Keynote Address: Rev. Mark Massa

Mark S Massa

doi:10.15365/joce.1501072013

Abstract

Rev. Mark S. Massa, S.J., is the dean and professor of Church history at the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. He was invited to give a keynote to begin the third Catholic Higher Education Collaborative Conference (CHEC), cosponsored by Boston College and Fordham University. Fr. Massa’s address posed critical questions about whether Catholic identity and Catholic Intellectual Tradition are still the focal points for academic excellence in Catholic schools. This question was continually revisited throughout the conference.

Highlights

He was invited to give a keynote to begin the third Catholic Higher Education Collaborative Conference (CHEC), cosponsored by Boston College and Fordham University
Massa’s address posed critical questions about whether Catholic identity and Catholic Intellectual Tradition are still the focal points for academic excellence in Catholic schools. This question was continually revisited throughout the conference. My agenda this evening is to tease out how Catholic higher education has been influenced and can help Catholic primary and secondary education in the United States
It is still a good question, I think, as when I walk around places like Boston College and Fordham University I sometimes feel like we are “J Crew with crucifixes”—that is, surrounded by lots of attractive students wearing colors not found in nature, but where intellectual heavy lifting is somewhat less observable

Summary

Introduction

He was invited to give a keynote to begin the third Catholic Higher Education Collaborative Conference (CHEC), cosponsored by Boston College and Fordham University. A significant number of Catholic college and university graduates went on to become teachers in the vast network of Catholic grade and high schools, but Ellis used the word “betrayal” to talk about American Catholic higher education’s role in shaping Catholic intellectual culture, both in the general population and in Catholic primary and secondary education.

Results

Conclusion