Preparing Humanities Students for Employment: Reimagining Career Exploration and Education through Ignatian Spirituality and Discernment

Abstract

Graduate students in the humanities are hungry for career exploration as they face limited academic career options and feel called to work beyond the academy. Career preparation is typically left to graduate advisors, and then, the focus tends to be on academic career preparation. This article details how a required, introductory graduate class was reimagined to integrate career exploration using a framework at the heart of Ignatian spirituality and education: discernment. The authors outline the course and two assignments that can be adapted and applied to any graduate course. The authors share reflections on how the class has impacted their own professional and personal formation, and they end with heuristics for educators to use when preparing to teach similar graduate courses.