Intellectual tradition topic of seminar
What does the Catholic faith have to do with teaching physics or English?
The Vatican’s astronomer will be one of those speaking to the question at the Substantially Catholic seminar June 8-10 at Marin Catholic High School. The seminar will address the issue of infusing the Catholic intellectual tradition at the high school level.
The seminar’s goal is help teachers and administrators “ensure that the Catholic intellectual tradition is part of every department, every subject and every course,” said Chris Valdez, principal of Marin Catholic High School and a conference organizer.
“Where do Christian values, how does redemption play?” asked Valdez. “What are the texts that best serve our students to fulfill our mission? That is not to say that books that may contradict the mission of the school are not useful, they may be,” said Valdez “It is also not prescriptive. The idea is not that you need to teach this book and this book this book. A lot of this seminar is to create a more Catholic atmosphere to teach biology and physics and chemistry…”
This year the seminar will focus on science and English, with next year addressing social sudies and maybe visual and performing arts, Valdez said.
The speakers will include: Father William Stoeger, SJ, astronomer at the Vatican Observatory and professor of astrophysics at the Uni¬versity of Arizona; Oliver Putz, who has a doctorate in evolutionary biology from the Freie Universität Berlin and is a doctoral student at the Graduate Theological Union; Paul Contino, Pepperdine University professor of Great Books and specialist in modern fiction; Marquette University English Professor Ed Block, Jr., who has written on Hans Urs Von Balthasar and modern literature.
Other speakers will be David Gentry-Aiken, a professor of theology at St. Mary’s College of California, Moraga, who has written on Catholic identity of schools; and Thomas Cavanaugh, a professor of philosophy at the University of San Francisco who has written on Catholic moral theology.
Two speakers from the Catholic Education Institute in New York will address issues in administration and conveying the Catholic tradition. They are Melanie Morey and Father John Piderit, SJ.
For more information: Marin Catholic, The Catholic Education Institute or contact Joe Tassone at 415- 215-8571.
By Valerie Schmalz
From May 28, 2009 issue of Catholic SF.
