The Center for Catholic Studies

2022 Faculty Summer Seminar, May 31 – June 2, "Ideas of a Catholic University: Then, Now, and into the Future"  

John Henry NewmannSaint John Henry Newman was invited by the Irish bishops to found a Catholic university in Dublin in the early 1850s. While the concrete results were a failure, his vision of Catholic higher education, articulated in his Idea of a University, has become the locus classicus for discussions of idealized liberal education. This seminar will explore the context of Newman's Idea, how it intersects with our own experience of higher education, and the implications of these "ideas" for Seton Hall University and its vision of a Catholic education.   

We will offer a virtual option but encourage participants to attend in person. The Summer Seminar is co-sponsored by the Center for Vocation and Servant Leadership.

The Center for Catholic Studies provides opportunities for faculty to reflect in depth on topics central to the Catholic intellectual tradition, including this  24th Annual Faculty Summer Seminar which is open to all administrators and faculty.

Faculty participants who write a response-essay by August 1st, will receive a stipend of $300. These essays will be collected and published online HERE.

About the Facilitator

 Kenneth Kenneth Parker received his Ph.D. in Historical Theology from the University of Cambridge. He is the Ryan Endowed Chair for Newman Studies; Department of Catholic Studies Chair, and Professor of Catholic Studies and Historical Theology at Duquesne University. He is the founding director of St. Louis University Prison Program and Editor of the Newman Studies Journal.

About the Center for Catholic Studies

Founded at Seton Hall University in 1997, the Center for Catholic Studies is dedicated to fostering an ongoing dialogue between the Catholic intellectual tradition and all areas of study and contemporary culture. In the spirit of the Catholic Church's legacy of bringing forth things "new and old," the Center's scholarly research, publications, and programming serve to generate new initiatives and facilitate conversation and collaboration among faculty, administrators, students, and the general public. The primary function of the Center for Catholic Studies (CCS) is to foster the Catholic mission of Seton Hall in creative ways. It endeavors to be an incubator for innovative initiatives in promoting Catholic identity across the university. It fulfills this role for diverse demographics within the university in five principal areas: Faculty Development, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Intellectual Life, Student Engagement, and Ongoing Innovation.

The Center developed the undergraduate program, Catholic Studies Program, which offers a major, minor and certificate and continues to support the Program's students with scholarship aid as well as ongoing co-curricular activities. Focusing on the central role of the faculty, the Center also sponsors regular Faculty Development programs, including lectures, seminars and retreats. In addition, the Center administers two national faculty programs: Collegium: A Colloquy on Faith and Intellectual Life, and The Lilly Fellows Program.

The Center maintains a global focus in international scholarship and is the home of the G.K. Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture, as well as the Bernard J. Lonergan Institute. The Institutes offer opportunities for study and research, as well as ongoing programs related to faith and culture. In addition, the Micah Institute for Business and Economics concentrates on communicating Catholic Social Teaching and ethics to business education at Seton Hall and the wider business community. The Center also publishes the prestigious Chesterton Review and The Lonergan Review.

Categories: Faith and Service