Mary Faurot (Pre-Med, Chemical Engineering)

By far the most meaningful courses I have taken as part of my core curriculum experience were my two theology courses.  Coming into Notre Dame, I was not happy that I was being required to take these two courses.  I had already had fourteen years of Catholic schooling, and I thought that I should not have to take any more theology courses.  Frankly, I thought it was a waste of six credits that could have been used for other things that I felt were more pertinent to my career.

My theology courses provided me with a look into my Catholic faith that I had never had before.  Though I had already been in Catholic schooling for fourteen years, I hadn't read much of the Bible outside of Mass.  In my Foundations course, we read the Bible and came to understand it in both religious and historical terms.  I found myself much more engaged in Mass every weekend as I listened to the Gospel and thought about what I had learned in my theology class that week.  In my second theology course, I have gained a better understanding of what it means to live my Catholic faith.  I have been challenged to analyze the way I live my life and determine whether that is actually the way I should be living my life.  My two theology courses are the only courses I have taken at this University in which I read the assigned readings and then sit for a while afterward, contemplating how the things I have just read pertain to my own life.

Overall, my theology courses have been one of the most important parts of my Catholic education at Notre Dame.  I came to this University with the view that college was a path to a career.  After having taken my theology courses, I see my education as a way to form myself as a person and discover the kind of professional I want to be.  I have found that I don't want to be merely a competent and skilled physician; I also want to be a loving and compassionate physician who shows God's healing and kindness to every patient who comes through her door.  In my time here, I have come to understand that I was not made to be a person who does a job; I was made to be a person who does a job with love so that the world might be a little better because I have lived in it.  I would not have come to understand my vocation in this way if I had not taken my theology courses.  I hope that the University will continue to place an emphasis on theology so that all Notre Dame students can come to understand the faith and what it means to live out the faith in our daily lives.

Sam Flores (Electrical Engineering)

In August 2011, I stepped into my first ever theology class, Foundations of Theology. Two days later, I turned in a paper expressing my opinion on whether Notre Dame’s theology requirements were beneficial to students. In this paper, I conveyed my excitement to learn about a subject that was a huge part of my life, and – without having any experiences to back-up my claims – I voiced a few reasons explaining why I thought taking these classes would ultimately make somebody a better person.

Fast forward 3 ½ years, in which I completed two theology courses, a summer of Notre Dame Vision, and a philosophy course based on the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas, and I can honestly say I would not be the person I am today without having gone through any of that. Working for Notre Dame Vision and taking the corresponding theology course (which fulfilled my 2nd theology requirement) opened my eyes to what it means to be Catholic and has forever changed the way I view the world and my place in it. That experience even prompted me to make sure my 2nd philosophy course was intertwined with Catholicism.

The funny thing is I probably would never have taken a theology or philosophy class if it wasn’t required. I always knew I wanted to be an engineer, so even in high school I gravitated towards STEM classes. I figured math and science were what I needed to focus on and I really didn’t give much thought to any of my other classes. I did well in them, but I didn’t appreciate them because they didn’t really align with what I wanted to study in college. Because religion is a big part of my life, theology was the first non-STEM subject that I truly felt engaged in. I’m glad I had the opportunity to explore it because I truly did find it to be beneficial to my education. See learning about the bible may not help me to understand the mechanisms by which a transistor conducts current and exploring the beliefs of St. Thomas Aquinas may not help me to understand the methods of chip fabrication, but these courses taught me something completely different.

These courses are responsible for making me more well-rounded and more open-minded. They are responsible for teaching me how to express my opinions in ways that allow me to have meaningful discussions with others; and they are responsible for showing me where I stand in relation to the world, and in relation to God. As a result, I am no longer studying electrical engineering because it’s something I’m really interested in. I’m studying it because I realize that my passion for engineering is a gift and I want to use it to contribute to the world. At one point I may have thought that theology or philosophy classes didn’t play a role in helping me to become a good engineer, but now I know that they have set me on my way to becoming a great engineer. That’s the Notre Dame difference, and that’s why I hope that future students, who might not other wise have the opportunity to take these courses, get to experience the benefits of studying theology.

