| Motto | Credo ut intelligam |
|---|---|
Motto in English | "I believe so that I may understand" |
| Type | Private |
| Established | 1997 |
Religious affiliation | Non-denominational Christian |
| President | John Patrick |
Academic staff | 10 |
Administrative staff | 10 |
| Students | 10 to 22 |
| Address | 45°24′04″N75°41′18″W / 45.4011°N 75.6884°W |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | augustinecollege.org |
Augustine College (AC) is a private ecumenical Christian liberal arts college in Ottawa, Ontario. Augustine currently offers two semester-long programs focused on the histories of science and the humanities in late and classical antiquity and in the modern era, respectively. AC operates on an unincorporated basis and without program accreditation, [1] but maintains transfer credit agreements with several other postsecondary institutions in North America.
AC was founded in 1997 in Ottawa by a group of university professors "disgruntled" by the fact that traditionally Christian ideals of education were "strangely missing from the curriculum of colleges and universities." [2] The group included John Patrick, then Associate Professor in Clinical Nutrition in the Department of Biochemistry and Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa (now retired), who currently serves as AC's President. [3] Other local university faculty at one time associated with AC have included Edmund Bloedow (University of Ottawa) [4] and David Stewart (Trent University) [5] (both deceased), as well as Dominic Manganiello (University of Ottawa) and David Lyle Jeffrey (Baylor University), who co-edited the volume Rethinking the Future of the University shortly following AC's inauguration. [6] AC drew media attention when its academic dean, Andrew Bennett, was appointed Canada's Ambassador of Religious Freedom in 2013. [7]
AC's promotional material frames the school's vision "to grow in wisdom and in virtue by exploring the riches of Western culture" as a response to perceived deconstructionist trends in mainstream academia, which "is often marked by suspicious attitudes and deconstructive approaches to the content of Western tradition." [8] President John Patrick has elsewhere criticized contemporary universities for fostering what he sees as an increasingly "toxic environment" for religious students. [9] Though AC does not "condemn critical engagement with ideas" as such, its programs are intended to present "the legacy of Western culture as something to be learned from, not only about." [8]
According to its website, AC currently offers two separate, consecutive programs of study. The first of these runs from September to December and is focused on the "Ancient World." Students take courses on the histories of philosophy, science, literature, art, and Christianity, spanning the period from antiquity to the Middle Ages. [10] The second program, running from January to April, is focused on the "Modern World." The historical focus of the courses remains the same and traces their subject matter from the period of the Renaissance down to the present day. [11]
AC does not operate under a provincial or territorial charter and is not listed as a member of Universities Canada. As such, its programs do not lead to the conferral of a degree and most North American universities do not count AC courses toward the requirements of an undergraduate degree. AC does, however, have individual credit transfer agreements in place with several universities in North America. These include Redeemer University, [12] Saint Paul University, [13] and Trinity Western University. [14]
AC hosts an annual public lecture in Ottawa by a well-known Christian intellectual. The lecture series is funded by the Weston Family Foundation. [15] Past Weston Lecture speakers have included Peter Kreeft, [16] Michał Heller, [17] John Behr, [18] and R. R. Reno. [19]
Linacre College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the UK whose members comprise approximately 50 fellows and 550 postgraduate students.
Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.
Jean Augustine is a Grenada-born Canadian politician. She was the first Black Canadian woman to serve as a federal Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament.
Peter Robert Lamont Brown is an Irish historian. He is the Rollins Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University. Brown is credited with having brought coherence to the field of Late Antiquity, and is often regarded as the inventor of said field. His work has concerned, in particular, the religious culture of the later Roman Empire and early medieval Europe, and the relation between religion and society.
George Parkin Grant was a Canadian philosopher and political commentator. He is best known for his Canadian nationalism, political conservatism, and his views on technology, pacifism, and Christian faith. He is often seen as one of Canada's most original thinkers.
Staffordshire University is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has one main campus based in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses; in Stafford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury and London.
St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth, is the "National Seminary for Ireland", and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, 24 km (15 mi) from Dublin, Ireland.
Trinity Western University (TWU) is a private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley and Richmond, British Columbia. The school is a member of Universities Canada.
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the College of New Jersey, it is the second-oldest seminary in the United States. It is also the largest of ten seminaries associated with the Presbyterian Church.
Jewish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history, Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, Oriental studies, religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages, political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies. Jewish studies as a distinct field is mainly present at colleges and universities in North America.
Redeemer University is a private Christian liberal arts and science university located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in the community of Ancaster. Founded in 1982, Redeemer stands in the Reformed Tradition and offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Kinesiology, and Bachelor of Science degrees.
Paula Fredriksen is an American historian and scholar of early Christianity. She held the position of William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of Scripture at Boston University from 1990 to 2010. Now emerita, she has been distinguished visiting professor in the Department of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, since 2009.
James Patrick Christian, known professionally as Jim Christian, is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Boston College men's basketball team. He previously held the same position at Kent State, TCU and Ohio.
St. Augustine High School is a Catholic Diocesan co-educational private high school located in Laredo, Texas, United States. Grades 9 through 12 are taught in a Christian environment. St. Augustine is the only Catholic high school in Laredo. Approximately 390 students attend the school.
Canterbury College is a small liberal arts college affiliated with the University of Windsor founded by the Anglican Church of Canada.
Gerald Glynn O'Collins is an Australian Jesuit priest and academic. He was a research professor and writer-in-residence at the Jesuit Theological College (JTC) in Parkville, Victoria, and a research professor in theology at St Mary's University College in Twickenham. For more than three decades, he was professor of systematic and fundamental theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome).
Andrew Louth is an English theologian. He is an emeritus professor of patristic and Byzantine studies in the Department of Theology and Religion of Durham University. Louth has been at Durham University since 1996. Previously he taught at the University of Oxford and at Goldsmiths' College in Byzantine and early medieval history. He is a fellow of the British Academy and was a member of the British Academy Council from 2011 to 2014. He was President of the Ecclesiastical History Society (2009–10).
David Lyle Jeffrey is a Canadian-American scholar of literature and religion, currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Baylor Institute for Studies in Religion. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1996-). In 2003 he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Conference of Christianity and Literature.
