Podcasts about jesuit catholic

A muslim & a catholic walk into a discussion on The Hunger Games, geopolitics, and human nature. This episode is unlike any I've done before. Dr. Shyam Sriram is an Indian-American, muslim convert, and a political science professor at a Jesuit Catholic college. He turned out to be the perfect person with whom to have an open-minded conversation about a controversial and difficult subject. I invite you to listen with an open heart and to pray and work for peace. Episode 79 Show Host: Mike Tenney Dr. Shyam's Website: https://www.canisius.edu/academics/our-schools/college-arts-sciences/faculty-and-staff/shyam-sriram-phd IG: https://www.instagram.com/profshyam_1979/?hl=en Show Page: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/the-hunger-games-isreal-palestine-and-the-cycle-of-violence-w-dr-shyam-sriram Catholic Merch - https://catholicmerch.store Join my Patron Community www.PopCultureCatechism.com Listen wherever you find podcasts including: Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-culture-catechism/id1530141366 Spotify Podcasts https://open.spotify.com/show/4hlSitS9FLX3sYqwr0RsFK?si=IObbssJPTWSwq9Qjn7VFaQ&fbclid=IwAR0aKkevoBgwo2CeJIpdeSnOHrE_h9vuHtKwffmOGHnYYl26XICYjllAzrU Bring the AWAKEN MISSION to your parish! https://www.awakencatholic.church/mission

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - A Catholic university in the state of Washington recently announced its full divestment from holdings in fossil fuel concerns, a decision one of the school's leaders says came about as part of a “moral imperative to action” stemming from Catholic teachings. Seattle University, a Jesuit-run school near the city's downtown, said last month that it had fully “scrubbed its endowment portfolio of fossil fuel investments,” with the school touting itself as “the first university in Washington state and the first Jesuit Catholic university in the country” to do so. The school's board of trustees in 2018 “became the first Jesuit university in the country to pledge 100% withdrawal from publicly traded fossil fuel investments,” with the school claiming the divestment measure was part of a broader effort at “building a sustainable community that supports human and ecological health, social justice, and economic well-being.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255062/catholic-university-divests-from-fossil-fuels-after-a-six-year-process The Archdiocese of Philadelphia agreed to a $3.5 million settlement with a man who accused a now-deceased priest of raping him about 17 years ago and alleged that the archdiocese failed to take action when previously informed of separately alleged abuse. The lawsuit alleged that Monsignor John Close, who was ordained in 1969, sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy in 2006 when he took classes at Saint Katherine of Siena Parish in Wayne, which is within the archdiocese. The lawyers claimed that Close sexually abused the teenager after hearing his confession and warned him not to report the abuse. Although the man, who is now 30 years old, first opened up about the alleged abuse in 2018, his lawyers argued that the archdiocese failed to take proper action in response to previous allegations, which could have prevented his assault. In the 1990s, a different man accused the priest of sexual abuse allegedly occurring in 1969, but the archdiocese could not substantiate the claims. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255068/philadelphia-archdiocese-settles-for-3-dollars-5-cents-million-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit-for-deceased-priest Today, the Church celebrates Saint Clare of Assisi. As a child she was already very strongly drawn to the things of God, praying fervently, devoutly visiting the Blessed Sacrament, and manifesting a tender love towards the poor. Saint Francis made her superior of the Poor Clares order, a post she should serve for the next 42 years of her life until her death. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-clare-of-assisi-564

In this episode of the chatcast, The Dude and Jake learn about T.T.'s incredible journey as a young boy in Nepal, adopted by a Jesuit Catholic priest from Cincinnati, and raised by him in India.  

This is a throwback to an audio conversation (on live radio) that I had with former Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest Bob Bush all the way back in 2005. The Late Pastor Bob Bush had me on as a guest on his live Radio program "His Truth Is Marching On" many times and we had some good fellowship together. His program originated in Oakdale CA and I was living in Easton, PA. I loved talking and praying with him before we went live "on the air" and it was always exciting to be on his program. I listened to this audio program and am amazed that things have not changed much in the past 18 years. In this audio, I get to listen to Pastor Bob as he testified about his experiences as a Priest and he asked me to give my testimony also.