Tim Reidy (Architecture)

Lessons From A Not-So-Theology-Major

The theology and philosophy core requirements at Notre Dame serve more of a purpose than simply teaching students about God and reason.  The truths inherent in philosophy and theology are broader than just the words of the New Testament, and Soren Kierkegaard.  I know from experience, that my education without those truths, would have been aimless and egotistical.

One only needs to read the story of Howard Roark in Ayn Rand’s “Fountainhead” to understand the lonely path that many great architects take.  They rely entirely on their own talent and creative power for inspiration.   If they search for a genuine “human element” in their designs, they seek it from their own person, and not from history or tradition.  Such was the path that my architecture education at Notre Dame was taking, until I found certain un-questionable truths to inspire me and my creativity.

My first theology course at Notre Dame was a continuation of my previous 12 years of Catholic education.  Much of the material I knew already.  The knowledge was basic and did not call me to think outside the box.  My first philosophy course forced me to read and think in creative ways that I had never done before.  However, my heart and mind were not quite mature enough yet.  I was still trying to discover who I was, and therefore, the truths I found were not internalized.

I would not ultimately take my second theology and philosophy courses until my fourth and fifth years, after I had had a chance to spend a summer counseling at Notre Dame Vision, taken two trips to Appalachia to build homes, taught Math and learned Rutooro during my ISSLP in Kyarusozi, Uganda, studied abroad in Rome, experienced two critical and painful deaths in my family, and began and ended two formative dating relationships with Notre Dame girls.  A lot of life happens during four years (and in my case, 5 years) of college.  Our lives and vocations become more focused, our friend-groups become more solidified, and our maturity hopefully grows.  It was at this juncture that philosophy and theology steered me in the direction that my wonderful life has taken ever since.

G.K. Chesteron (through the masterful teaching of David Fagerberg) taught me to inject my abundance of joy into every facet of my life, including architecture, and to defend that joy with a genuine apologetic understanding of Christ’s love.  That joy ultimately led me to finding a new girlfriend that semester (who is now my wife and the mother of my child).  Chesterton taught me to remove my ego from my work, and to trust in the beauty of traditions, whether Catholic, Ugandan, classical, or vernacular.  My studio projects in New Mexico and India that semester were among the most beautiful and memorable of my entire student career.

My second philosophy course was Ecology, Economics, and Ethics.  The principles taught in this seminar course instilled a renewed sense of purpose into my career as an architect.  It guided me towards becoming LEED accredited, it helped me argue the purpose of sustainable vernacular design for my thesis (a Ugandan marketplace, which won the Norman A. Crowe award for Sustainability), and it has guided my efforts in dozens of LEED-certified and historic preservation projects as a professional.

The formative effect that those two courses had on my life and my vocation inspired me to take even more courses beyond the core requirements.  I took Daniel Groody and Virgil Elizondo’s
Latin American Spirituality, and Marriage and the Family (which I had to specially request from the Philosophy Department).  Understanding the plight of Latin Americans, and the beauty of immigrant culture prepared my heart and mind for life with my Belizian-born aunt and her extended family of immigrants in Chicago.  Critical-thinking about the role of working parents in their children’s lives has shaped my own family life, and given my wife and I courage to both work while still raising our child.

It doesn’t seem like much to take away one course from the requirements of the core curriculum. After all, the majority of the students at Notre Dame could care less about those requirements anyways.  Most of us wouldn’t bother taking theology or philosophy courses at all if they weren’t a pre-requisite for graduation.  I should know.  I used to be one of those students.  The University of Notre Dame has a wealth of knowledge and an ability to inspire students both within their careers, and beyond their careers.  It has a unique power to shape the mind and soul simultaneously.  The creative power of the Theology and Philosophy departments at Notre Dame is what sets Notre Dame apart from the Ivy Leagues.  Those departments feed the minds that start ISSLPs, lead retreats, cook breakfast at the Catholic Worker, raise loving children, and defend the faith in the workplace.

As my brother, Fr. Patrick Reidy, C.S.C. once told me, “Priests are not called to evangelize the whole world.  They are called to serve and minister to the people of the church.  They are called to prepare the laity of the church to become evangelists themselves, through word and action in the world.”  If theology and philosophy are left to only the theology majors and seminarians at Notre Dame, then the ability for the rest of us to evangelize suddenly begins to fade away.  In the case of architecture, we begin to lose the “human element,” as defined and discussed by thousands of years of brilliant and holy saints and scholars.

