Making the Case for Christ Seminar Offered in August

Join us from August 8th through August 29th for an online seminar: Making the Case for Christ. This three-week online apologetics seminar will help you strengthen your faith and develop objective and persuasive reasons for belief that are valuable for sharing with those who may doubt the historical reality, divinity, or resurrection of Jesus. The seminar will also help attendees better perform the Spiritual Works of Mercy to “counsel the doubtful” and “educate the uninformed.”

Join Us for a Free Open House Webinar!

Join us for an Open House Webinar on Tuesday, May 3rd, from 6-7 pm ET to learn more about CDU’s online degree and certificate programs. You’ll meet dean Dr. Peter Brown, professors Dr. Carole Brown and Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, Student Life director Mary McKay, and librarian Stephanie Garrett. You’ll also have a chance to ask questions during a live Q&A session and be entered in a raffle to win free CDU gear and a book written by one of our professors! Join us to learn more about what sets CDU apart from other online universities.

Join us for a Free, Live Open House on May 3rd!

Are you looking for a theology program that is 100% faithful to the Church, 100% online and easily fits into your busy schedule? Then sign up for our Online Open House being held Tuesday, May 3, at 6 p.m. (EDT).

This event will introduce you to our different theology degree and certificate programs so you can choose the right program for you.

You’ll also get:

  • A chance to hear from our admissions director, dean, director of student life, and professors about what sets CDU apart from other online universities.
  • An overview of several fascinating courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels that will introduce you to the
    study of theology.
  • Information on transferring credits, ensuring you a smooth transition into our program, and the opportunity to finally finish your undergraduate
    degree.
  • An overview of the online Student Life Center, where you’ll obtain resources to help you successfully complete your degree.
  • A Q&A session with our dean, professors, and staff.

Be sure to stick around until the end of the webinar, where you’ll have a chance to win free CDU gear and books by our professors!

The event will last about 40-50 minutes, and it’s completely free. Once you’re through, you’ll be well-positioned for an easy transition into one of our online theology degree programs.

Register Now!

Study Philosophy This Summer with Dr. Shaw

What does it mean to live a moral life? How is the wisdom of Aristotle and Aquinas still relevant today? Learn the answer to these questions and many more by taking PHIL 311 Ethics, offered in the summer 2022 term. This engaging course is taught by popular professor Dr. Elizabeth Shaw. Students in the BA in Theology degree completion program can take PHIL 311 to fulfill three of the 12 required general education credits in Philosophy.

PHIL 311 explores moral philosophy and concepts of the good as applied to human action. Students will read the primary texts of philosophical masters and study modern challenges to the perennial tradition of realist ethics, including utilitarianism and moral relativism.

Dr. Elizabeth Shaw earned her PhD in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America, with a specialty in American Philosophy. She serves as CDU’s associate dean for accreditation and is associate editor of the quarterly journal The Review of Metaphysics, which is published by the non-profit organization the Philosophy Education Society, Inc. This summer she is also serving, by invitation, as faculty at the Dietrich von Hildebrand Project’s annual seminar at Franciscan University of Steubenville, which is now in its 12th year.

Significant Grant to Fund New CST Educational Program

Catholic Distance University (CDU) was awarded a grant of $879,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. in support of a significant new educational effort that the university is developing.

Given its mission to educate the Catholic leaders of tomorrow, CDU is designing and launching a first of its kind higher education curriculum in Catholic Social Teaching (CST). The grant will fund a new bilingual English-Spanish AA degree program designed for Hispanic Catholics, who will make up the majority of the population of Catholics in the coming years, and a graduate certificate program. These new, affordable online offerings in CST will provide education to priests, deacons, and lay ecclesial ministers as they seek to serve their faith communities. For this reason, CDU also envisions the programs as a springboard to greater collaboration with Catholic dioceses.

CDU Board Chair Steve Pryor said, “Catholic Social Teaching is that body of teaching addressing human rights and responsibilities in society—beginning with the dignity of the human person and promotion of the family and extending to the global family—flowing from Jesus Christ’s ‘Great Commandment’ to love God, and to love one another as He has loved us.”

While the Catholic Church has a broad and deep teaching regarding social problems, Catholic pastoral leaders feel insufficiently knowledgeable when faced with the very real challenges of immigration, racism, poverty, and family breakdown.

Bishop Robert Barron, a great proponent of CST, according to Mr. Pryor, noted at a recent CDU gala dinner, “It (CST) is essential to the new evangelization and provides a lens through which to view the issues of our time more clearly.”  Continuing in his remarks, the bishop added that Catholic social teaching is “not just for us, it’s for the whole world. We need to propagate it, we need to teach it. We need to announce it from the rooftops.’”

CDU president Dr. Marianne Evans Mount affirms, “The University is well positioned to develop a new innovative CST curriculum to extend our reach to a growing underserved yet vital body of future Church leadership in Hispanic Catholics as well as to ordained and lay ministers.”

According to Dr. Mount, CDU’s new program is designed to do just that, by providing the clergy and laity the wisdom and insights needed to effectively address these issues at their local parish and ministry level.  There is great need in the Hispanic community to develop well-educated leaders for the Church of the 21st century. Understanding this need, CDU’s CST-focused, two-year online AA degree will help Hispanic Catholics achieve post-secondary education and provide a pipeline for future entry into seminaries, lay ecclesial ministries, and further academic study.

Recognizing the impact this new program could have on society both today and long into the future, The Lilly Endowment Pathway for Tomorrow Initiative awarded CDU the grant to fully launch the initiative.  This program from CDU speaks to the heart and focus of Lilly’s Endowment Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative: to prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges and prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future.