Alison Francis CDO of Costco and OU alum talks about diversity in the workplace and in sports.

ST. PETER CANISIUS l PATRON OF THE CATHOLIC PRESS, GERMANY Feast Day: December 21 The first words of the “Hail Mary” came from the greeting of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary at the Annunciation and the greeting of Elizabeth at Mary's visit to her. Then the name Jesus was added to identify the “fruit of her womb.” Our saint for today, St. Peter Canisius, is credited with having added “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners” in 1555, and the Church concluded it with “now and at the hour of our death.” What a great contribution did St. Peter Canisius give to our Marian prayer! How he loved to pray the Hail Mary! St. Peter was a renowned Jesuit Catholic priest. He was born in 1521 in Nijmegen, Netherlands. He studied at the University of Cologne, earning a master's degree at the age of 19 in 1540. There, he met Fr. Peter Faber, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, and through him Peter Canisius joined the Jesuits in 1543. He became a very influential preacher of his time, debated and taught in German-speaking Jesuit colleges. In 1562, he founded a college which became the University of Innsbruck. Because of his accomplishments and the many difficulties, he encountered in this mission, he became known as the ‘Second Apostle of Germany,” St. Boniface, being the First. During his time, Protestantism had progressed well in Germany since many intellectuals adopted it, thus Catholicism seemed to be the religion of the ignorant. Peter's work was very tiresome and dangerous. He taught in the colleges, preached in the city and the neighboring towns and debated. By his debates, Peter showed that the Protestants were mistaken in their belief. Peter became known for his strong support of Catholicism in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and the British Isles. The restoration of the Catholic faith in these countries is largely attributed to the Jesuits led by Peter. His lasting contribution were his three catechisms which he published in Latin and German which became very popular. They were translated into almost every language in Europe. Poland had also become largely Protestant. Thanks to Peter and the other Jesuits, it turned back to the Catholic Church and continues to sustain its faith until this modern era. Having a special devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, he explained that the Hail Mary is the basis of Catholic Marian piety. He wrote Marian books and promoted the sodalities of Our Lady and the Rosary associations. He defended Catholic Mariology and traced the historical document of Mary's perpetual virginity. He explained the dogma of “Mother of God” and her freedom from sin. He justifies the devotion to Mary in the Catholic Church. When Peter left Germany, the Society of Jesus in the country had already become a large group and a powerful band to refute Protestantism. He spent the last twenty years of his life in Fribourg where he founded the Jesuit College Saint-Michel, a famous university for career education. When he was 70 years old, Peter suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed but he continued to preach and write with the aid of a secretary until his death on December 21, 1597 at Fribourg, Switzerland. He was initially buried at the Church of St. Nicholas. His remains were later transferred to the church of the Jesuit College, which he had founded. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 21, 1925 and was proclaimed as a Doctor of the Church.