Some of those saints and scholars are teaching at Notre Dame today.  The school ought to find a way to make them more accessible to the general student population, not less.  The ability that Notre Dame has to shape lives and careers is astounding.

Vincent Birch

Sometimes subtle changes are the most dangerous ones. They do not appear drastic enough to warrant resistance, but often they have unintended consequences that extend far beyond what could have been easily predicted. And then the consequences transform thought and culture without ever really seeing it happen.

Though this sounds dramatic, this is how the current review of the truly seems. The theology faculty is crying out, recognizing the drastic consequences of the University of Notre Dame’s potential turn from the theology requirement. They are flying in the face of the change, asking not that the current requirement be maintained, but that it increase. The masses ignore the resistance, either apathetic toward the core curriculum entirely, apathetic or antithetic toward the theology requirement, or hoping to see the change carried out. Meanwhile, if the change is carried out, it will have serious ramifications on the identity of the University. The subtle change from the two-course theology requirement to the one theology and one “Catholic studies” requirement shifts, in whatever seemingly small way, the intellectual focus of the University away from the intellectual center of Catholicism. I can personally attest to the certainty of this consequence based on my own coursework.

My freshman year I took an excellent course called “Christianity, Commerce, and Consumerism over the past Thousand Years” with Professor Brad Gregory. This course fulfilled my history university requirement. Putting aside how the “Catholic studies” requirement could possibly be regulated, this course would surely qualify, as it discussed the Church’s understanding of money and wealth with the development of consumer-based societies. Despite what the course did teach me about my faith, it was most certainly a history course. It discussed Catholic thought, but primarily for the purpose of studying a historical problem. A theology course may very well address the same topics that this history course did, but a theology course would study the material for the purpose of learning about Sacred Scripture and Tradition. This touches the crux of the issue. With the elimination of one of the theology requirements, the University will be, in essence, turning its intellectual focus away from Scripture and Tradition. Courses offered by other departments that integrated “Catholic studies” would be fantastic for providing a curriculum that bolstered the Catholic education of the University. But turning away from a Scripture and Tradition based theology course in order to add a “Catholic studies” requirement would be essentially opposed to providing a Catholic-based curriculum. It is impossible for the University to replace a course with the object of studying Scripture and Tradition with one that integrates Scripture and Tradition in order to study another discipline and simultaneously maintain that it is not diminishing its Catholic intellectual focus.

I took a second-level theology course my junior year that was instrumental in my personal faith journey and that completely changed my future trajectory. I was a mathematics and philosophy major that was fully intending to get a job pertaining to my mathematics studies after graduation. My faith had been important to me, but not central. Taking “The Christian Experience: Vocation and the Theological Imagination,” with Professor Tim O’Malley taught me the significance of what it means to assert, “I believe,” in regard to my faith. It made me recognize that I was living inauthentically if I claimed to be Catholic but did not see the impact this necessarily has on every aspect of my life. I learned that everything I do has to proceed from my reception of the Body of Christ. Needless to say, it was transformational for my faith.

We read a novel in this course entitled Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. This is a novel that could have been read in courses in a number of disciplines, and in any of them something would have been studied regarding Christianity by the mere fact that it is about a preacher. But if I had read this novel in a Christian literature English course, it would have been for the purpose of discussing the Christian influences Robinson integrates, the religious imagery she uses, and perhaps for the moral questions that it raises—a course that would have an impact on my understanding of my faith. But only a theology course could have utilized this novel in such a way as to teach me about the Catholic imagination as seeing the world through the lens of faith anchored in the Church’s Sacred Scripture and Tradition, as this particular second-level theology course did.

This course not only changed how I look at my faith, and consequently my life, but also was the beginning of my new path. I graduated last May from the College of Science with majors in mathematics and philosophy, and a minor in theology that I added after taking this course. This year I have been serving with Christian Appalachian Project in Kentucky, but have discerned that I would like to pursue graduate studies—in theology. I will begin a Master of Theological Studies program somewhere next fall. Though the school is currently undetermined, I have been accepted. First and second level theology courses cultivate faith that is intellectually focused on Scripture and Tradition and often pique an unforeseen interest. Both of these consequences can have truly life changing effects.

