After Two-Year Delay, ASEC and CARA Welcome 7th Visiting Scholar

Sr. Akello Lucy Dora, LSMIG, Ph.D, will participate in a six month research fellowship to learn applied research skills in the apostolate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University. She is the organization’s seventh Visiting Scholar, having been accepted to the program in 2020 but only now arriving in the United States due to COVID-19 restrictions and delays. (Sr. Victorine was our 8th Visiting Scholar and departed in the beginning of June to return to Ghana after conducting her research.)

Through a grant awarded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, CARA’s primary focus is to help African Sister Scholars acquire applied research skills in the apostolate over a six-month fellowship. The grant also supports the development and implementation of at least one research project in the home country of each Sister Scholar.

Sr. Lucy belongs to the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Gulu (LSMIG) in Uganda. She has her doctorate in Behavioral and Social Science/Pedagogy from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. 

Dedicating her studies and work to education, Sr. Lucy has been working on her development since 1997 when she was awarded her Bachelors Degree from Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. Since then, she has worked diligently as a lecturer and a committee member of multiple organizations that monitor curriculums and improve the quality of education.

As a teacher and lecturer, one of Sr. Lucy’s core responsibilities is promoting Catholic education. When it comes to recruitment for school and parish, she noticed that sisters, priests and parents are facing many challenges due to modernity, pluralism, secularism and hostility towards Catholic teaching. She is interested in researching how the sisters, priests and parents in Uganda can better promote Catholic education in the 21st century considering these trends.

Having just arrived at CARA in the beginning of June after a two year delay due to COVID-19, Sr. Lucy will spend six months conducting her research with the organization. She plans to utilize surveys, interviews and in-depth case studies. 

Sr. Lucy hopes that this research experience will help her engage in research on how to promote Catholic education, which can inspire Diocesan Education secretaries, sisters and teachers to promote Catholic Education in Schools in Uganda.

ABOUT CARA:

In 2015-2016, ASEC entered into an agreement with Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University to bring African sisters to the U.S. for a Visiting Scholar Fellowship. CARA is a national, nonprofit research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church. The chosen sister will work and study with CARA to advance their research skills.  ASEC is partnered with CARA to recruit the sister scholars and engage them in research opportunities, including over one week at its Scranton, PA, office.

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