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Thomas More College Students Explore English Catholic Revival, Study in Chesterton Library

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September 09, 2010 - 4:14 PDT

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MERRIMACK, NH (September 9, 2010) - Few students are afforded the opportunity to study in Oxford, England. Fewer still are able to study in the private archive of the late Catholic apologist, poet, and novelist G.K. Chesterton. But that is exactly what six upperclassmen from the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts did in the Summer of 2010.

The College's Center for Faith and Culture, based in Oxford, hosted the three week "Catholic Culture of the British Isles Programme." The program enabled students to conduct graduate level work examining the history, literature, and spirituality of Catholic Britain from its flowering in the late middle ages through the period of destruction and persecution, and into its refulgence in the modern age.

Thomas More College established the Center for Faith and Culture in 2008 to help recover and build upon the rich legacy of Catholic humanism associated with figures such as John Henry Newman, G.K. Chesterton, Christopher Dawson, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien. Through publications and short courses, the Center aims to foster a "new springtime" of Christian faith in the 21st century and a "culture of life" spoken of by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

The Center currently produces the College's journal, Second Spring: International Journal of Faith and Culture, and houses the private library of G.K. Chesterton. Thomas More College is the caretaker of the entire collection which includes Chesterton's books, writings, and other personal belongings. Frequently consulted by scholars researching Chesterton and his influence, the collection can be visited by arrangement, and is in the process of being catalogued in order to make it more accessible to the academic community.

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Students participating in this year's "Catholic Culture of the British Isles Programme" included Joseph Rudolph, Marielle Gage, Jonathan Gottlieb, Katie Lloyd, Meryl Trapp, and Tyler Tracy--all of whom are planning to attend graduate school upon graduating from Thomas More College.

Prior to their trip to Oxford, students spent one week on Thomas More College's New Hampshire campus receiving an introduction to the British Catholic Revival by studying the ideas and writings of great English Catholic writers such as Cardinal John Henry Newman, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, among others. Students heard lectures of "The Formation of Catholic Culture in Britain," "Britain in the High Middle Ages," "The Tudor Revolution," and "The Years of Persecution and Secrecy."

"Having led many of the seminars, I must say that the students participating in this year's Oxford Program were of the highest calibre," said Thomas More College President William Fahey. "They were eager to learn, and were committed to developing a greater understanding and appreciation of the history, literature, and spirituality of Catholic Britain."

After one week in New Hampshire, students boarded an airplane for London. There, the director of the Center for Faith and Culture, Stratford Caldecott, collected the students and set out for two weeks of study in Oxford.

"The course work in Oxford focused on giving students a sense of the position of Catholics in England since the late Middle Ages," said Caldecott. "We also gave them a deeper understanding of the importance of the imagination. Students studied the writings of several authors, including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Coventry Patmore, Caryll Houselander, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hilaire Belloc, and Christopher Dawson."

Students were required to read 18 books as part of the program, and are currently completing a 20 page research paper that is due at the end of this month.

"The Caldecotts were wonderful, as were all the guest lecturers we had," said sophomore Marielle Gage. "All of the teachers were so knowledgeable and passionate about what they were teaching and conveyed so much to us in the time we spent with them."

In addition to their regular coursework, students explored many key Catholic sites in Oxford and throughout England, including Tolkien's grave, C.S. Lewis's home, the Oxford Oratory, and Newman's retreat center in Littlemore where he was received into the Catholic Church.

Students found that these visits brought immediacy and relevance to their readings and coursework.

"To study Newman in his own office at Littlemore was unbelievable," said Thomas More College junior Meryl Trapp. "The desk he wrote on is there, along with other possessions of his. It made our coursework that day all the more immediate and tangible."

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Marielle Gage agreed.

"It would take a book to give justice to our trip, but I can say that it was definitely a highlight of my life so far. Just being there, where St. Edmund Campion was educated and where Cardinal Newman converted, where Lewis taught and Tolkien thought, was amazing."

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts provides a four-year undergraduate education which develops young people intellectually, ethically, and spiritually in the Catholic tradition and in faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. In recent years, the College has allowed the strength of its curriculum to radiate out into several new initiatives, such as its Vatican Studies Center, Center for Faith and Culture (Oxford, England), and the Way of Beauty Program. Through the lectures, books, workshops and other programs hosted by these centers, Thomas More College is consistently seeking new and better ways of communicating perennial truths amid the confusion of contemporary society.

###

If you would like to schedule an interview with President William Fahey, the Director of the Center for Faith and Culture Stratford Caldecott, or students attending "The Catholic Culture of the British Isles Programme," please contact Charlie McKinney at (603) 880-8308, ext. 21 or by email at cmckinney@ThomasMoreCollege.edu.

Contact

Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
http://www.ThomasMoreCollege.edu
NH, 03054 US
Charlie McKinney - Vice President for Institutional Ad, 603-880-8308

Keywords

Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, Oxford, Study Abroad

Category

Catholic Schools & Religious Education

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