Message from the President
To the Graduate Students at The Catholic University of America:
The Catholic University of America is a unique place of higher learning. Like other universities, our aim is to offer you the best possible preparation for what lies ahead. We aim to equip you with the most advanced education available in the subject you have chosen to pursue — to train you in the methods of your field, prepare you to be a future scholar, and set you forth on a successful professional trajectory. A significant part of the value of your degree rests in this preparatory work, and we are committed to accompanying you every step of the way.
But as a Catholic institution, we aspire to even more than this. At the heart of the Catholic faith is a dedication to the truth, and the belief that truth alone will satisfy the longing of the human heart. We find the truth both in what God has revealed, and in the order of creation. As a university that embraces this tradition, we are committed to the harmony of faith and reason, and the pursuit of truth in light of both. Deus Lux Mea Est, our motto declares: God is my light, the light that illuminates the mind.
Our approach counters a trend in higher education that prioritizes specialization to the exclusion of integration, one that limits the scope of learning, and curtails our ability to share in a common pursuit. Inspired by the principles of Catholic learning, we endeavor to provide an education that not only facilitates professional excellence but one that satisfies the human heart. As graduate students, much of your time will be spent thinking about a single subject, perhaps even a specific inquiry within that subject. This is an appropriate course to take in preparation to work in a particular field. But alongside this discipline-specific expertise, we encourage you to cultivate a deep appreciation for subjects outside of your own. We believe that a future physicist who is conversant in philosophy has an advantage over one who does not. She learns to think deeply about the relationship between scientific knowledge and wisdom, and about the moral implications of her work. So also, the future literary critic who labors to understand neurobiology. He will bring to his study of literature a more complex understanding of the relationship between the mind and the brain. Each will develop a sharper critical eye, and a more capacious mind, and thus be best enabled to apply their learnings to the good of humankind.
Our aim as educators is to build a true university, one that aims for both excellence in every field and the synthesis of knowledge across the disciplines. We aim to give you the most advanced education in your discipline while also helping you to ask big, life-changing questions. And here, the universal Church accompanies you on your journey. In this unique environment, I hope you will discover a deeper sense of your own calling and thrive in your pursuit of wisdom.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Peter K. Kilpatrick
President