Across the United States Conference, Catholic and Jesuit secondary schools are experiencing tremendous change in their student demographics. Schools of today are being challenged to consider what true inclusion looks like within their community vis-a-vis students whose racial, economic, sexual and gender identities do not fit the traditional…

In this study, I focused on the history of Ave Maria University during its formative years in Florida from 2003 to 2011 to answer the research question: How did a new, conservative Catholic university emerge in the United States at the beginning of the 21st century? Understanding the history and culture of Ave Maria informs how the institution…

This dissertation examines the early history of St. Patrick's High School, an all-boys Catholic secondary boarding school located in the west-Kenyan town of Iten. While an institutional history, this work is primarily concerned with people - the students, teachers, coaches, administrators, and staff who populated St. Patrick's during the 1960s and…

This qualitative study explores how five Jesuit universities in the United States maintain their mission and identity when partnering with online program managers (OPMs) to develop and support online degree programs. Focusing on the history of online learning and Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy, and using cultural reproduction theory as a lens,…

In the early 1900's the Catholic population in America sat around 10 million believers who were led by 14 Archbishops, 77 bishops, and approximately 12,000 priests (God in America, 2018). Currently, "Catholics in the U.S. number more than 74 million, about 24% of the U.S. population" (Pew Research Center, 2011, 46). For example, if a…

Moral education is a responsibility of home, state, and Church. This study used Dewey's conceptualization of moral education as aiding students to strive for, choose, and act in accordance with the common good. Historically, the Catholic Church and its schools have been dedicated to this end. The Catholic Church has depended greatly upon its…

This qualitative, multisite case study used Dee Fink's taxonomy of significant learning as a lens through which to examine the curricular structure, academic practices, and graduate outcomes for honors programs at Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. Special attention was given to the distinctive quality of Ignatian pedagogy and…

The philosopher Charles Taylor argues in "A Secular Age" (2007) that people who live in secular cultures are losing the capacity to experience genuine "fullness." Described by Taylor as a philosophical-anthropological conception of human flourishing that corresponds with existential senses of meaning and purpose, fullness is…

This investigation was a confidential case study that explored the qualities of the mathematics program in a Catholic all-girls academic high school, also known as an academy, and how those qualities changed over time. National interest in students' persistence and achievement in mathematics and the national priority of equitable opportunity for…

Responding to Vatican concerns and Daniel A. Lord, S. J.'s national Sodality initiatives, in 1927 Loyola University administrators expanded the student Sodality's newly-established Catholic Action program into a hegemonic presence, not only on the Loyola Arts campus, but throughout Chicago's network of Catholic schools. By 1928 Loyola students…

Private Catholic elementary schools in the United States often trace their origins to religious congregations of women and men. The rapid decline of religious vocations and the choice of many religious to serve in diverse ministries since the Second Vatican Council, has had an effect on all Catholic schools. Schools founded by religious…

This thesis is the first fully developed and published study of Seton Hall University. It specifically examines the organizational structures of Seton Hall University over a forty year period in light of the tumultuous changes in the Catholic Church and Catholic academia post-Vatican II. Of particular importance is change that influenced the…

This dissertation examines the process of desegregation on the campus of a Catholic university in the North. Focusing on Villanova University during the period from 1940-1985, the narrative explores the tension between the University's public commitment to desegregation and the difficulties of implementing integration on a predominately white…

This qualitative study examined the process of adopting online education at three private colleges. All three institutions participating in the study were private Catholic colleges that offered their first online courses in the late 1990s. The research question posed for this study was: Within the participating institutions, how did online…