A Vision for Catholic Higher Education in the 21st Century: Reflecting on the Boston College Roundtable

Abstract

The nucleus of any university is the intellectual life that unfolds among faculty and students. Inevitably, that intellectual life is shaped by the broader university context. Examining that process-in particular, its connection to a Catholic understanding of university mission-offers insight into pressing issues. For instance, what shifting social and academic conditions-both opportunities and challengesset a context for campus conversations? How might Catholic institutions respond to these conditions? Can Catholic institutions provide a hospitable place for integrating faith and reason at the institutional and personal levels? Can the Catholic intellectual tradition serve as a constructive and creative lens for transforming Catholic higher education? And drawing on ideas that emerged during the Boston College Roundtable seminars, how might change occur?

Catholic Teacher Preparation

“…We would be loath to recommend any one position from Pring's schema as the ideal expression of the Catholic intellectual tradition, understood here as the Church's ongoing engagement with the world of ideas: from Blessed John Henry Newman's encomium on the value of a liberal education to John Baptiste de La Salle's commitment to offering practical guidance for young men selected to teach in schools, the Catholic intellectual tradition is especially pertinent to the development of the Catholic educational mission. 11 Catholic teacher preparation had traditionally been a mission entrusted to religious Sisters and Brothers. This is no longer the case.…”