In this episode, Dr. Andrew Hayes, a theologian who also serves as the Dean of the Division of Liberal Studies, introduces us to the principles and process guiding the university’s renewal of its core curriculum. He takes up the nature of the human person, the role of wonder in liberal learning, and the purpose of a core oriented to human flourishing in this life and the next. Affirming that there is “truth to be known” and a “life of the mind” to be lived—all unfolding from conception to the beatific vision—Prof. Hayes compares the renewal of the core to the history of monastic renewals that have been undertaken during the life of the Church. By returning to the original charism “we are recommitting to the principles and sources of liberal learning” and opening ourselves to the joyful unpredictability of a community devoted to Wisdom. Prof. Hayes clarifies how the university, guided by three fundamental goals, will renew the core in order to create a common experience for students that will be coherent, ordered to a common purpose, and pass on a common patrimony across generations.

Details about UST's renewal of its Core, including goals, courses, and course sequences

Lecture by Dr. Andrew Hayes: "A Theology of Wonder: An Introduction to the Poetry of Ephrem the Syrian"

Josef Pieper, What Does 'Academic' Mean?

Karl Barth, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart