studying the European missions of the Society of Jesus, particularly the military mission to the Spanish army in Flanders during the Wars of Religion (late 16th and early 17th centuries). Her general project is entitled:听Living with violence in wartime. Gender, Religion and Resilience in Early Modern Spanish Europe. Silvia considers the Jesuit mission to Catholic armies as a co-constructed action between the missionaries and the missioned (the men, but also the women and children who lived with the soldiers). She explores the power relations (ecclesiastical and military) and the devotional creativity of missionaries and lay people who needed a faith capable of giving meaning to the violence they endured or inflicted on others. Together with Alessandro Serra, Silvia is currently preparing a book to be published by the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies:听Jesuit Military Missionaries in Northern Europe.听
Francisco听Mota, S.J., of the Portuguese Province, is an IAJS Fellow.听 For the past seven years, he oversaw Brot茅ria 鈥� a Jesuit cultural center in downtown Lisbon. He also served as a parish priest, the Vice-President of Jesuit Refugee Service in Portugal, the President of a parish school, and a member of the Province鈥檚 Finance board.
Sabina Pavone is Full Professor in History of Christianity at the University of Naples L鈥橭rientale. Her research area is situated at the intersection of various disciplines: institutional history, religious history and cultural history and听focuses on two areas: the first concerns the penetration of Catholicism into Poland and Russia in the modern age, while the second is aimed at investigating听the relationship between the religious orders, especially Jesuits, and the Roman Inquisition, mostly in the Indian missions.She is in the Scientific Board of the Journal of Jesuit Studies, Jesuit Studies, and the Digital Indipetae Database. She is also in the Board of Directors of the Soci茅t茅 Int茅rnational d鈥櫭﹖udes j茅suites in Paris. Among her works are: The Wily Jesuits (2005);听I gesuiti dalle origini alla soppressione听(2nd ed., 2021);听Sacre metamorfosi. Racconti di conversione tra Roma e il mondo in et脿听moderna (2022);听Eloquent Images. Evangelization, Conversions and Propaganda in the Global World of the Early Modern Period听(2022); and Lessico della storia moderna (2024).听During her semester fellowship at the Institute, Pavone will continue her project on the Jesuits martyrs in India and the beatification and canonization processes.听
Graduate Assistants
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Sean Billings is a graduate assistant with the Institute and is in his first year of study at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. He is a student in the Master of Theological Studies program and hopes to either go on to further theological studies or work in an academic and ministerial setting. He is drawn to studying systematic theology and learning about Ignatian spirituality. Sean is originally from San Diego and received a B.A. in philosophy from the University of San Diego.
Brianna Braden听is a graduate assistant with the Institute. She is currently in her first year of study at the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. She is pursuing her Masters of Arts in Theology and Ministry, with a focus in social outreach.听Brianna received her B.A. in English Literature from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.听
Andrew Colliton听is a graduate research associate with the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies while he pursues a Master of Divinity (MDiv) at the Boston College鈥檚 Clough School of Theology and Ministry. Andrew received a B.S. in International Political Economy at Georgetown University鈥檚 Walsh School of Foreign Service, with a minor in History and a concentration in Spanish. During his undergraduate studies, Andrew completed internships at the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, CT and the Institute for Faith and Public Life at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington, DC.听 Through his undergraduate experience at Georgetown, Andrew was introduced to the Society of Jesus, including participating in liturgical, music, and campus outreach ministries. Now, Andrew lives in Boston, MA where he enjoys studying the rich religious history of the Society of Jesus and the mission continuing today at Boston College.
Grace Gibbons听is a graduate research associate with the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies while she pursues a Master of Theological Studies at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry. Grace received her undergraduate education in Supply Chain Management from Iowa State University and went on to complete a Master in Agricultural Economics at Utah State University. Following this, she attended the University of Notre Dame Echo program where she received an MA in Theology while working as an ecclesial minister and educator at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Mullingar, Ireland. This experience sparked her love for the study of theology and has brought her back to further studies at Boston College where she is enjoying being formed in the rich history and spirituality of Jesuit education.听
Emily Glass听is a graduate research associate with the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. After earning a B.A. in Theology from Mount St. Mary's University, Emily became a director of youth ministry in a parish. This experience of accompanying youth in their faith development inspired an enthusiasm for practical theology, ultimately leading Emily to Boston College. She is currently in her third (and final!) year of study in a dual-degree program at 51茶馆 pursuing a Master of Theology & Ministry and a Master of Social Work. Her research interests听lie at the intersection of these two disciplines, primarily the complementarity of clinical social work and the sacredness of听cura personalis.
Kasey Kimball听is a Ph.D. candidate in historical theology at Boston College. Her current research focuses on early Franciscan anthropology and sacramental theology; she also has an abiding interest in pre-Modern Scriptural exegesis and theories of secularization. Inspired by the 20th century听ressourcement听movement, she intends her scholarly work in the Patristic and Medieval theological tradition to be of service to the contemporary Church as well as to the academy. Raised an Anglican in Newburyport, MA, she received a BA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) in 2008 and served for six years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Baltimore before moving to Canada for graduate studies. She received her MA in theology from Regent College (Vancouver, 51茶馆) in 2018. She was received into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2018, influenced, in part, by writing her MA thesis on St. Bonaventure. When she鈥檚 not studying, she enjoys British detective fiction, distance running, teatime, and making friends with other people's dogs.
Undergraduate Assistants
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Stephen Eckelkamp is a senior and undergraduate assistant at the Institute. He is studying Political Science and Finance on the pre-law track.
Ellen Gallagher is a junior and undergraduate assistant at the Institute in a work-study program with Ever to Excel. Apart from her work at the Institute, she is very involved in the Appa Volunteers service immersion program on campus. Ellen studies听Communication and Economics in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences as well as Leadership in Higher Education and Community Settings in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Ellen is looking forward to pursuing a career in higher education.听
Matthew Wilderson is a senior and undergraduate assistant at the Institute in a work-study program with Ever to Excel. Apart from his work at the Institute, Matt studies听Communications in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences and is looking forward to applying to Dental Schools to follow his passion.听