TRANSCRIPTION:Hallo! This is Bin Song, a philosophy and religion professor at Washington College. During the process of preparing this first unit of the course “Ru and Confucianism,” I ask myself: what do I want to say to students and friends who have never seriously learned Confucianism?Think about how historically long-standing and geographically far-reaching the tradition of Confucianism has been, and we will find this is not an easy question to answer. And the situation to urge us to ask this question is also very unique: right now, Confucianism is generating global influences beyond what it has been traditionally in its pre-modern forms. In other words, it is entering a new era to migrate from East Asia to the north Atlantic and global world, and only in an area where the Confucian thought takes a minority role, the question just asked becomes especially urgent.However, there is a convenient way to start the conversation. Just as what normally happens to people's self-introduction to each other in a new meeting, the first thing we need to remember is their names. Therefore, why not let us talk about the English name of the tradition, Confucianism?Throughout years, whenever allowable, I always try to push the conversations I was involved in about Confucianism to a realization that Confucianism is a wrong name. And my reason for this is very simple: Confucianism, this name, is not how the tradition historically called itself, and it was invented by Protestant Christian missionaries in around 19th century in a special period of western colonialism and with a very special purpose, the purpose of Christian mission, which is quite alien to the nature of the tradition those missionaries designated as such. However, a basic logic of respectfully naming is that the name we address people should sound agreeable to them; or at least, it should be recognizable by them as their name. None of these standards stands strongly in the case of “Confucianism,” and therefore, today, we should rectify our historical mistake, change it to how the tradition historically called itself, namely, the Ru tradition or Ruism. Meanwhile, what is more important is to understand what this term “Ru” means, and why the tradition chose this term as its name. I attached some articles, video and social media links below so that you can check the details if you want to know more about this sort of conversations.While I made these efforts to explain the erroneous nature of the name of Confucianism, one of the most stimulating, or “provocative” should I say, push-back my interlocutors gave is that: who cares? It is just a name. Right or wrong, people use it to make reference; and as long as it is useful in the way that people understand it whenever it is mentioned, who cares that it is a wrong name?Well, I think this push-back is particularly interesting because it can lead to an even richer conversation about almost everything related to the Ru tradition in the contemporary world. So I will try to respond to it here step by step.Firstly, scholars in the discipline of philosophy indeed do not quite care whether “Confucianism” is a wrong name or not. This is because philosophy is normally understood as not pertaining to people's religious identity. When philosophers study “Confucianism,” they think they are studying something similar to “Marxism,” “Platonism” or any other philosophical theory or doctrine that is named by a founding or major thinker.However, if we look into how the Ru tradition starts, evolves and in particular, interacts with other traditions such as Buddhism, Daoism and Catholicism, we find that largely, Ruism is indeed not a membership tradition which has a clear-cut institutional boundary between insiders and outsiders. However, a person could still strongly identify him or herself as a Ru while conversing with other people who have their strong religious identities such as with a Buddhist, Daoist, or a Jesuit Catholic. A similar case to help you understand this situation is that today, a person may decide to practice Stoicism as her comprehensive way of living; clearly, in the West, Stoicism is not a church-based religious tradition, but if a person proclaims that she would like to be a Stoic, we still need to listen to this claim and address her spiritual identify in a careful way. So, understood similarly, despite not a membership tradition, because Ruism affords to be a comprehensive way of living, the practice of it can still engender a strong consciousness of spiritual self-identity in the contemporary world. If this is the case, I do think philosophers should be more sensitive to the right or wrong way of naming “Confucianism.”A caveat about the last paragraph is that I used a crucial term “spiritual” to define the attitude of human life pertaining to one's vision of the entire world, and in line with this vision, one would like to transform her whole personality. Understood in this way, a spiritually sharp and adept human can be philosophical or not, religious or not, theist or not, and therefore, the inclusiveness of the term “spiritual” will be very useful for us to talk about different belief systems or comprehensive ways of living without being confused by the ambiguous meanings of philosophy vs religion particularly when these terms are used across cultures and traditions.Good, this is the case for philosophers. Then, secondly, scholars