Toward a Renewed Catholic Communications Pedagogy
Scholars exploring the huge cultural shifts driven by digital communications will gather at a McGrath Institute for Church Life symposium July 9-11 at the University of Notre Dame’s Martin Media Center to discuss the future of Catholic communications and education in a digital world.
The symposium, titled “Toward a Renewed Catholic Communications Pedagogy,” will feature an international group of faculty applying the wisdom of the Catholic intellectual tradition to the pressing questions of how to live well and pass on the faith in the new media age.
The symposium represents the institute’s interest in assisting the Church and the academy in the work of educating and evangelizing more effectively in the digital age, according to Brett Robinson, Ph.D., the McGrath Institute’s Director of Communications and Catholic Media Studies.
“God mediates the Truth to us through the Church. How the Church and the academy mediate that Truth to the world requires a thoughtful understanding of the mediated age in which we find ourselves,” said Robinson, who has led the planning of the symposium.
Speakers at the invitation-only symposium will include scholars from theology, literature and media studies disciplines such as Anthony Monta (Holy Cross College), Daniel Arasa (Pontifical University of Santa Croce), Alba Sabaté Gauxachs (Ramon Llull University), Fr. John Wauck (Pontifical University of Santa Croce), Fr. Paul Soukup, SJ (Santa Clara University), Read Schuchardt (Wheaton College), James Poulos (The American Mind), Luis Vera (Mount Saint Mary’s University), Nadia Delicata (University of Malta), Daniella Zsupan Jerome (Loyola University New Orleans), John Jasso (Ave Maria University), Ernest Morrell (University of Notre Dame), Fr. Jordi Pujol (Pontifical University of Santa Croce), Dennis Cali (University of Texas at Tyler) and Craig Maier (Duquesne University).
Their various areas of expertise will be drawn upon to construct an educational framework for understanding and engaging media that can be shared with Church leaders in future workshops.
“Like the printing press before it, digital media represents a sea change in how we think, teach, act and pray. Our task is to be thoughtful about digital media technologies and their social, psychological and spiritual effects,” says Robinson.
The symposium is being supported by a planning grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc.