Meditations on philanthropy from a professor of emotion

Francoise Miruget discusses generosity in theory and practice

This interview is part of an ongoing series in which ASU faculty and staff members explore the impact of philanthropy on their programs, colleagues and students.

Some people tend to have a narrow idea of philanthropists, imagining historic captains of industry and the public works they funded. And yet philanthropy—in the truest sense of the word—has a much richer meaning.

Francoise Mirguet teaches an interdisciplinary course on compassion, as well as a team-taught course entitled "Emotions across languages, cultures, and history."?Her current research focuses on emotions and the history of the self in late antique Jewish literature, written in Hebrew and Greek.?

What do you think of when you think of philanthropy???

Well, as someone who studies the history of emotion, when I hear "philanthropy," I think of the Greek word behind it, philanthropia, the broad love of humankind that ancient Greek sources talk about. I also hear inclusivity in the concept -- that we all, as human beings, belong.?

How do you define mutual aid??

Mutual aid is assistance within the community, helping each other where we are. It is important to make contributions to humankind in the most meaningful way, to fight malaria, for example, but it's very important to do what we can with people we are interacting with day after day.

How do you give back to your community???

I give back to the community through my job. I work to be a caring, responsible, respectful professor. I'm also serving as associate director of graduate studies, where I see my role as that of an advocate. I support students. And I fight to give them a voice, to recognize their voice, and to help support what they have to say.

How have you seen students impacted by philanthropy??

What comes to mind first is the support that we created in my school during the pandemic. Much of what the School of International Letters and Cultures accomplished during that time was supported by ASU donors. The fund helped us to support students quickly and respect the dignity of our students. We would refer them to other resources on campus, like the dean of students and counseling, but sometimes quick financial help could make a huge difference for those students. We would help with food, housing, transportation and medical care.

Each action alone may have been small, but I believe it made a meaningful impact. It was also a way to express our support as a school, validate that times were really difficult for students, and say we are here and are doing all we can to support you. It was very meaningful to feel that we were not alone as professors and staff members and that we had a community to support us. So thank you to the donors for that!?

?How has philanthropy impacted your community???

Philanthropy impacts multiple levels of my community. At the level of research, it simply helps scholars here at ASU engage in meaningful research. I'm working on compassion in ancient communities. It's not the easiest kind of research to find funding for, and I do need to access ancient sources, and sometimes travel to conferences, so philanthropy is really meaningful for that. Philanthropy supports all kinds of research, including in the humanities, like history, literature, and the arts.?

Philanthropy is also impactful for our students. There is the financial aspect of it, as I described. I think it's also very important to know that they are a part of a community here, a local community. It can be very meaningful for international students, for example, to know that they are welcome here in the Phoenix area. In a way, donors can also be role models for students and all of us as people who are building community and giving back to communities.?

Francoise Miruget is an associate professor of Ancient Hebrew and the History of Emotions in the School of International Letters and Cultures. She is also a faculty affiliate in Jewish Studies and the Jess Schwartz Associate Professor of Hebrew and Near Eastern Cultures. Her most recent book is?An Early History of Compassion: Emotion and Imagination in Hellenistic Judaism?(Cambridge?University Press,?2017).