in the discipline of religious studies indeed care about the naming issue of religions or religion-like traditions more than philosophers. This is not surprising because from the beginning of the modern discipline of religious studies, scholars have tried to study religions objectively, and while doing this, one principle of terminology is that descriptions of religions ought to be recognized by religious insiders. A great example is that scholars have realized that “Muhammadanism,” a name prevalent in use around the same time when “Confucianism” was invented, is actually a wrong name. Muslims had their strong reasons to assert that this historical name of “Muhammadanism” is actually blasphemous. It was invented and imposed by religious outsiders, which is contrary to their own faith, since what the Islamic faith requires Muslims to “yield to” (the meaning of “Islam”) is Allah, the monotheistic singular God, not any human figure, even including their prophet. In face of this critique from religious insiders, scholars started to understand Islam more, and eventually eliminated the term “Muhammadanism” from contemporary English vocabulary.By the same token, the strongest argument I read from scholars in the contemporary religious studies was from Dr. Wilfred C. Smith, who published the book “The Meaning and End of Religion” in 1963. His reasons to change the name of Confucianism to something like “the tradition of classicists” in order to match the Chinese term ? is very similar to my own, namely, Confucianism is an alien name to the spiritual self-identifiers with the Ru tradition.However, since religious scholars typically pursue their studies in a detached and objective manner, a higher degree of advocacy on the change of the name will still depend upon how many spiritual advocates of Ruism and empathetic scholars would like to stand up to push the boundary of the public understanding of the Ru tradition.For me, I spiritually identify myself as a Ru, but I am a cosmopolitan Ru who cherishes the values of impartial scientific researches, religious pluralism and critical thinking, since I believe all these values are intrinsically implied by the teaching of Ruism. For me, the most valuable reason to advocate the rectification of the name of Confucianism is that I believe people need to understand the meaning of the term “Ru” ?, and why the Ru tradition chose this term as its name in tandem with a variety of schools of thought in the context of ancient East Asia.According to the most influential commentary of the Classic of Rites, called the “Standard Meanings of the Classic of Rites” (????), which was compiled in Tang Dynasty (618-907 C.E) and later taken as a textbook for the system of civil examination, the term Ru has two meanings: firstly, “soft”, and secondly, “moisten.” The meaning of “soft” derives from the expectation that a Ru knows how to interact with humans and the nature in a civilized way, and these civilized human beings will intrinsically long for non-violence, peace and harmony. The meaning of “moisten” refers to the fact that the way a Ru can achieve non-violent transformation is through learning and practicing everything that distinguishes humans from other species. In Chinese, this distinctively human thing called ? is translated mostly as ritual, but actually refers to a cluster of civilized phenomena such as social etiquettes, moral conventions, civil and religious ceremonies, law and political institutions, etc. Overall, ? can be each and every possible manifestation of human civilization. But why is the idea of “moisten” related to this concept of ?? This is because although ? civilizes human beings, if misused, ? can also be oppressive. Think about all those social etiquettes in a patriarchal, or a racially segregated society; they indeed set a rule for humans' interaction, but they are also oppressive. Therefore, according to the Ru tradition, a Ru should learn and practice the right ? so that ? can continually benefit and nourish all people's life, and therefore, the image of “moisten” or “watering” is invoked to indicate that the right purpose of ritual-performance is to nourish people's life, rather than oppressing people in the name of order and hierarchy.We will definitely spend more times to talk about ? in future episodes. However, seen from the naming issue of the Ru tradition, the central role of this concept ? to the Ru tradition speaks to several points which I think are uniquely valuable and thus, worth studying by all people around the world.Firstly, the Ru tradition constantly operates its discourse upon a “civilizational” perspective. In other words, what distinguishes civilization from other worldly phenomena and how to sustain the civilization on the earth continuous with the non-human nature are two broadest questions that a Ru asks whenever they think about concrete minor issues. This civilizational orientation clearly distinguishes Ruism from other traditions in ancient Asia such as Daoism, which emphasizes the value of the non-human nature more than the complexity of human civilization, and Buddhism, which tends to deny the distinctive nature of any being including human beings. Today, this civilizational orientation of Ruism is very much needed since humanity today is facing unusual challenges, such as global warming, pandemic and destabilized international