Scholars Publish Study of College Summer Reading Assignments

Beach Books: What do colleges and universities want students to read outside of class?

By Michael R. Cook

The National Association of Scholars publishes an annual study of college summer reading assignments.  The NAS study is quite revealing -- and provides disturbing evidence that the traditional aim of higher education, the pursuit of truth, has been replaced by a dubious amalgam of moral relativism and political correctness.

The NAS study lists and categorizes the books assigned as summer reading to incoming college freshmen.  Almost invariably, the books assigned in these common reading programs are recent works of questionable quality.  These books seem to be selected primarily on the basis of the "values" (i.e., political messages) they impart. 

The classic works of literature, history, philosophy, and science are almost never assigned.

The NAS study is worth reviewing in its entirety, but pages 1-5 (Executive Summary) and 22-23 (The Fall of Literature) are especially interesting. 

Also worth noting is a list of books the NAS recommends as alternatives to the drivel that colleges currently assign in their summer reading programs.  The NAS list, which begins on page 78 of the study, includes the kinds of works one supposes students will read during their college careers (but one shouldn't hold one's breath!). 

Every year the NAS offers such a list, and every year the colleges ignore it.

The NAS study highlights the lamentable fact that the "great books" -- along with the great ideas -- have for the most part been banished from college curricula, in favor of a politicized patchwork of courses emphasizing race, class, and gender grievances.

Surely this cannot be what Thomas Jefferson had in mind when he founded the University of Virginia.

College tuition, room and board is fast approaching $60,000 per year at elite private institutions.  But our colleges and universities -- including the elite ones -- seem to be pursuing the educational mission with less and less seriousness.

Beach Books: What Do Colleges Want Students to Read Outside Class

Chivalry Is Very Much Alive

From TFP Student Action

By Gabriel Jordan

As author Paul Claudel aptly put it, “youth was made not for pleasure, but for heroism.”

With this spirit, dozens of young men attended the eleventh annual Call to Chivalry Camp in Louisiana sponsored by TFP—Louisiana.  Each year a specific historic theme is woven into the event, providing real life examples of virtue to follow.  The valiant Saints and crusaders of Poland and Lithuania offered ample inspiration this time.

Get more information about future camps here

Presentations brought history to life

A talk about the Siege of Vienna demonstrated how King Jan Sobieski and his courageous winged-hussar knights, although outnumbered, found fortitude in their Catholic faith and repulsed the Turkish invaders at the gates of Vienna on September 11, 1683.

A Choice Between Satan and Beelzebub

From RenewAmerica

By Alan Keyes

Recently, I heard a friend of mine echo the sentiment former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker expressed in an interview with WND: "I would vote for the devil himself over Barack Obama." People say this to make clear how deeply they abhor Obama and all his works. Sadly, for them and for America, their passionate hatred of Obama puts them exactly where the devil wants them to be. The Father of Lies chuckles with satisfaction. He gloats triumphantly at the fact that their hatred of his appearance in one form has maneuvered them into supporting his triumph in another.

"My Lady's Knight": Charles Untz

Terry Nelson's Abbey Roads is one of the most edifying and interesting blogs to be found. He very kindly granted us permission to repost the following. It is a powerful reminder that great saints still walk among us.

Charles Untz once wrote to one of his friends, "Don't take God's mercy for granted because death will come you when you least expect it, so make sure you are as blameless as possible when that time comes."*

The Scapular kid.

Charles Anthony Francis Untz, killed by a driver who did not see him, right in front of his family's home, as Charles set out on his short walk to work.  Charles died that day, March 20, 2000 at the age of eighteen.

On his college application, Charles wrote, "I go to Eucharistic Adoration and Mass almost every morning before school. I think that this sets a better mood for the day. "

Charles enjoyed country living, the horses and other animals, and his job across the street at the turkey farm. He especially enjoyed his scouting experiences. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout on July 8, 1998. For his Eagle project he wrote an altar server handbook for Epiphany Catholic Church, Coon Rapids, MN, and directed the training of the new servers.

Before moving west, he and his family mowed the lawn, and shoveled and plowed the walks and parking lot of St. John Bosco Church, Stamford, VT. Charles also mowed the lawn at St. Francis of Assisi Church, North Adams, MA. Both projects were done as a volunteer.

