New approach to learning builds on Cardinal Newman’s views on higher education

Newman Studies

What is a university? Why does it exist? What things should a university do to provide a true and meaningful education? What, for that matter, is a true and meaningful education?

Many have pondered these questions over the centuries. One of them, Blessed John Henry Newman, addressed these issues and more in a work that has had a substantial and lasting impact on modern higher education, The Idea of a University.

Newman asserted that a university should provide students more than a collection of facts, figures, skills and job training. While all these are important and necessary, Newman said, they are but parts of what should be a larger whole; a system that teaches students how to make connections, create methods of analysis, form opinions and principles, and develop the ability to react to and act upon the information they receive.

In short, to think.

Newman University has always reflected and drawn inspiration from Newman’s views. Now, the university has developed a program that more directly translates to action the educational philosophy Newman advocated.

University officials said the new program, called the Newman Studies Program (NSP), will give students a distinctive academic experience, and a way of learning and perceiving the world around them that will serve them the rest of their lives.

“The faculty wanted to take the vision Cardinal Newman had more than 150 years ago and create an academic program that is meaningful and relevant to students today,” said Newman President Noreen M. Carrocci, Ph.D. “We think this program will clearly set Newman apart from other universities, and provide a powerful intellectual experience for students.”

“This approach to higher education is completely consistent with Newman’s views on knowledge and learning,” said Newman Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael Austin, Ph.D., who played a large role in developing the program. “It’s designed to help students go beyond an education that simply accumulates facts. It shows them how to use facts to create meaning.”

The new ‘core’
The new program, which began in the fall 2011 semester, is required of all students who earn a degree at Newman. It is based on the general concepts of Cardinal Newman’s The Idea of a University, which grew from a series of lectures and essays Newman produced while he served as the first rector of the Catholic University of Ireland from 1854 to 1858.

Newman believed a university education should encompass a wide range of disciplines in the liberal arts and sciences, performing arts and professions, but should give students more than what he saw as a shallow understanding of many different fields. Newman wrote that, “the end of a Liberal Education is not mere knowledge.” Rather, he believed the goal of education was the “enlargement” of the mind, or the ability to compare ideas, generalize, incorporate new information into existing systems of knowledge, and find meaning.

The NSP is designed to help students attain enlargement by taking a new approach to the “Core Curriculum” or “Gen Ed” requirements most colleges and universities employ.

Tiers of Understanding

The program is based on three levels or “tiers of understanding” Cardinal Newman emphasized in his writings. The first tier centers on building skills such as writing, communication, math, and technology, which corresponds with Newman’s idea that certain kinds of education provide useful knowledge, or knowledge that enables an individual to do other things. The second tier focuses on acquiring general knowledge about science, history, the arts, philosophy, theology and other topics, which Newman considered important simply for its intrinsic value.

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Newman Studies capstone course designed to help students integrate what they learn

Papsdorf

How do we reconcile the story of Genesis with the Big Bang? Can a scientist believe in miracles? How will this material world end, and how should we treat it in the meantime?

These are the types of questions that Associate Professor of Chemistry John Leyba and I are addressing this fall in the first offering of “The Quest for Meaning” course in the Newman Studies Program. Our goal for the class is to make it a place where there is real dialogue: between the two of us as instructors, between us and the students, and between the disciplines of theology and physical science.

Ideally, students will leave with an understanding of how the two fields can complement, rather than contradict, each other.

Other articles in this magazine explain the overall goals and benefits of the Newman Studies Program; I want to share why I am excited about the program as an academic and teacher.

The single most appealing feature is the interdisciplinary, team-taught nature of the courses. Teaching with another faculty member means that I have a chance to learn just as much as I teach. Here at Newman most of us are able to teach over a fairly broad range within our disciplines, but finite amounts of time and energy keep most of us from venturing into our colleagues’ classrooms. Teaching in the Newman Studies courses will give me the opportunity to rekindle the academic curiosity that led me to this career.

More importantly, studying physical science this semester and other disciplines in coming terms will expand the breadth of my knowledge and make me a better teacher, both in the Newman Studies Program and in theology courses. The energy and interest I am bringing to this course will make me a more engaged and passionate teacher, and that will make me a better teacher as well.

Improving our teaching is only part of what the Newman Studies Program is about.  Even more important is the new potential for student learning. These courses will give students a rare opportunity to truly integrate the different components of their education.

It is widely acknowledged that the specialization of disciplines today makes it quite difficult for students to integrate what they learn into a coherent whole. While that will always be a challenge, classes like “The Quest for Meaning” will give Newman students practical experience integrating the different parts of their education, and that will better prepare them to continue the process throughout their lives.

As these courses impact teachers and students, my hope is that they will change Newman as a whole. Most of the really important discussions in college should happen outside of the classroom. When students go through the Newman Studies program and talk about things like how to reconcile their Catholic faith with new theories in physics, those conversations will start to trickle over into the dorms and cafeteria.

When I overhear more of those conversations, I’ll know that the Newman Studies Program is a success.

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Theatre

“The Nutcracker Suite.” “Blithe Spirit.” “Dames at Sea.” “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Over the past eight decades, students from Sacred Heart Academy, Kansas Newman College, and  Newman University staged rousing productions of these and many other plays and musicals. Those productions are among the treasured memories of many Newman alumni.

Now, after an absence of several years, theatre is back – in a big way.

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