politics, and we need a genuinely global and civilizational perspective to guide human practices to tackle these challenges.Secondly, despite aiming to sustain human civilization, Ruism perceives clearly the ambiguity of the phenomenon of “civilization.” Not everything in a civilization is worth commending, and some aspects of it, such as those undesirable rituals, can become seriously oppressive. In this way, Ruism's attitude towards civilization is to perfect it, improve it in a process, rather than to celebrate it regardless. Clearly, this also fits the ambiguous nature of human civilization today. It is far from perfect, although it is also worth sustaining by its own right.Thirdly, this civilizational perspective makes the Ru tradition unusually broad and deep, and thus, be very hard to be categorized. Is it a philosophy, a religion, a way of living, or an expression of the special civilization continually existing in the Eastern part of Eurasia continent? If we learn the tradition down the road, we will find that it is all of them, but not constrained by any of them. Therefore, it is an unusually demanding ideal to become a Ru, since everything about civilization will be concerned by them.However, since life is short, limited, and lacks meanings for all of us, why not take on some ideal of human life that is genuinely sublime and noble? If the ideal makes any sense to you, from this moment on, let us remember the meaning of Ru ?, and try to pronounce Ruism or the Ru tradition with the old name of “Confucianism” kept in mind.CREDITS:Opening Music: Ta-da! By Siddartha CorsusClosing: Music: Endless forms most beautiful by Sidartha CorsusLINKS:www.binsonglive.wpcomstaging.comTony Swain, “On Confucianism and Religion”, in Confucianism in China :An Introduction, Bloomsbury, 2017, pp. 1-22.Anna Sun, Confucianism as a World Religion: Contested Histories and Contemporary Realities (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013): 45-76Bin Song's discussion with scholars of comparative philosophy on Ru and Confucianism: http://warpweftandway.com/should-instead-confucianism/.Bin Song's discussion with scholars of sinology: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sinologists/permalink/3211240495599467/.Email: ruismpodcast@gmail.com

WHEN THE STARS ALIGN, JUST WALK - the journey of the creative polymath from San Francisco is deeply rooted in his childhood in Ethiopia, where his passion for photography and film began. A storyteller at heart, Bemnet loves telling the untold life stories of people through both image and sound. As Creative Director for Discord he is dedicated to creating experiences of joy, light, creativity, optimism and growth ... but 'THE LITMUS TEST TO ANY AMAZING EXPERIENCE IS THAT YOU FORGET TO CAPTURE IT'.   SHOW NOTES_ Enjoyed this episode?                                                                                      Then please subscribe, leave a 5-star rating and a review. Happy to hear your feedback and questions. If you'd like to connect, follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catwlk_soultlk/                                                  And share this good 'n' beautiful story with someone else in the world. You can listen to the conversations with my wonderful CATWLK SOULTLK guests on Apple podcast, Spotify, Stitcher. THANK YOU for listening to the show dear friend!   Explore further and be inspired by some beautiful people, books, projects - as mentioned in conversation with BEMNET YEMESGEN PEOPLE Maya Angelou - writer, poet, civil rights activist John Maxwell - bestselling author, keynote speaker and coach on leadership Pierre Teilhard de Chardin - French philosopher and Jesuit Catholic priest   BOOKS The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence (In Modern English): Amazon Link   MUSIC Ethiopian Gospel Album - Sofia Shebabaw, Fikir Kemekabir Belay: Spotify link Ethiopian Jazz Album - Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou/ Ethiopiques, Vol 21: Emahoy: Spotify link   PODCAST The Observatory (Design Observer) - Michael Bierut + Jessica Helfand Revision Path - Maurice Cherry   BEMNET. ON SOCIAL MEDIA Website: www.thebem.net Instagram: www.instagram.com/ohmybem Twitter: www.twitter.com/ohmybem LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bemnet

Every Monday we will venture into the thoughts and voices of those in the Christian mystical tradition in five minutes or less! In this Mystic Monday episode we hear from the Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ (1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French idealist philosopher and Jesuit Catholic priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of the Peking Man. He conceived the vitalist idea of the Omega Point (a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving), and he developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of noosphere. Buy me a Coffee!Like what I am doing and want to say thanks? Then feel free to BUY ME A COFFEE (or 6)! Music provided by Alex Sugg / songsforstory.com