Charles became an altar server when he was eight. He was the only server at the small parish of St. John Bosco, where he served for 5 years. His family transferred to St. Francis of Assisi where he served for two years. In 1996, the family moved to Andover, Minnesota; and he served at Epiphany Church until his birth into eternal life in 2000. He had that "presence" about him when he was serving that can’t be taught. One could see that he truly believed that Jesus was present.

Charles began praying the Liturgy of the Hours regularly when he was eleven. At the same time, he started serving as a Youth 2000 New England volunteer. He designed the web page, maintained the mailing list, and designed flyers and nametags. During the retreats he was an altar server and sacristan, and the general gopher for whatever was needed. For Youth 2000 Minnesota, he maintained the mailing list, designed the nametags, served at the altar, and was available to help behind the scenes whenever needed.

Charles had a great devotion to Mary. He designed and made his own brown scapular on his Mom’s embroidery machine. On one side was "My Lady" and the other side was "Mary" with twelve stars around it. In 1999, he also made a Mother’s Day card for Mary (this was discovered after his death).

On his "Ambition and Life Purpose" sheet for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout, Charles Anthony Francis Untz wrote, "My life purpose is to do the will of God. My ambition in life is to become a saint. There is nothing harder to achieve than this, but I will continue to strive for it. " - Source

Source

Pray for us Charles, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

More on Charles Untz

Young Knights...

Westminster Abbey Choir - "Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation" - Henry Purcell

The above is from the Ecumenical Celebration in Westminster Abbey during Pope Benedict's Apostolic Journey to the United Kingdom, September 16-19, 2010.

Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation
Words: Latin, c7th--8th century, translated by John Mason Neale
Music: Henry Purcell
Sung by: Westminster Abbey Choir

Text:
Christ is made the sure foundation,
and the precious corner-stone,
who, the two walls underlying,
bound in each, binds both in one,
holy Sion's help for ever,
and her confidence alone.

All that dedicated city,
dearly loved by God on high,
in exultant jubilation
pours perpetual melody,
God the One, in threefold glory,
singing everlastingly.

To this temple, where we call thee,
come, O Lord of hosts, today;
with thy wonted loving-kindness,
hear thy people as they pray;
and thy fullest benediction
shed within its walls for ay.

Here vouchsafe to all thy servants
gifts of grace by prayer to gain;
here to have and hold for ever,
those good things their prayers obtain,
and hereafter, in thy glory,
with thy blessèd ones to reign.

Laud and honour to the Father;
laud and honour to the Son,
laud and honour to the Spirit,
ever Three, and ever One,
One in love, and One in splendour,
while unending ages run. Amen.

A Star in the Darkness of Night

From CNA

By Joe Tremblay

St. Benedict, father of the West

In 1947, seeing that Western Civilization was weighed down by a long and exhausting world war, Pope Pius XII penned a wonderful encyclical on St. Benedict.

Contained within this letter to the Church are shafts of light that have the potential, if we just lay hold of it, to illuminate the moral and spiritual darkness which envelopes our public institutions. Using St. Benedict as an example, he recounts what it means to forsake all for Christ only to "receive a hundred times more now in this present age." (Mark 10:30)

What was accomplished in the fifth century can be revived and brought to bear upon the trying circumstances which challenge America's future. "St. Benedict," as Pius XII reminds us, "reclaimed the uncultured tribes from their wild life to civic and Christian culture; directing them to the practice of virtue, industry and the peaceful arts and literature, he united them in the bonds of fraternal affection and charity." And the Church herself, always needing an infusion of Christ's eternal youth, can also benefit from St. Benedict's sanctity and teachings.

Joseph Pearce: The Catholic Literary Revival in England

An excellent overview by author Joseph Pearce at the 2003 Coming Home Network Conference.

 

Pearce is an English-born writer, and as of 2012 Writer-in-Residence and Professor of Humanities at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, NH.  He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of Catholic figures. Formerly aligned with the National Front, a white nationalist political party, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1989, repudiated his earlier views, and now writes from a Catholic perspective. He is a co-editor of the St. Austin Review and editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press. He also teaches Shakespearian literature for Homeschool Connections, an online Catholic curriculum provider.