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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 September 2014
This essay aims to present the challenges of teaching Catholic social thought to undergraduates at a Catholic college. It begins with a review of the three foundational principles of the Church's social tradition: dignity, community, and preferential option for the poor. It next moves to three primary obstacles to making these concepts come alive for college students: (1) the prevalence of social and economic stereotypes, (2) a Romanticized reduction of Christianity which emphasizes charity to the neglect of justice, and (3) an unwillingness to allow the resources of one's faith to challenge the policies of one's government. The essay concludes with some reflections on the appropriateness of all of these subjects at a college dedicated to the liberal arts. Throughout this paper, generous use is made of writings by my students that demonstrate the pedagogical principles and pitfalls I narrate.
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8 Ibid., 188.
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10 Various internet sites have arisen which facilitate such correspondence. See a collection of them on the webpage for my “Catholic Social Thought Course”: http://www.saintmarys.edu/~incandel/cst.html#CAPITALCORRESPOND
11 James Heard, “The Shape of My Heart,” unpublished poem written in September, 1997 and included in personal correspondence of November 5, 1998.
12 Madeleine Albright's words are quoted in Roberts, Tom “For the children, sanctions are deadlier than bombs,” National Catholic Reporter, May 21, 1999, 13.Google Scholar Secretary Albright's statement originally came from a 1996 interview which aired on CBS's 60 Minutes on February 9,1997.
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