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Two AMU Scholars Offer Semester-Long Lecture Series

Residents of the town of Ave Maria will be able to learn alongside the university's students this fall in a special course/lecture series offered by AMU Philosophy Professor Michael Pakaluk and noted author and theologian Michael Novak.

myway-1The course on The Catholic Intellectual Renaissance of the 20th Century will hold sessions Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:40 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., in the AMU academic building. It will examine 20th-century Catholic contributors to Religion and Theology, Music, Philosophy, Visual Arts and Film, Literature, Economics and Politics and Science.

The series opened Tuesday with a lecture by Mr. Novak on St. Thèrése, and Mr. Novak will also be offering the class Thursday, Sept. 4, when the topic will be a discussion of Saint Pope John Paul II, with a screening of the film "The Nine Days that Changed the World." Other subjects will include composer Sir Edward Elgar, authors G.K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh and Flannery O'Connor, films such as Going My Way and Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man," and the screening of episodes from Archbishop Fulton Sheen's (below left) television show.

Town residents may attend any of the sessions, with no registration or fee necessary. For AMU students, it's a for-credit course requiring some written work and a paper, but others attending have no such requirements.

fultonsheen1It is believed to be the first such offering at Ave Maria University.

"When we were planning the course, it began as a typical college course with readings in philosophy, theology, and politics," Dr. Pakaluk said. "However, we shifted direction and began to incorporate aspects of music, film, theater, opera, and poetry. When the course changed in character in that way, we began to see that it looked a lot like a lecture series, of the sort which could be open to the general public. So we reconceived the course as a lecture series which students could attend for credit."

"Now that we have reconceived the course in this way," Dr. Pakaluk added, "we wonder why something like this has not been attempted before -- because it makes a lot of sense. Needless to say, the material of the course is highly important, besides being interesting and accessible generally."

Click here for a PDF document with a more detailed description of the course and a full schedule of each lecture.

 

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