Last season we went way back, hundreds of years ago and talked a bit about Sir Francis Drake and his legacy along the California shoreline. Today we are going to close out season 2 by talking a bit about another historical figure, still hundreds of years ago but after the time of Drake. In the 1700s the Spanish Empire was looking to expand its reach more into the new land. While they had already landed in areas of South and Central America, there was little foothold going up from Mexico and into California. Previous explorers had described and landed in the areas that we now know as San Diego and the Monterey Bay. This led the crown to dispatch another group led by Gaspar de Portola, with the mission of displacing the Jesuit Catholic order and creating settlements for the Franciscan Catholic Order in the new world. This mission is why today we know the name of Portola. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today’s episode in our series Researching College Options focuses on a trend in college enrollment that you might have missed entirely. But if you have a son at home, it might be of particular interest to you--especially if your son is in the early days of high school (or even younger!).  1. A Quick Historical Look at Men in College Let’s look back for a moment at the history of male students in U.S. colleges. We wrote about this back in our first book, How To Find the Right College: A Workbook for Parents of High School Students, when we discussed the very real college option for your teenager of attending a single-sex institution vs. a coeducational institution. Here is what we said then:  Colleges and universities that were started in America’s earliest days were all institutions for men. They were all single-sex institutions then. Seven of the eight well-known Ivy League institutions served only male students when they were founded in the 1600s and 1700s: the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton, Harvard, and Yale. Among the Ivies, only Cornell, the youngest of the Ivies, was founded as a co-educational university, which took as its mission from its first day to enroll both men and women.  As time went on, many Ivies created a “sister” school for women: the University of Pennsylvania had its College for Women, Columbia had Barnard, Brown had Pembroke, and Harvard had Radcliffe. Of these, only Barnard remains. The tradition of single-sex colleges is particularly strong in the Northeast, perhaps because that is where so many of our country’s oldest higher education institutions are located. In addition to Barnard, women’s colleges in the Northeast include Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Simmons College, Smith College, and Wellesley College. But there are well-known women’s colleges located in other regions of the U.S. as well—like Mills College and Scripps College in California, Stephens College in Missouri, Hollins University and Mary Baldwin College in Virginia, Saint Mary’s College (the sister school of the University of Notre Dame) in Indiana, and Agnes Scott College and Spelman College in Georgia. Spelman has the distinction of also being an excellent HBCU. Interestingly and for whatever reason (probably rooted in financial issues), some of these women’s colleges now allow men to enroll in their graduate programs only, thus maintaining the traditional women’s college atmosphere for their undergraduate residential students. Today, there are just over 40 women’s colleges in the U.S. Oddly, only a handful of men’s colleges remain, perhaps partly because now there are actually more women than men going to college. The men’s college you have most likely heard of is Morehouse College, which is an academically rigorous HBCU located in Georgia and which is the men’s counterpart to Spelman. Morehouse has a roster of famous alumni, ranging from Martin Luther King, Jr., to Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee. Here are two more appealing men’s colleges: Hampden-Sydney College, which was founded in 1775 in Virginia and has a long and fascinating history (Patrick Henry and James Madison were among its first Trustees); and Wabash College, which is located in Indiana and was cited in the book Colleges That Change Lives as an institution that is successful in creating engaged students, who become leaders in their chosen fields. While most single-sex institutions have opened their doors to the opposite sex over the years and especially in the past 50 years, those that remain carry on a tradition that their graduates wholeheartedly support. Some of their graduates--and indeed their families--believe that students can focus better on their studies when they are not being distracted by social interactions with the opposite sex in the classroom. Some of their graduates believe that students will develop a stronger sense of community and camaraderie with their classmates in single-sex institutions. Some of their graduates appreciate the histories and philosophies of these institutions--especially perhaps graduates of women’s colleges who feel that they are better supported as young women and are encouraged to set and pursue whatever education and career goals they can imagine for themselves. Clearly, there are great reasons for your teenager to choose to apply to and attend a single-sex institution, as we have said before, but there are also great reasons for your teenager to choose a coeducational institution. What is happening now, however, is that some coeducational institutions--institutions that some students chose to attend precisely because they were coeducational--are losing their balance between male and female students in a way that no one would have predicted 40 years