Our mission The Nesti Center for Faith & Culture provides education and formation to help people examine, discern, and live out the relationship between the Gospel’s universal call to love and the worldview and values of the dominant American culture. Our vision Founded by Fr. Donald Nesti CSSp in 1994, the Nesti Center for Faith & Culture aims to bring a faithfully Catholic voice to the ongoing dialogue between faith and culture. Through this dialogue, the Center seeks to foster relationships, mutual understanding, and opportunities for collaboration with people of all backgrounds and beliefs. We strive to form people of faith who have fully integrated the human, spiritual, social and intellectual dimensions of their lives. This developmental process integrates theoretical and practical learning to help people communicate God’s unconditional love for the world and serve the common good. As a recognized Catholic Cultural Center of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, the NCFC offers academic programs, learning opportunities, and ecumenical, interreligious, diocesan and community partnerships. Participants in the NCFC programs address America’s complex social, political, and religious questions through reflection, dialogue, scholarship, and civic experience. Our Beliefs & Values DONATE The Donald S. Nesti, CSSp Center for Faith & Culture will celebrate its 30-year anniversary in 2024. Filmed in 2019, this video gives an excellent introduction to the NCFC's founding charism and ongoing mission.
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Degrees and ProgramsDegrees and Programs
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The Graduate Certificate in Faith and Culture is rooted in the same course offerings as the M.A. in Faith and Culture degree program. It can be completed with half the credit hours and allows you to enrich your academic or professional career while earning a recognized credential. learn more watch now The Graduate Certificate in Faith and Culture is rooted in the same course offerings as the M.A. in Faith and Culture degree program. It can be completed with half the credit hours and allows you to enrich your academic or professional career while earning a recognized credential. learn more about the Graduate Certificate in Faith and Culture The Master in Liberal Arts with Concentration in Faith and Culture allows students to expand their liberal arts education, while focusing on the Catholic theological, moral, social, and spiritual traditions. degree plan
The Master of Arts in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies grounds students in a Catholic understanding of human personhood and then explores its meaning and application to contemporary circumstances. It will bring the depths of the Catholic intellectual tradition to bear in examining the effects secular feminist theories have had on women's health care practices, law, education, family policy, and the culture at large
learn more about the Master of Arts in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies The Graduate Certificate in Catholic Approaches to Sexuality and Gender program will answer a strong need from professionals for the knowledge, tools, and skills required to communicate the Church’s understanding of what it means to be a man or a woman. learn more
In the Graduate Certificate in Catholic Feminism, learners will participate in robust discussion and deep historical and theological study from Feminist thinkers such as 18th century philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, 19th century thinkers Lucricia Mott and Sarah Grimke, 20th century philosopher Edith Stein, and 21st century Catholic thinkers Erika Bachiochi, Abigail Favale, and Helen Alvare. Contrasting writings from contemporary Feminist writers such as Judith Butler, Betty Friedan, and Ruth Bader-Ginsburg show the necessity for the roadmap our program provides for learners to cut through popular rhetoric about women’s roles and gender identity in the modern world.
apply now about the Graduate Certificate in Catholic Feminism degree plan - Graduate Certificate in Catholic Feminism
As an interdisciplinary degree program, the MA in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies also goes where few other Women’s and Gender Studies programs go in exploring the intersection of feminist and gender theory with changes in women’s healthcare practices and treatment of the body. The Graduate Certificate in Women’s Health and Wellness helps students gain an understanding of why it is necessary to anchor any feminist thought or activism in the natural female body. With courses that tie authentic female experience to the natural female body, learners will understand how healthcare policy has shifted with the waves of Feminism and how women’s bodies became the scapegoats and dispensable variable for Feminist progress.
apply now about the Grad Cert Women’s Health and Wellness degree plan - Graduate Certificate in Women’s Health and Wellness
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NCFC Annual Faithful Citizenship DinnerNCFC Annual Faithful Citizenship Dinner
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Faithful Citizen Named The NCFC has chosen founder Fr. Donald Nesti, CSSp. as the honoree for the 14th annual Faithful Citizenship Award on October 17, 2024. Thank you, donors! We thank all our donors for their support of our 2024 Faithful Citizenship Dinner. Previous FCD Honorees Since 2011, the Nesti Center has celebrated the dedication of numerous faithful Houstonians at our Faithful Citizenship Dinner.
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Carousel content with 5 slides. A carousel is a rotating set of images, rotation stops on keyboard focus on carousel tab controls or hovering the mouse pointer over images. Use the tabs or the previous and next buttons to change the displayed slide. - Slide 1: New CFC Social Scientist
- Slide 2: MA Catholic Women's and Gender Studies
- Slide 3: New CFC Director
- Slide 4: New CFC Interim Director
- Slide 5: Honoring Our Founder
CFC Social Scientist Dr. Brad Vermurlen joins the UST Nesti Center for Faith and Culture in a unique research role First of Its Kind UST launches the only Master of Arts in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies. New CFC Director Dr. Kevin Stuart is named Director for the UST Center for Faith and Culture. New CFC Interim Director UST alumna Marion Fernandez-Cueto will help grow the unique and powerful mission of the Nesti Center for Faith and Culture. Honoring Our Founder Fr. Donald Nesti, a Spiritan, founded the NCFC in 1994 to help people discover "A Way of Life in the Light of Faith."
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Student Testimonies"The person I am now is not the person I was when I started the program." –Kathia, MAFC Alumna "As a devout Catholic, I know we cannot compromise on the Truth However, the importance of communicating the truth with love is what the MAFC has helped me learn. I try to articulate the Gospel with others more charitably now, and not even so much with my words, but with my actions." –Basil, MAFC student “Our American culture of individualism and the 'self-made man' is countered by the Gospel way—the absolute truth of each person, made in God’s image, created in love, for love." –Theresa, MAFC Alumna "I would recommend this program because it is full of rich academic content, presented by engaging instructors. It illuminates the beauty of our Catholic faith journey while challenging us to go deeper. And it exemplifies the joy of accompanying each other in community." –Anne, MAFC student "Thanks to the Faith & Culture program, I rediscovered the joy of believing. I rediscovered the beauty of following Jesus in our world today." –Ana, MAFC Alumna
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Carousel content with 9 slides. A carousel is a rotating set of images, rotation stops on keyboard focus on carousel tab controls or hovering the mouse pointer over images. Use the tabs or the previous and next buttons to change the displayed slide. Marion Fernandez-Cueto Assistant Director, Educational Opportunities; Program Manager, MA Faith & Culture, Certificate; Faculty Gabriela Fields Communications Coordinator Patti Murphy Financial Management & Events Director Dr. Brad Vermurlen Social Scientist; Faculty - Slide 1: Dr. Kevin Stuart, Director of the Center for Faith and Culture
- Slide 2: Marion Fernandez-Cueto
- Slide 3: Gabriela Fields
- Slide 4: Patti Murphy
- Slide 5: Leah Jacobson
- Slide 6: Dr. Brad Vermurlen
- Slide 7: Dr. Pia de Solenni
- Slide 8: Erika Bachiochi
- Slide 9: Dr. Eileen Reuter
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