Universities’ Purpose and Catholic Identity Examining Governance, Communication, and Core Curriculum

Introduction: Why universities? Key socio-cultural players in the twenty-first century

Jordi Pujol and José María La Porte

History of the University and History of Catholic Universities

1. The origins of the university: Questions of identity and historical continuity

Jaume Aurell

2. Catholic universities: Political power, cultural paradigms, and identity from early modernity to the ‘long 1960s’: A historical overview

Ricardo Cubas Ramacciotti

Section I: On the Purpose of a University

3. The Catholic university’s integral purpose: A multi-dimensional perspective

4. Research and the Christian identity of universities

Ana Marta González

5. Teaching and catholic identity: Wisdom and sound critical thinking

Juan A. Mercado, Luis Romera, and Alberto Ross

6. Third Mission and identity in a Catholic university: The Universidad de La Sabana case

Juan F. Córdoba Marentes

Section II: On Governance of Universities

7. Governance, identity and freedom in Christian-inspired universities

Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero

8. Enacting Christian identities in Catholic colleges and universities: An organizational studies

perspective on core practices, challenges, and discernments

Michael G. Pratt

9. The business of Catholic universities: The renewal strategy

Helen Keefe

10. Normative framework of Catholic institutions of higher education

Cristóbal Orrego

Section III: Community of Knowledge

11. Character education in universities

James Arthur

12. Intellectual and ethical education of university students through core texts seminars: The case of the Great Books Program at the University of Navarra

Álvaro Sánchez-Ostiz and José M. Torralba

13. The role of theology in a university curriculum

Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti

14. An Expanded Reason university course for professors: A case study for interdisciplinary and

transdisciplinary dialogue between reason and faith

María Lacalle Noriega and Marcelo López Cambronero

Section IV: Communication and Impact

15. Discovering communicational DNA for expressing the identity of a university

Cristina Errázuriz and María Augusta Scagliotti

16. Scientists lost in declaration: Unacceptable remarks and the pursuit of sustainable positioning

Juan Pablo Cannata and Carolina Sánchez-Agostini

17. Relevance of universities in a complex context: Purpose and identity as strategic and inspirational elements of institutional communication 

Juan Manuel Mora and José María La Porte

18. Strathmore’s Macheo programme: A cause for social good

Betty Ngala

19. Interview: A conversation on academic freedom and freedom of expression at the university

Robert C. Post and Jordi Pujol

Biography

Jordi Pujol, PhD, is Associate Professor of Media Ethics and Communication Law at the School of Church Communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, Italy. His teaching and research are particularly focused on transparency and Church communications. He has served as a Communications Consultant at the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Vatican.

José María La Porte, PhD, is Professor of Foundations of Institutional Communication at the School of Church Communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, Italy, where he also teaches Church Doctrine on Communication. He served as Consultor of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication and as Dean of the School of Church Communications.