I like to think back to my college days. I loved it(well... after the whole dropping out thing my first year and only a community college in La Crosse) and told a friend I could spend my whole life in a university. In high school I told the school counselor that I wanted to go to the University of Minnesota for astrophysics(Yes, I'm serious. I still miss studying physics and math). She laughed at me for a while and basically told me to find something more practical. Hey, it's not necessarily bad advice. When my time at WWTC was nearing an end(a great school btw), I even was discerning entrance into the Society of Jesus(until ... you know... I looked into the order). After I graduated with degrees in computer programming, I thought about a night/weekend approach to getting a bachelor/masters degree and continuing my education. I haven't done anything in that regard to this point. One problem is that I have a pretty good understanding of my field, and really I just like learning about history and theology now. I don't need to sit in a classroom to figure out how data warehousing works since I work with the stuff every day. So maybe unlike most, I'd like to continue my education not for career reasons, but because I actually love to learn. Although it is hard to justify spending the money on learning when it won't involve an increase of pay, I'm not opposed to that either. There's worse things to spend money on.
Whew, okay TMI maybe? Anywho, I looked into IPT, but the program is for those with bachelor degrees pursuing a masters. I have nothing but an associates degree(actually multiple associates that overlap). So unfortunately IPT won't work for me but it may work for you. I highly recommend looking into the school. It is a unique opportunity for a state like ours that had no authentically Catholic universities.
Courses are offered in an intensive weekend format: Friday evening through Sunday afternoon one weekend per month, August through May. You will note that Wisconsin is very blessed to have two locations within driving distance:2010-2011 SitesThey have open weekends where anyone interested can come attend. I'm sure someone will comment here when they are, probably no more this year since we are nearing the end of the academic year.
Year One Classes:
Ave Maria, FL
Minneapolis, MN
Year Two Classes:
Ave Maria, FL
St. Louis, MO
Janesville, WI
I've also looked into Viterbo University which has an adult education program, but there's no point in taking any religious classes there. I wish there was an authentically Catholic university in Wisconsin which I could support. I hope to see it in my lifetime. I mean this; I would love to be able to send my children to Marquette. Unfortunately, it seems clear that Marquette is just not going to reform. Even if the Jesuits gave it up there's nobody to take over. The archdiocese wouldn't go in and clean house either. Best chance for Wisconsin is that a group of faithful lay Catholics get together and either try to bring in an extension of an existing campus(like Ave Maria) or build from the ground up. I don't hear any of the presidents of the universities doing anything substantial. By the way, here's our list for Wisconsin, 5 of whom officially support Planned Parenthood.
Alverno College,Milwaukee
Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee
Edgewood College, Madison
Marian University, Fond du Lac
Marquette University, Milwaukee
Mount Mary College, Milwaukee
Sacred Heart School of Theology, Hales Corners
Saint Norbert College, De Pere
Silver Lake College of the Holy Family, Manitowoc
Viterbo University, La Crosse
The other alternative is to go out of state to Steubenville or somewhere like that but... there are 1.6 million Catholics in the state. Can't Badger Catholics have one university at which we can study the Catholic faith with intellectual honesty and faithfulness?
7 comments:
Hmmmmm.
Why not contact your Bishop and inquire what would HE recommend for you if'n you were thinking of the Diaconate (permanent, of course...and let's ignore that Canon Law thing about renouncing marital intimacy that Peters brought up....)
It's entirely possible that the Diaconate coursework would serve to complete your B.A. AND give you a viable service option within the Church.
Actually I'm really not interested in the Diaconate.... and not just cause of the marital act thing ;) I just never received a formal scholastic education and I wouldn't mind getting one. So if I want to study Aquinas, something like IPT would(I think) fit the bill. They can kick the P(astoral) out for all I care.
Oh, you misunderstand the definition of "Pastoral" - Pastoral IS NO LESS THAN theological... one of the first lessons of we learned in the IPT. AND - you don't have to have a Bachelor's degree, per se. I think it's something like 90 credit hours of college required. Did you call down to Florida and talk to an actual person?
You can audit. Just the Aquinas courses if you'd like. ;-) I don't know how much you looked into it but I believe that if you have a certain number of credits (even w/o a Bachelors Degree) you are still eligible. As a grad, it was one of the best things I did with my buck and in my spiritual life. Wish I could do it again and again and again....
Oh, and thanks for the full list of schools. We can keep praying- for our kids to have that opportunity.
I certainly could be misunderstanding that credo. No I didn't call I just was reading the info online. Thanks for the tip, I'll look into that!
Angie, I was thinking about just auditing the IPT stuff too! I might end up doing that, but I thought maybe with the weekend setup it might be hard to pick and choose the classes.
Yes, ideally this would be very simple. I just contact the Wisconsin Catholic College(Let's call it Holy Cow University) and ask about taking some classes.
I might point out that Scott Hahn received his doctorate from Marquette. He said once, when asked about it, that it is really a matter of knowing who the professors are so that one knows who to take and who not to take. Thus, with a little bit of sleuthing, one could concievably take classes at one of our in-state "Catholic" colleges and be the better for it. I don't think that I'd send my kids however.
I did not know that, thank you for sharing Father! (I must have missed your comment earlier)
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