Church Ministry Grant to Aid Those Who Serve

You asked, and we listened. Recognizing that many students serve the Church through volunteer or paid ministry work, a new Church Ministry Grant will be offered to help offset the cost of tuition, and it is available to students who have been accepted into an academic program.

Undergraduates who qualify will receive a grant of up to $20 per credit hour, and graduate students will receive up to $30 per credit hour. Visit the Paying for Education website page for full details and to access the application.

 

Winter II Term Features Fascinating Courses

Winter II classes begin on March 14th, and registration is well underway. Be sure to secure your spot in
the class of your choice soon, and add meaning to your Lenten journey through study while earning
credits! Here is a sampling of a few fascinating courses being offered.

SPIR 501 Applied Catholic Spirituality is a practical how-to course that will help you examine the state
of your personal conversion, learn the art of Christian meditation, the skillsets for the
discernment of spirits and the discernment of God’s will, and much more. A surprising
number of professionals who work for the Church do not have a solid prayer life. Don’t
let that be you! Taught by Dr. Carole Brown, who holds a PhD in Systematic Theology
from Milltown Institute, Dublin, Ireland, and serves as director of the Sioux Spiritual
Center, a small Catholic retreat center in the Diocese of Rapid City. As a Catholic lay
woman, Dr. Brown has been involved in various evangelistic ministries throughout the course of her
adult life.

CHIST 224 & 524 Church History II: Renaissance to Modern Church, the second of two survey courses,
will introduce you to the vast panorama of key issues, leaders, topics and patterns
related to Church history throughout the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, and
into modernity. Taught by Dr. Marie Nuar, who received her STD in Theology from the
Pontifical University of St. Thomas, Rome; her STL in Missiology and MA in Jewish
Studies from the Pontifical Gregorian University; her License in Arabic and Islamic
Studies from the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies; and her MA in Theology from
Franciscan University of Steubenville.

 

BIO 101 General Biology will open your eyes to the wonder inside each of the 37.2 trillion cells of your
body. It will deepen your appreciation for the world around you and equip you to
grapple with the question of evolution from within the theological boundaries set by
the Church. Taught by Dr. Catherine Gara, an educator and writer who holds a PhD in
Biology from The Johns Hopkins University and specializes in “translating” scientific
research into lay language.

 

Inspired by Son, Double Alumna Perseveres

Renee Alarcon works as a director of children’s faith formation for Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Arlington, Texas. A two-time graduate of CDU, she earned her BA degree in Theology in late 2021 and her AA degree in Liberal Arts in 2019.

Renee and her husband Mark, who is a cantor and youth choir leader, have attended Most Blessed Sacrament Church for 24 years and have three sons. Their youngest, 14-year-old Luke, was diagnosed with Chronic Leukemia a month before her AA graduation in Fall 2019 but was healthy enough to travel to Washington, D.C., to attend. “He is the real reason why I continued to work toward my degrees,” she says. “He has blood cancer that will never go into true remission and faces lifelong treatment; thankfully, the leukemia cells are undetected at this time, and he lives life to the fullest, never shedding a tear or complaining about his medical care.”

Renee was halfway to a nutrition and accounting degree in her 20s at a community college, “but that fizzled out fast when I started focusing more on building a family,” she says. However, she was easily able to transfer the credits toward her degree at CDU.

“The experience at the community college wasn’t successful for me because it always was missing something,” she says. “Now, 20 years later, I know it was my faith. Going to a school centered on the Catholic faith is what made the difference!”

“CDU works for me because of the compassion of the professors and the way the learning platform has been designed,” she says. “The level of commitment from the professors to make the experience interactive has increased with each term.”

Renee carefully researched which online experience would be best for her needs before selecting CDU. “There are so many details that CDU has thought of with the learning experience that others do not even consider,” she says. “The learning module videos from Dr. Brown and Dr. Nuar plus many other professors have been a real treat!” she adds.

Renee was a technology manager for a public elementary school before graduating with her AA degree. For a long time, she had volunteered in her parish as a wedding assistant, catechist, and youth choir leader. “I wanted more than the public sector could offer and really wanted something in my parish or at least my diocese. I knew that I wanted to follow in my mother’s footsteps in Religious Education but wasn’t exactly sure what that would look like,” she says.

Renee’s mom had been a DRE for years when she was a child. “After she passed, I knew I wanted to possibly work as she did for the church. I began a search that led me to only a handful of choices for online learning that offered a truly Catholic experience,” she says.

“I found that CDU had the longest history of distance learning for what I was seeking,” Renee says. “To me, this meant that the university had the best resources to help its students learn while at home, across the country or the world, from the professors. Thankfully, I was right, and when it came to my BA, there was never a question about where I would attend.”

“After going to my graduation, I explored through a lot of prayer and discernment how to use my education to get into a parish and hopefully my parish,” she says. “Of course, 2020 changed all the world with the shutdowns, and I knew from my priest that our Children’s Director had retired and an opportunity was coming in 2021.” Renee had already taken many of her BA classes while in the AA program and was on track to complete the BA in December 2021.

With her AA degree completed, the BA degree imminent, and her volunteer experience, she was offered the position and began work in July 2021. “Seeking out the faith-based career with those not only of my same faith but my same parish helped me as the courses became harder,” she says. She was inspired to bring what she was learning into action through her work.

“My absolute favorite part of my work is that I am bringing families and children to the sacraments!” Renee says. However, this can sometimes be a challenge as well. “Not all of the families are willing to complete the requirements or the time needed to prepare for the sacraments; it takes a village to catechize children, but the same is said for also catechizing the parents/families of those children,” she adds.

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