I offer my personal testimony both to provide an example of how meaningful first and second level theology courses can be and to make a more general point about how important theology is to the core curriculum and University. If the theology requirement is reduced then the curriculum turns away from the intellectual heart of the Church, Sacred Scripture and Tradition. As a Catholic University, why ever sacrifice contributors to the Catholic identity?  Perhaps this is a minor shift, but what other seemingly small concessions will be subsequently made? This is why the theology faculty has cried out. They see that this change is a step away from being a Catholic University. A University is, in its essence, intellectually based, and if its intellectual center shifts away from the Church then so does the University itself.

The University of Notre Dame is a liberal arts university, not a seminary. But it is a Catholic liberal arts University. Ultimately, the question underlying this discussion is about how to be a great Catholic University. Catholic intellectuals have addressed this subject, and the University’s esteemed theology faculty and gifted students have been recently addressing this for Notre Dame in particular, but my testimony ends with one question for the Core Curriculum Review Committee: Can the University truly claim to be giving students a Catholic education if the majority of the students graduate after only taking one course on the intellectual foundation of Catholicism?

Marisel Wilbur (Finance)

I am a junior finance major from Walsh Hall. When I was completing my core requirement, I found some to be more useful than others. While I personally dreaded taking two philosophies, I am firm in my belief that we should still require 2 theology courses. As a catholic school, I think it is important to have these classes and to ensure that our students have a strong basis of theology. I enjoyed my second theology course that focused on the Old Testament. We studied aspects of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. By looking at the Old Testament from different perspectives, I became more literate in Catholic theology.  Notre Dame prides itself of being a premiere Catholic institution, and as such, Notre Dame should educate its students and require two theology courses.

Laura Schaffer (Program of Liberal Studies)

I can't help being concerned about the potential removal of theology requirements from the Core Curriculum.  My ND theology requirements, one of which I took through PLS and the other through the department itself, are honestly among the most valuable courses of my college experience.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Professor Mongrain's Christian Theological Tradition changed my life, for it influenced my perspective on the world and its relationship to God.  It helped me to understand my faith as a love affair rather than a series of imposed (albeit correctly imposed) tenets, and it allowed me to appreciate the personal, intellectual and richly beautiful Faith in its paradoxical mystery.

Professor Johnson's Liturgical Theology class then built on this foundation by shedding new light on the Liturgical Year as a cycle through which we seek to express and pursue the mystical relationship between God and man, celebrating it in its past and future by a kind of incarnation in the liturgical present.  As a Catholic who had attended Mass my whole life, I came to realize, through this class, the beautiful complexity and the living fulness of the Faith in its concrete manifestations.

The value of ND's required theology courses cannot be overstated.  Had it not been for these requirements, I might easily have missed out on courses which deeply informed my understanding of what it means to be a human being truly alive in the world.

Daniel Pittner (Math & Physics)

I graduated in 2009 with a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics.  However, I didn't start college at Notre Dame; I transferred in as a sophomore, with only some basic courses out of the way.  In order to accomplish a double major in only three years, I had to take at least 18 credits each semester, and for both semesters of my junior year I had 21 credit hours.  There were certainly some required courses that I wished I could have skipped--but theology was definitely not one of them.

I didn't expect to really enjoy my intro theology course, but it turned out to be one of my favorite classes my first semester at ND.  It was also one of the most demanding.  Our instructor constantly challenged us to think about scripture and Church teachings in new ways, and to think deeply about our faith.  To this day, I very often find myself reaching back to what I learned in that class during personal reflection and when talking about my faith to my family, friends, and even my children.

But my second theology class, War, Law, and Ethics, was by far the more rewarding of the two.  I was a ROTC cadet at Notre Dame and am now serving as an officer in the U.S. Air Force.  I believe my War, Law, and Ethics course was essential in my preparation to serve as a military officer.  I was able to fully explore how my faith related to the career I was training for, and find ways to apply it to ensure I could make moral and ethical decisions even in the most difficult situations, with lives on the line.  If I had to choose a single favorite course from my time at Notre Dame, it would be this theology course.

