Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Catholic universities have a special responsibility as stewards of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. As such, they seek to preserve, transmit and develop this 2,000 year old tradition in the context of and in active dialogue with the contemporary cultures of the world and the signs of the times. The tasks of preserving, transmitting and developing the Catholic Intellectual Tradition enriches our pedagogical mission of preparing students for lives of continuous learning, leadership and service to others. Sacred Heart University has emerged as one of the leading Catholic universities in the United States in this important work at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Members of the faculty have a unique role in fulfilling this aspect of the University’s mission. To assist those members of the faculty interested in developing this part of the University’s mission an Annual Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition was established. The Presidential Seminar is a year-long program for a group of ten members of the full time faculty. The Seminar has four objectives: (1) to assist the participants to come to a better understanding of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition; (2) to articulate and explore the methodological and pedagogical implications of this Tradition for the participants’ work as teachers seeking to engage students with the Catholic Intellectual Tradition; (3) to examine the research opportunities that engagement with the Tradition creates for the participants; and (4) to encourage the participants to work toward development of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition throughout their academic life.

Some of the projects from the Presidential Seminar are featured in this series.