President of the University of Notre Dame, John Jenkins, CSC, argues that Catholic colleges and universities can make a distinct contribution to higher education by providing a rich alternative to the commodification of education -- a frequently cited problem of the current age. Reducing education to its commercial ends, the author argues, stifles…

A recent global reconnaissance of Christian higher education found a number of key themes that shaped current developments, such as the pressing challenges of secularization and nationalization but also the advantages of privatization and massification. This article provides an update to this older analysis by taking a birds-eye view of trends…

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting quarantines around the globe have required social justice educators to respond to the unprecedented challenges and the needs of the communities they serve more than ever before. This article explores how educators in a Catholic University conducted community-based justice work in response to the challenges of…

This essay explores a tension in the Catholic theological classroom brought about when teachers aim at dismantling racial injustice with resources from antiracist pedagogy. Where Catholic social thinkers package together reflection, judgment, and action, antiracist educators recommend forestalling the last step--action. The essay's primary aim is…

Like most higher education institutions, Catholic universities experience changes and pressures due to university rankings, education marketisation, and diverse student bodies. As part of the Catholic Church, these institutions must also be faithful to their unique religious identity and mission. In this paper focusing on Jesuit institutions, the…

How might Catholic colleges and universities draw from their unique missions to educate and act together in response to the pressing needs of the environment? Honoring the fifth anniversary of "Laudato si," this article argues that Pope Francis's notion of ecological conversion and his bold conviction that the "cry of the earth is…

This essay explores Jacques Maritain's philosophy of education as a means to better understand Pope Francis's recent promotion of a "Global Compact on Education," and in particular Francis's commitment "to make human persons in their value and dignity the center of every educational program." After situating Maritain's…

Today, the term 'global' has become a pervasive description of universities that aim to alleviate their importance and reach. The global looks inherently big. By relating to a spherical shape it attributes size in two distinct ways: it signifies the comprehensive and extensive reach of a theme or issue as well as the spherical centrality of an…

Education in the nineteenth century witnessed a revival of classical Scholasticism brought to use by many educational institutions within Europe and North America. These institutions felt a burgeoning tension among contemporary church teaching, enlightenment thinking, and the new philosophical thoughts emerging from Europe. Although…

Throughout the twentieth century, Catholic higher education in the United States modelled its institutional structures and intellectual life on the best standards and practices of the secular academy. The question for Catholic higher education became: How can we remain distinctively Catholic while engaging in these projects? Yet the situation…

Within the context of a national shortage of high quality applicants for senior leadership posts, there is a need to nurture future leaders in Catholic primary and secondary schools and to promote their professional development and formation. If they are to be fully effective, teachers in Catholic schools need continually to develop their…

The new model of Polish education was designed by the Komisja Edukacji Narodowej (KEN). The Commission, established in 1773, was the first ministry of education in Europe. It dealt not only with problems related to the learning-teaching process, but also promoted scientific development. The present analysis is an attempt at examining the process…

Italy opened the doors of its universities to female students in 1875. The general view was that very few women were clever enough to obtain a degree, so they would not threaten social stability. Female professors would be even rarer -- a few exceptional "male" women. Access to the professions was impossible in the case of the legal…

This article addresses apparent impasses between "Mercy" and "Catholic" identities in our colleges and universities. Each of the contributors represents a unique voice arising from her or his role and experience within the university community. All are grappling with the tension generated by the university's efforts to…

This article explores schooling experiences of James, assigned-female-at-birth (AFAB) male, with a focus on his Catholic K-8 experience. James was caught in the tensions of school and home: Catholic school reinforcing traditional norms of gender and a family that bucked these norms. At school James learned about the body and sex, never feeling…