ago. Let’s look at why. 2. Male College Enrollment Today  In a very interesting August article, which you should read in its entirety in The Hechinger Report (which also appeared in The Atlantic), reporter Jon Marcus gave us these facts and figures: Where men once went to college in proportions far higher than women--58 percent to 42 percent as recently as the 1970s--the ratio has now almost exactly reversed. This fall, women will comprise more than 56 percent of students on campuses nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Some 2.2 million fewer men than women will be enrolled in college this year. And the trend shows no sign of abating. By 2026, the department estimates, 57 percent of college students will be women. . . . Reeling from a years-long decline in overall enrollment, colleges and universities nationwide are vying for all the students they can get, and suddenly paying new attention to bolstering the number of men who apply. (quoted from the article) At this point, I think we might say either “You’ve come a long way, baby” to any young women in the audience or “Where will it end?” Of course, for many years, we lived in a world where more males than females went to college, so is it a problem if those figures are now reversed? Maybe not, unless you have a son at home, and you are wondering if this trend will affect him--either positively or negatively--as he looks toward college and his future. 3. Is College Too Late To Fix This? The Hechinger Report article goes on to explain some likely causes for the state of male college enrollment. Marcus reports: Though advocates complain that few in higher education are doing enough to keep those men who do get there from leaving, there’s consensus that men’s reluctance to enroll in the first place isn’t necessarily the colleges’ fault. The problem has its origins as early as primary school, only to be fueled later on by economic forces that discourage men from believing a degree is worth the time and money. “It’s funny that it’s the colleges that are finally seeing this issue and trying to resolve it,” said Patrick Maloney, president of the Nativity School, a Jesuit Catholic middle school in the central Massachusetts city of Worcester that tries to aim low-income boys toward college. That’s because, by the time students reach college age, Maloney said, “It’s way too late. You’ve already lost them. Maybe [admissions officers] should be going into middle schools and [should] start talking to fifth-graders about the benefits of college education.” Or even earlier than that. The “anti-school, anti-education sentiment” in boys has roots in kindergarten, when they’re slower to learn to read than girls, said Jim Shelley, manager of the Men’s Resource Center at Lakeland Community College in Ohio. Girls at the primary and secondary level worldwide far outperform boys in reading, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. That disparity continues until, “by eighth or ninth grade, boys have lost interest,” Shelley said. (quoted from the article) All this is likely true, but none of it accounts for the decline in male college enrollment. Why? Because I believe all of this was true 40 years ago when there were more male than female students in colleges. With that said, we will, nonetheless, underline the importance of not waiting till high school to engage actively about college-going with any younger children you have at home. For many students in high schools my nonprofit organization has evaluated, it is clear that they gave up on the goal of pursuing a college education much earlier, just as the article says. I believe that this is especially--and unfortunately--true for low-income students in urban school districts. And here are some additional issues that are concerning if you have a son at home, according to this article: Men who do enroll in college, at whatever age, are more likely than women to drop out, and they graduate at lower rates, the Education Department reports. That’s one thing universities and colleges can address directly, but generally don’t, Shelley, [manager of the Men’s Resource Center at Lakeland Community College], said. Through 21 years running one of the few campus support centers exclusively for men, he said, “I’ve thought it can only get better. But it just has gone nowhere. Not only are there not programs like ours that are supportive of male students, but at most college campuses the attitude is that men are the problem versus men have problems, too. . . .” Meanwhile, boys in many American communities don’t see male role models who have been to college and succeeded, said Keith Bullock at Kentucky’s Berea College (56 percent female). Bullock is coordinator of programs to support male students, many of them from Appalachia. “They don’t have those examples of doctors and lawyers and professionals.” . . . The male students under his care are black, white and Hispanic, Bullock said, and they all face similar pressures. He escorts them to the counseling and advising offices and texts them every day to make sure they get to class on time and know when tests are scheduled. “My guys,” he calls them. He also works with them on study habits and time management. “It’s very challenging. It’s very emotional. Sometimes I’m hugging them up and there’s times when I feel I have to curse them out.” (quoted from the article) 4. What Does This Mean for You?  