I chose to go to Notre Dame because I wanted not only to receive a top-tier education, but also to grow in my Catholic faith and learn how to live it from day to day, both at home and in my profession.  The university's mission statement gives as one of its goals "to provide a forum where, through free inquiry and open discussion, the various lines of Catholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions, and every other area of human scholarship and creativity."  This perfectly describes the fantastic opportunity I enjoyed in both of my theology classes.  Removing or reducing the theology requirement would rob future students of this opportunity, and would run contrary to Notre Dame's own stated goals and mission.

Lesley (Fuchs) Kirzeder (History)

Dear Dr. Burish (Provost):

I am deeply saddened and disturbed to learn that the University of Notre Dame is considering removing the Theology requirement from the undergraduate curriculum.  Not only would this immeasurably dilute the Catholic identity of the University, it would rob students of opportunities for formation in the Catholic faith and, even more importantly, of unexpected instances of transformation and evangelization. 

I was blessed to have been unexpectedly transformed in my own faith life while attending Notre Dame from 1999-2003.  Although I was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic faith, I was not brought up in an environment of formation.  Like so many, I came to Notre Dame unsure of who I was and who I was going to be.  So much of that uncertainty resided in the uncertainty of my own belief system and personal relationship with the Lord.  Eager to steep myself in academia, I streamed every course selection possible toward my passion, Russian History.  As a member of the inaugural class of the History Honors Track, I was able to hone my interests further with the invaluable opportunity for thesis work and deeper study of historiography.  I had no plans to further my faith formation through academic work.

Surprisingly, I found that my required Theology courses planted irrevocable seeds in my mind and heart that would not have been planted had I solely followed a curriculum geared strictly toward my academic interests.  These courses gave me a language with which I could think and talk about my faith.  They supplied me with the fundamentals that I had been missing and opened up a new way of seeking out a relationship to God: not one of Sunday obligations, but one in which God could come to be known, loved, and served through study, reading, and engaging in discussion with peers.  All of these routes to formation were revealed to me and realistic to me. They were familiar and accessible to a history major, who thrived on those very same methods of coming to know the past and the present world. 

My Theology courses provided the basic but necessary framework on which I could finally begin to build my faith.  Through the intentional work of my professors, I found myself more confident in my faith.  I had been freshly equipped with a guided path to our Church traditions, and I could approach the prayers, recitations, and readings in the liturgy with a deeper understanding.  I could uncover connections throughout the liturgy to the Holy Sacrament, which took on a whole new meaning for me.

The University of Notre Dame, as I have known it, has always seemed to oscillate in its core identity.  Is it a research institution? A teaching institution?  I could not answer that as a student, nor can I answer that as an alumna.  However, it is shocking to me that in recent years, I’ve had to ask myself if my beloved alma mater is a Catholic university.  Notre Dame’s Catholic identity has been increasingly overshadowed by the massive building and fundraising projects that seem to have allowed the physical expansion to overtake the core mission of the university.  I was encouraged when the Office of the Vice President of Mission Engagement and Church Affairs was bolstered with new advisors and, what seemed to be, a new zeal in exploring the relationship between Notre Dame and the Church.  Would this mean that Notre Dame was once again putting its Catholic Identity on the same plane as growing its already enormous endowment?  However, with this new movement to rid the undergraduate curriculum of its Theology requirement, I have to question the leadership’s commitment to the University’s mission in a grave way.

I implore you, Dr. Burish, to consider our founder Fr. Edward Sorin’s intent, Fr. Hesburgh’s lifetime of work, and the University’s Mission. I encourage you to reflect on the countless others who have had transformative faith experiences launched by their theology courses and how you will be robbing future students of that opportunity.  Your position holds much greater weight than its title and authority.  As a leader of this beloved Catholic institution you assume, in part, a responsibility for students’ souls.  You are one of the torchbearers of Fr. Sorin’s legacy, just as those who Archbishop Elder of Cincinnati so eloquently charged to carry on the founder’s good works at Fr. Sorin’s funeral:

Pray, then, my dearly beloved, pray for the souls even of those whose lives have been most saintly. We know not what hidden debt they may owe to divine justice. Pray particularly for your priests, for they have to render a rigorous account both of their own souls and of yours. They have to answer, not only for what they have done, but for what more they might have done by the diligent use of those divine powers which God has given them -- not for their own glory, but for the service of His people; and as God requires them to use their priestly powers for you, so He requires you to use your power of prayer for them.

