In the long history of the Catholic school in Europe, it has taken various forms, linked to local cultures and to the history, particularly religious but also political, of each state. While it is possible to account for this diversity, it is also important to highlight common features and challenges, such as secularisation and globalisation,…

Many questions arise regarding the compatibility between scientific and religious education. While some voices have pointed to issues that stem from a traditional model in which science becomes a factor or religious crisis and doubt, other views reveal surprising forms of collaboration and complementarity between both dimensions in the educational…

This essay focuses on the disavowed histories of Italy's fascist past with a specific focus on how select historical disavowals reverberate in the present through the law of restricted citizenship, policies governing the lives of migrants, and recent pro-natal campaigns. I take as the occasion for my discussion, the 2017 exhibit at the "Museo…

This article presents a computational approach to examining immigrant incorporation through shifts in the social "mainstream." Analyzing a historical corpus of American etiquette books, texts from 1922-2017 describing social norms, we identify mainstream shifts related to long-standing groups which once were and may currently still be…

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…

This paper explores some of the ideas expressed in or associated with the work of Don Lorenzo Milani and the School of Barbiana and discusses them in the light of the teachings of the gospels. It draws out the implications of these ideas for a critical education in the Christian spirit. The focus throughout is on Christian education for social…

In the early decades of the twentieth century the question of mental disabilities was widely discussed in Italy, while the first special schools for the intellectually impaired were set up. An important role was played by the Franciscan friar Agostino Gemelli (1878-1959), a physician, renowned psychologist, and founder in 1921 of the Catholic…

Media education is a cultural framework that can be applied in different contexts: schools, families, informal educational environments, along with pastoral work. With Pope Francis' championing, there is an increasing need to bridge pastoral care and the media, which can become new important forms of proximity and open opportunities to connect and…

Many educational agents offer paths that allow school to turn itself into a 'third space'. Caritas Ambrosiana, based on a 'pedagogy of facts', proposes interventions to promote soft skills in schools. This non-formal education agency committed Research Center about Media Education, Innovation and Technology (CREMIT) of Catholic University for a…

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…

When preparing students for study abroad, understanding the religious dimension of the target country/culture is generally viewed as essential for cultural competency training. What is generally left unexamined is the civil religious culture that might be operative. This essay first provides an introduction to the concept as it was introduced by…

This volume brings together the work of a wide range of scholars to explore the long and complex history of the relationships between churches and education. Christianity has always been involved in education, from the very earliest teaching of those about to be baptised, to present-day churches' involvement in schools and higher education.…

The study of social cognition involves the attribution of states of mind to humans, as well as, quite recently, to nonhuman creatures, like God. Some studies support the role of social cognition in religious beliefs, whereas others ascribe religious beliefs to an ontological knowledge bias. The present study compares these distinct approaches in…

Two centuries have passed since the birth of Don Bosco and this occasion can be a significant opportunity for the re-launching of the Congregation in Italy. From this point of view, it is certainly important to try to identify the more relevant challenges. This article divides them into external and internal. The first come from the problems…

'Gender Ideology' ('GI'), as an expression, appeared at the beginning of this century within documents of the Catholic Church with the aim of delegitimising what had been produced in the field of Gender Studies. That intent was strongly clarified, being coincident with the discussion in France about the law on equal marriage, during the protests…