So, if you have a son at home, perhaps The Hechinger Report article has given you some new perspectives and some new facts to think with. But there is also some information here for those of you with a daughter at home. As we said in our new book, How To Explore Your College Options: A Workbook for High School Students, the gender breakdown on a college campus is one thing prospective applicants might want to consider. And now that we know that male students are sometimes in shorter supply than you might have expected, I am glad that we included a question about gender breakdown on the College Profile Worksheet. We give the Worksheet to students to complete for colleges they are interested in applying to (it is found at the end of our book). Here is some of what we wrote in the new book: If you look at the enrollment statistics for many colleges, you will notice that some are split pretty evenly between male and female students (say, 46 percent vs. 54 percent), while others are way out of balance (say, 30 percent vs. 70 percent). Sometimes colleges that are out of balance can be explained by their history (for example, they were once women’s colleges) or by the types of majors they are best known for (given that some majors, unfortunately, continue to attract more students of one gender). If you want a college to reflect the general undergraduate college student population, it is interesting to note that enrollment figures overall in the fall of 2014 showed that 56 percent of undergraduate students were female. So, if a college is better balanced than that (in other words, closer to 50–50), it might well be working hard to achieve that balance.   Let’s look at a few examples. Carleton College (a great private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota) is 53 percent female and 47 percent male. Carleton is working at it, we would say. Oddly enough, the gigantic University of Minnesota (the excellent public flagship university in the Twin Cities) gets even closer--at 51 percent female and 49 percent male. Not too far away, the Milwaukee School of Engineering (a Wisconsin college that specializes in engineering and technical subjects, though not exclusively) posts a 24 percent female and 76 percent male enrollment--for perhaps obvious reasons. So, if gender balance at a college is important to your teenager, you all should check it out for each college on your teenager’s list. If you have never thought about it, you should think about it now. By the way, as we said in our new book, “we have not yet seen data reported and presented across colleges on enrollment of students with gender identities other than male and female. However, if you are looking for a college that is particularly accepting of more diverse gender identities, that is a topic that can and should be pursued by looking further on the college’s website and by calling the Admission Office and asking about relevant data and policies.” Find our books on Amazon! How To Find the Right College: A Workbook for Parents of High School Students (available as a Kindle ebook and in paperback) How To Explore Your College Options: A Workbook for High School Students (available in paperback) Ask your questions or share your feedback by... Leaving a comment on the show notes for this episode at http://usacollegechat.org/episode136 Calling us at (516) 900-6922 to record a question on our USACollegeChat voicemail if you want us to answer your question live on our podcast Connect with us through... 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Don't be late to class while listening to this episode with Kevin Lincoln (NY Times, GQ, New York Magazine). Kevin went to the all boys Jesuit Catholic school, Fairfield College Prepatory School. Being a runner and the "Alt" kid, Kevin easily transitioned social groups and claims that he was a little bit of a "douchebag" and definitely not "uncool". Tune in for all the deets about Kevin's favorite teacher, what movie his high school experience resembles the most, and what "posterizing" is. Take notes, there WILL be a pop quiz.    

In this episode of the Daily Theology Podcast, Stephen Okey speaks with Maria Poggi Johnson of the University of Scranton. Dr. Johnson was visiting Saint Leo University at the invitation of the Center for Catholic and Jewish Studies, and she graciously found time to speak with us. We talk about her spiritual journey towards Catholicism and how that intersected with her study of theology, the spontaneous and unplanned practice of hospitality towards her students, and what kind of writing project she hopes to pursue next. Dr. Johnson is a professor of Theology at the University of Scranton, which is a Jesuit Catholic university in Scranton, PA. Her background is in historical theology, although on the podcast she preferred to describe herself as a “sloppy generalist.” She is the author of two books, Strangers and Neighbors: What I Have Learned About Christianity by Living Among Orthodox Jews (2006) and Making a Welcome: Christian Life and the Practice of Hospitality (2011). You can also read about her experience of being Catholic and living in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood (“Us and Them,” First Things) and about her family’s practice of hospitality towards the students who live nearby (“Late Nights at the Professor’s House,” Dallas Morning News)