Evidence suggests that, while our nation has great medical resources, we’re not very healthy as a society. This crisis requires the development of new leaders and the cultivation of fresh ideas about the meaning of health and the aims of medical science. The Christian tradition, rooted in the healing ministry of Jesus, has resources for this task. This track is for students interested in how theology is relevant for medicine and those considering careers in the field of health care, medicine, and public health.

In a complicated and sometimes shallow media world, we need to raise a voice that cries out in that wilderness. Catholic tradition can help us engage contemporary media in the construction of deep community connections. We’ll explore the ways God can work through art, journalism, radio, and television. This track is for students interested in popular culture, communications, and media.

In “Laudato Si’,” a letter written to every person on the planet, Pope Francis stresses that care for God’s creation is an urgent task today, and he offers a vision of “integral ecology” to solve the problems of a “throwaway culture.” Thus, this track explores food, farming, co-operative economics, and community gardening, and is for students interested in learning about practical ways to address questions of physical and spiritual hunger, the crisis of climate change, justice for the poor, the relationship between work and human dignity, life together and the common good, and care for our common home.

The goal of the education track is to support the spiritual and intellectual growth of the next generation of teachers as they come to understand the call to teaching as a vocation.