For winter-spring 2021, the McGowan Center co-organized the lecture series "Catholic Higher Education in Light of Catholic Social Thought." This series comprised fourteen events (all online via Zoom) hosted by eight institutions across the country. Topics included: presidential searches; the fate of the liberal arts in a pre-professional world; labor and investment policies; race, diversity, and inclusion on campus; lay and women leadership; the finances of higher education; the environmental crisis; and the changing demographics of our students. The series grew out of a faculty-staff reading and discussion group that took place at King's over academic year 2018-2019, as well as out of the work of the Catholic Social Thought Learning and Research Initiative (CSTLRI), a collaboration of faculty and administrators at multiple institutions. The lectures were works-in-progress that will appear in the book Catholic Higher Education in Light of Catholic Social Thought: Critical-Constructive Essays, ed. Bernard G. Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley (New York: Paulist Press, forthcoming 2022).

Use this link to see a full listing of the events.

Here are recordings of events in the series:

James L. Heft, SM, on the distinctive mission of Catholic higher education, boards of trustees, and presidential searches, with a response from Kathleen Sprows Cummings (1/12/21, co-hosted by King's College and the University of Scranton)

Bernard Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley, "A System Adrift? Catholic Social Thought as an Anchor for Catholic Higher Education," with a response from Michael Schuck (2/2/21, hosted by the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University Chicago)

Anna Moreland, "Educating for What? Liberal Arts in a Pre-Professional World," with responses from Bonnie Gunzenhauser and Alan Miciak (2/9/21, hosted by John Carroll University)

Laura Nichols, "What Students? Which Mission?," with a response from Jennifer Boyle (2/16/21, hosted by the Hank Center)

Paul Kollman, CSC, "Go Out to All the World: Catholic Higher Education in a Global Context,” with a response from Thomas Landy (2/23/21, hosted by Collegium)

Joseph McCartin,“Help Wanted: Labor Policies, Problems, and Opportunities,” with a response from Daniel Rhodes (3/2/21, hosted by the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University Chicago)

Vincent Miller, "Catholic Higher Education and the Environmental Crisis: Integral Ecology vs. the Technocratic Paradigm," with a response from Norah Martin (3/22/21, hosted by Collegium)

Catherine Punsalan-Manlimos, "Beyond Patriarchy: Women's and Lay Leadership," with a response from Kathleen Maas Weigert (3/23/21, hosted by the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University Chicago)

Matt Mazewski, "Financing Catholic Higher Education," with a response from Margarita Rose (4/12/21, hosted by King's College)