A Very Worthy Initiative

Thanks to a wonderful reader for alerting me to a program which might be of interest to those among us who are involved with the wonderful world of Catholic higher education.

FACIT -- Faculty and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition -- is a project which seeks to "highlight the Catholic intellectual contribution in particular academic disciplines" so that the salient threads behind those disciplines can be effectively and concretely be part of a solid academic formation, even in a secular institution.

After all, the great patron of higher education through the ages has always, always, been the Catholic church. (Well, until the Calvinist takeover... but that's another story.)

FACIT is hosting its first summer seminar from 14-24 June at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. The focus at hand is on English literature and the health sciences. As they tell it:

The FACIT seminar has a distinctive and decidedly practical goal - to help faculty members integrate the Catholic material presented at the seminar into their teaching repertoire in the immediately following academic year. Sessions are designed with this goal in mind. They will provide information and develop participants' skill and confidence in addressing the Catholic intellectual tradition in suitable ways in their own courses. For some faculty this might mean introducing a new topic in a course. For others it would mean enhancing the depth and scope of Catholic topics they already address. Presenters will emphasize how to engage Catholic topics in undergraduate courses generally. The presenters will also explore particular ways in which they have engaged these topics and themes in the courses they regularly teach.

Sounds quite appealing... Here's hoping it's a hit!

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