Freedom, the Human Vocation, and the Catholic University

Freedom, the Human Vocation, and the Catholic University
A Student Fellow asks Dr. Shiffman a question about the role of the Catholic faith in the Catholic University following the lecture.
Freedom, the Human Vocation, and the Catholic University
Dr. Mark Shiffman, Assistant Professor of Humanities and Classical Studies at Villanova University, gave a lecture on “Freedom, the Human Vocation, and the Catholic University”.

Mark Shiffman, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, Villanova University

To be human is to be free, but the fulfillment of this freedom requires learning our human possibilities. The university is the institution that provides the greatest scope for such learning. How does the Catholic university fulfill this mission? Shiffman argued on humanist grounds that a Catholic institution best carries out the mission of the university. Shiffman argued that the Catholic tradition takes seriously the broadest range of self-understandings that constitute our Western heritage.

September 24, 2009 -- Philodemic Room
Audio

The Great Seal of Georgetown University depicts an eagle bearing on his breast the colors and shield of the United States of America, grasping in his left claw a cross and in his right claw a globe and calipers (symbols for religion and science), and clutching a banner with Georgetown’s motto: “UTRAQUE UNUM” or “BOTH ONE.” Above the eagle is a lyre, symbolizing learning as the aim of the University.