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Seminar Fosters Discourse on Fides et Ratio
8/14/2007
 Dr. Dominic Aquila, dean of Arts and Sciences, and Fr. Anthony Giampietro, CSB, assistant professor of philosophy, had the opportunity to act like students again when they participated in the second annual Fides et Ratio (faith and reason) seminar, an event that brings together faculty from Catholic colleges and universities across the United States and abroad to discuss Catholic intellectual tradition and Catholic liberal education.
During the weeklong seminar, professors and other faculty members read and discussed texts by 20th and 21st century philosophers, theologians and poets who have helped form the current Catholic culture. The goal of the seminar was to foster discourse among faculty across universities and disciplines about Catholic intellectual and spiritual culture and Catholic liberal education.
 “This seminar was a tremendously valuable experience for me,” Fr. Giampietro said. “To read and discuss great works, to be in dialogue with a wide variety of faculty from diverse institutions, was simply wonderful. There were so many texts to read that each professor, no matter how knowledgeable in his or her field, had the opportunity to be a student again, offering insights, respecting the expertise of others and engaging in the blessed enjoyment of learning.”
An important objective of the seminar is to encourage faculty to continue their discussion of the summer’s readings with colleagues during the following academic year.
Pope John Paul II, who formed the Catholic culture of the latter part of the 20th century, and Pope Benedict XVI, who has taken on the responsibility of sustaining that culture in the 21st century, were the intellectual and spiritual patrons of the seminar.
The seminar was held at the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind. from July 23 to July 28. Dr. Mary Catherine Sommers, director of the Center for Thomisitic Studies and chair of the department of philosophy, represented UST at last year’s seminar.
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