As a leader, are your decisions helping students get to Heaven?  Of course, that is between you and God, and only you will have to answer for that at the end of your days.  I pray that your answer is easy to give.

Brian Suehs-Vassel

I am blessed to work at Nazareth Farm, a Catholic Non-Profit that offers service retreats for High School and College students and provides home repair to local families in need.

This past year one of the Notre Dame students serving with us lead a prayer about Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and they were moved to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to all who could hear.

She shared that when the Holy Spirit spoke through human beings that day, the Spirit spoke through the voices of the poor - carpenters, fisherman, day laborers, folks who are just scraping by. God speaks through the poor. What a powerful message of good news this student shared with us in the midst of the week of service. “Pay attention, you may meet God in places and people you do not expect.”

This student made this profound realization during one of her introductory theology classes at Notre Dame. She is a History major and her dream is to open up an Early Childhood Education center in her hometown, specifically to serve children most in need.

This young women’s wisdom was a gift to everyone at Nazareth Farm and I think it will be a gift to all the children and families she serves in the future. Even though she is not a theology major, her study of theology helped form her as a loving person who understands that God has a special care for the poor and often speaks through their words and actions.

I hope that the Early Childhood Education Center that cares for all the children I know has leadership that studied Theology. I hope that those leaders can see God in all the small, vulnerable, beautiful children they serve. As an alumnus I would ask the University of Notre Dame to continue to form teachers, engineers, accountants, doctors and other professionals who have studied theology and thought deeply about how thousands of years of divine wisdom impacts their professional lives. #loveTHEOnotredame.

Lorraine Armstrong (Physician, Alum, Mother of Students)

I cannot be quiet after hearing recent developments for the future curriculum at Notre Dame. When both of my children were looking at colleges I stayed out of their decision making process even though I was a graduate. They looked at a combined total of at least 27 colleges and universities. Although admitted at most of their choices, they withdrew applications from some, such as University of Pennsylvania...because of their strong secular emphasis and lack for respect for core values. With both of our children, when it came down to the difficult decision on the night before the required moment that they had to submit their choice, Notre Dame won. 

Notre Dame won over Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, and over the Naval Academy. I quietly celebrated because I recalled my amazing experiences at Notre Dame 35 years ago. I am now a physician but have no significant memories of my premedical courses...other than Dr. Hoffman's amazing methods of teaching. My life changing courses were in Theology and Philosophy. Father Malloy and Father Dunne were powerful beyond words. They and my other theology class work transformed my life. My husband, who attended an Ivy, had no such experience. When my children looked at the syllabus for theology at Georgetown, it seemed to almost treat religion as a problem, or simply an interesting topic, not a way of life. In talking to students there, and at the Academy, their faith life, study and practice of religion were definitely not a priority. They were on their own to try to find it. Notre Dame filled that gap.

So that is why my children are at Notre Dame. They received no scholarships, no merit awards, or in-state tuition that so many other place offered. It was very hard let hundreds of thousands of dollars of financial aid slip away. 

But how do you put a price tag on someone's soul? We can't. And we hope you won't either.

Please don't let Notre Dame be just another nondescript expensive school on that list of top schools. Don't take away the theology, and do not allow it to be taught by those who are not Theology faculty.

Erin Kimbell (Theology, Education)

I started my freshman year not knowing what major to choose. My dad was really pulling for business, and my mom was more quiet about her opinion. I had a lot of ideas but nothing felt quite right according to the vocation God had planned for me. It wasn't until Introduction to Theology taught by John Cavadini that I felt comfortable declaring Theology as my major. I consider my time at Notre Dame invaluable largely due to the wonderful professors and conversations had within the Theology department. It is what led me to serve in Catholic Schools today as the third grade teacher at St. John the Evangelist in Pensacola, FL. I cannot imagine taking away the opportunity for students to grow in their faith journey at a CATHOLIC institution. Why call yourself a Catholic University if you don't expose *all* students to some form of faith formation?