Ars Docendi: Altum Teaching Fellows

Ars Docendi means the art of teaching. This is an art that is to be cultivated in the vast expanse of tradition with an end in mind of the education of the student, not merely according to arbitrary standards, but an end to dispose the students own growth in the ability to flourish as a human – that is to think, to know, and to love.

These seminars aim at cultivating a growing community of discourse among teaching faculty across Catholic seminaries, colleges, universities, primary & secondary schools about the intellectual and spiritual roots of our common devotion to Catholic liberal education, the Catholic intellectual tradition and a shared Catholic culture.

In the year 2000, after reading Fides et Ratio by then-Pope John Paul II, the founders of the Fides et Ratio Seminars were inspired and challenged, to invest their intellectual, spiritual and professional resources to enable a transformation of the way Catholic and non-Catholic teachers and administrators prepare themselves to carry out their educational and formational responsibilities in the professional and institutional setting of contemporary American schooling and culture. The Fides et Ratio Seminars served the Archdiocese for several years, providing this integral formation to Catholic educators across the diocese. In their absence the Ars Docendi program will assist educators in this goal.

By contributing to the education and formation of educators interested in Christian and Catholic learning, we seek to “nurture the souls of young men and women by strengthening Catholic liberal education.” We do so by nourishing the intellectual and spiritual preparation of educators with an enriched understanding and appreciation of the principles and practices of the time-honored Catholic intellectual tradition about the ends and means of a liberal education in the arts and sciences.

This is not simply a one-time immersive program for a Catholic educator; as an Altum Teaching Fellow, you will be part of the ongoing discussion of education in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. This growing group of teachers will be called to help nurture the Catholic culture in the archdiocesan schools and be attentive to the end of education with our children. There will always be some spots reserved for past fellows who wish to attend again as participants or to serve as moderators.