THE LOYOLA CATHOLIC STUDIES PROGRAM

     The essential and foundational truth of the Roman Catholic faith is proclaimed through the revealed Word of God expressed in the Sacred Scriptures, especially the teaching of the Gospel, and the pronouncements of Church doctrine communicated from the Magisterium. From the most ancient intellectual traditions, it is affirmed that all human beings by nature desire to know and that the desire to know is satisfied only upon one’s attainment of knowledge of the first causes and the first  principles of things which also is knowledge of the truth. That desire is constitutive of the ultimate end (telos) of human being, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, because our ultimate purpose (telos) is fulfilled only when consummate knowledge of the first truth, namely, God, is realized. Moreover, St. Thomas concludes that the truth attained by the exercise of human reason cannot be contrary to the truth made available to human beings through revelation which is apprehended by faith. The intimate affinity that obtains among the desire for knowledge, the pursuit of the truth, the exercise of the faculty of reason, and the revealed content of faith has been reasserted by Pope John Paul II.

     “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of the truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know Himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves” (Preamble to Fides et Ratio).

     Emphasis upon the formation of one’s intellectual faculties, for the purpose of desiring the truth, coming to know the truth increasingly more fully, and “seeing God in all things,” is the cornerstone of the educational mission embodied by the Society of Jesus. The characteristic feature of Jesuit education accentuates the exercise of the intellect so that students may relate their activities to the knowledge and love of God, order their learning to the praise of God and the well-being of human kind, as well as provide well reasoned motives for moral living from a Christian ethic.  The vocation of the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition is to arrive at knowledge of the truth about the divine Creation, or all that is, through the exercise of reason in every intellectual endeavor and academic discipline. From the reasoned studies of art, theater, literature, law, history, natural science, social science, language, the business disciplines, philosophy, or theology, the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition exemplifies the lived thinking of the Church as it seeks to exert a profound informing and transforming effect upon the world.

     The Loyola Catholic Studies Program offers students the opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding of the Roman Catholic heritage and increase their appreciation of the integration of faith and reason within all academic disciplines. To support that aim, the Loyola Catholic Studies Program sponsors the Catholic Studies Minor which promotes the development of academic courses throughout the curriculum that demonstrate the influence and contribution of the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition to the advancement of the “life of the mind.” In order to be approved as a Catholic Studies Minor course, the majority of readings and material studied in a course must be representative of  the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition. Other perspectives upon that tradition also may be examined. But a principal focus of the course must be the articulation of the views reflected in the Roman Catholic heritage. Courses submitted for inclusion in the Catholic Studies Minor must first be approved for the curriculum of the faculty member’s academic department. The course then is offered by the faculty member for the Catholic Studies Minor curriculum and it is reviewed for approval by the Director(s) of the Loyola Catholic Studies Program in consultation with the members of the Executive Committee of the Program.

     In addition to course development and the augmentation of course offerings, the Loyola Catholic Studies Program also sponsors annual lecture series in Philosophy, Political Science, the Natural Sciences, Psychology, and the Business disciplines. In conjunction with other faculties and programs of Loyola College in Maryland, a wide variety of cultural, artistic, dramatic, and literary events are co-sponsored by the Loyola Catholic Studies Program, in addition to the Program’s own film series, faculty seminars, fine arts excursions, and social events. Each academic term, a prize essay contest acknowledges superior written work composed by students enrolled in Catholic Studies courses; and each summer a number of student summer research grants are awarded to undergraduate students who have submitted outstanding research proposals. The student summer research grant subsidizes a student’s scholarly research, writing, and/or artistic production that gives expression to the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition or its artistic heritage in the academic discipline of the student’s choosing. Faculty mentors, selected by the students, supervise the research and assist the fruitful completion of the scholarly project. All Catholic Studies courses are open to the entire Loyola College community and all Loyola Catholic Studies Program events are open to the public.   

 THE CATHOLIC STUDIES MINOR

 Satisfaction of the requirements for the Catholic Studies Minor is attained through the successful completion of at least six three credit hour courses selected from the curriculum of approved Catholic Studies Minor courses. An intermediate level Theology course, either TH2202 or TH221, which also may be applied toward the satisfaction of the core course requirements in Theology, and a capstone course, taught jointly by the Theology and Philosophy faculties, are required Catholic Studies Minor courses. In addition, Catholic Studies Minors must take four elective courses. However, no more than two elective courses from the same academic discipline may be applied toward satisfaction of the elective course requirements for the Catholic Studies Minor. Theology majors, pursuing a Catholic Studies Minor, should take all of their Catholic Studies elective courses from academic departments other than Theology.

Required courses:
  TH220: The Catholic Church in the United States or TH221: Catholic Church: Life and Thought;
  TH399: Contemporary Catholic Intellectual Life

Elective Courses:
  Four intermediate or upper division elective courses must be selected from the courses approved to satisfy the requirements for the Catholic Studies Minor. A listing of the current Catholic Studies Minor elective courses is available in the Loyola College catalogue, as well as at the Loyola Catholic Studies Program web page which may be accessed through the Loyola College in Maryland web site.

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