Teaching & Understanding Vatican II

UST's Theology department is hosting a conference in September on "Vatican II:  Teaching and Understanding the Council after 50 Years."  The call for papers asks for 300-word proposals by Jan. 30, 2012, on a range of topics that may be of interest to MOJ readers:

Much has changed in our Catholic schools, colleges, and universities in the fifty years since the opening of Vatican II on October 11, 1962. Catholics still make up a significant part of the student population but now they study alongside of students from many different faith traditions and non-believers. Theology and Religious Studies courses are still part of the core curriculum for undergraduates, but who teaches, how we teach, and even what we teach have all changed dramatically over the years. The Council has also influenced how we engage other academic disciplines. Students may be just as likely to encounter Catholic Social Teaching, for example, in their Business or Social Work courses as they would in their Theology courses.  Changes such as these have set the stage for renewed discussion about teaching and understanding the Council in today’s world.

 “Vatican II: Teaching and Understanding the Council after 50 Years” has three interrelated objectives. First, it will examine the effects of Vatican II in shaping the methods and content of our work as educators and scholars.  Second, it will consider how theological reflection on the experiences of teaching since the Council has shaped our understanding of the event itself.  Third, it will look more broadly at the role of Catholic colleges and universities in educating students to be agents of the proper development of human culture for “the good of the community and of the whole society” (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes §59; see also John Paul II, Ex Corde Ecclesiae §32).