WELTANSCHAUUNG AND THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY Transforming the Jesuit Business School Experience Through Sharing Personal Stories

Sharing personal stories among a small group of student colleagues involves multiple acts of courage, of trusting, and of being vulnerable and transparent. These are difficult stretches for our students, but the effort creates a transformative experience that changes how students see themselves, how they see their colleagues, and how they see the world (weltanschauung). For our university this sharing, via a structured autobiography exercise, has helped us create a business school culture, as well as broader campus culture, that is more socially aware, more empathic, more understanding, more civil and more humane. In addition, the program incorporates the reflective traditions of the Ignatian Examen, thereby offering a vehicle for connecting participants to our Jesuit heritage. Key Words: weltanschauung, autobiography, resiliency, campus culture, retention, personal narrative, Ignatian Examen