{"id":58,"date":"2018-05-12T15:02:43","date_gmt":"2018-05-12T19:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/?p=58"},"modified":"2018-05-12T15:04:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-12T19:04:06","slug":"blueprint-for-a-catholic-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/2018\/05\/12\/blueprint-for-a-catholic-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Blueprint for a Catholic University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ward, L. R. (1949).\u00a0Blueprint for a Catholic university<\/em>. St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co.<\/p>\n

This is a good example of the Catholic response to the growing secularization of higher education and the difficulties that Catholic colleges (particularly in the United States) faced in maintaining their identity and purpose.\u00a0 Ward argues that \u201cmerely trying to keep up, not get behind\u201d (p. 7), particularly in terms of standardized testing and accreditation, has resulted in dismal \u201cmediocracy\u201d along with a siege mentality in which \u201csimply to keep the faith\u201d rather than moving forward became an end in itself. \u00a0He observes that \u201cMerely being not non-Catholic, merely saving the faith, merely making not-bad men, is aiming at mediocrity and at best achieving it\u201d (p. 8).<\/p>\n

Ward challenges claims that only Catholic universities provide a complete synthesis of knowledge (echoing Newman\u2019s ideal university), arguing that many suffer a kind of \u201cconfused anti-intellectualism\u201d. \u00a0The central question of his book is \u201cwhat ought a Catholic university to be\u201d (p.10), and (in some contrast to Newman), how that aim might best be achieved.<\/p>\n

After describing the \u201cCrisis in Catholic Education\u201d (chapter one), subsequent chapters provide a history of universities from medieval times, noting that \u201cthere is no evidence that the medieval universities were set up to form guilds, to form character as a direct object, or to make money.\u00a0 They were set up for intellectual purposes\u201d (p.61).\u00a0\u00a0 His contention that the primary purpose of a university must be intellectual (\u201cto train minds\u201d) along with the fundamental premise of freedom for learning (related to what we now think of as intellectual freedom) is echoed throughout the book.<\/p>\n

The Renaissance revival of humanism and the subsequent emphasis on rhetoric rather than logic created an atmosphere in which \u201celoquence became the real object of learning, and with eloquence were associated courtesy and elegance of manners\u201d (p.72).\u00a0 By the 1600\u2019s, university education \u2013 especially in England — was mainly directed toward forming \u201cgentlemen\u201d.\u00a0 However, the reformation and rise of the Protestant assertion that \u201cMan is essentially corrupt \u2026 neither his intellect nor his will is to be trusted\u201d promoted anti-intellectualism where \u201cFaith takes the place of both intellect and will\u201d (p.75) and \u201cpiety and propaganda began to be the ends of learning\u201d (p. 77). Ward contends that this had a profound effect on \u201cthe theory and practice of Catholic schools\u201d, most notably the \u201closs of the ideal of wisdom\u201d (p.78).\u00a0 The implication is that this was the beginning of their decline, confusion and lack of direction. \u00a0\u00a0It was complicated by the rise of modern science and the sidelining of both the humanities and religion, which culminated in a situation where universities offered \u201ca confused set of studies: science, classics, a pious Protestantism with little faith in in wisdom, and a pious Catholicism still asserting wisdom and a supernatural wisdom\u201d (p.83).\u00a0 Ward notes that these are three elements essential to higher education:\u00a0 classics, science, and wisdom \u2013 but how to put them together effectively?<\/p>\n

Ward\u2019s statement on the specific end of a Catholic University (chapter 5) is deceptively simple: \u201ca Catholic university is the home of the intellect as Catholic\u201d (p. 97).\u00a0 He means that Catholic theology must have primacy (agreeing with Newman that theology is the highest science) and that it is pivotal to all other branches of study, including sociology and all of the arts and sciences.\u00a0 Thus Catholic universities aim for an \u201cadequacy of knowledge\u201d which is impossible in universities that lack the \u201chigher science\u201d of theology (p. 104). We are naturally oriented toward truth and goodness, but \u201cthey are not there before us like grass before the nose of a cow\u201d, we must develop the habit of going toward them.\u00a0 This \u201chabit of virtue\u201d cannot be taught, but fostered by developing the intellect.\u00a0 Similarly the \u201chabit of understanding\u201d cannot be taught, but we can \u201cmake our knowledge of it more conscious and explicit\u201d (p. 119).\u00a0 *Praxis folks will no doubt consider this in relation to Lonergan\u2019s GEM.<\/p>\n

So what has gone wrong?\u00a0 Ward offers some insights, one of which is profoundly relevant today: economic determinism \u2013 \u201cParents send their children to college because they wish them to make more money than dad made\u201d (p.152).\u00a0 (In today\u2019s culture we might replace the latter simply with \u201cto make money\u201d or \u201cto get a job that pays a living wage\u201d). He sees this as part of a \u201cdessicated American sociology\u201d, a lack of vitality, too much individualism and a depersonalizing emphasis on colleges being \u201cprogressive and efficient\u201d (p.337).\u00a0 Not only has this malaise flowed into Catholic universities overall but into Catholic theology itself, partly due to the long-engrained defensive and \u201ckeeping up\u201d mentality described in chapter one. \u00a0\u00a0Theology, he insists, must regain its place as a living, relevant and vital science.<\/p>\n

Although Ward repeatedly stresses the primacy of intellectual development as the goal of education, he makes a plea for \u201ccollege as Christian community\u201d and student involvement in Catholic practice, including attendance at Mass (p.334) to counter individualism and commercialism.\u00a0 But he warns against an isolationism of Catholic colleges that breeds stagnation.\u00a0 Conferences and interaction with secular (and better-endowed!) schools can help mutual learning. Ward also calls for careful recruitment of faculty of \u201cacademic quality\u201d who engage \u201cat least part time [in] great classical books, great classical experiments\u201d (p.368).\u00a0 While this was largely directed toward the running of Catholic schools by priests, monks, and nuns, we can see the contemporary application to non-academically trained administrators.<\/p>\n

Like many writers of his time, Ward is rather long-winded and somewhat repetitive, but his style is unpretentious, almost conversational, and very accessible to a non-specialist. \u00a0My ultimate reason for choosing this book above an array of others was that I quickly became engaged after randomly browsing a few sections.\u00a0 Note to myself:\u00a0 history of libraries p. 29-30<\/p>\n

Questions<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Is Ward correct in suggesting that Catholic Universities suffer from \u201ca siege mentality\u201d and a perceived need to \u201ckeep up with\u201d secular institutions?<\/li>\n
  2. How do we make Catholic theology more relevant, living, and vital?<\/li>\n
  3. Is striving to involve students in \u201cCatholic practice\u201d viable given the diversity of our students today?<\/li>\n
  4. Similarly, what about his call to recruit faculty who \u201cengage with the classics\u201d, particularly given the current emphasis on \u201cmarketable research\u201d (see Hough in Griffin & Hough, 1991 and Collini 2012). What about the growing trend to appoint secular administrators?<\/li>\n
  5. Seeing a university education as a means to make money, \u201ceconomic determinism\u201d and the \u201cprofessionalization of education\u201d are even more prevalent now than in Ward\u2019s time. Is it possible to reconcile this socio-economic reality with a more classical, value and truth-based education?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ward, L. R. (1949).\u00a0Blueprint for a Catholic university. St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co. This is a good example of the Catholic response to the growing secularization of higher education and the difficulties that Catholic colleges (particularly in the United States) faced in maintaining their identity and purpose.\u00a0 Ward argues that \u201cmerely trying to keep … Continue reading “Blueprint for a Catholic University”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-higher-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions\/61"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}