On Wednesday, Sept. 23, the “Why CIT is at the Heart of Sacred Heart University” colloquium was held in the Michelle Loris Forum. Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT) is an integral course that each sophomore must take at Sacred Heart University (SHU). The colloquium celebrated the 10 year anniversary of catholic studies.
Attendees of the “Why CIT is at the Heart of Sacred Heart University” Colloquium.
| Alex de la Teja, Staff Writer and Photographer |
The basis of CIT is to encourage students to have important conversations with their peers. The seminar method of teaching allows students to express their thoughts on the required readings and how they interpret them. CIT transcends the classroom, as students are required to attend two colloquium series events each semester to further pursue intellectual conversations.
Panelists Michelle Loris, Nicole Perone, Dan Rober, Charlie Gillespie, and Chelsea King all spoke on the emergence of the course and the history behind it.
“I founded the Department of Catholic Studies and The Human Journey Seminars in 2015 under the leadership and support of University President Dr. John Petillo,” said Dr. Michelle Loris, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and instructor for CIT courses.
“We want our students to intentionally reflect on what they read in CIT and then engage in seminar conversations, being able to relate what they read to their lives and the world in which they live,” said Loris.
Dr. Loris also credited Bishop Walter Curtis as an influence for creating the CIT courses. Bishop Curtis was the head of the Diocese of Bridgeport from 1961 to 1988 and founded Sacred Heart University under the laypeople.
“We were pioneers—the first Catholic lay-led institution of higher learning,” said Loris. “Our mission is rooted in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, and the university, since its founding, has handed on that catholic tradition to its students.”
Dr. Chelsea King, in the school of Catholic Studies, had a different role in contributing to the course. King began working at the university in 2020, 4 years after CIT was founded. She is currently working with the offices of Laudato Si’ and Social Justice, as well as teaching CIT courses.
“My contribution has been to help develop what CIT has become since then,” said King. “That has included teaching and developing CIT courses, working with students in the Pioneer Scholars program, and thinking about how the Catholic Intellectual Tradition can engage contemporary questions, particularly questions concerning ecology, animals, human dignity, and social justice.”
The colloquium on Sept. 23 was filled with people who wanted to hear about the history of CIT, from students to faculty members. Two of the students who attended were junior James Linehan and senior Annika Westberg, both who had already completed their CIT courses.
“The origins of CIT were kind of a mystery to me before today,” said Linehan. “I didn’t know that the course was such a recent development, and I didn’t know about Dr. Petillo’s and Dr. Loris’s role in creating it.”
“I felt like my CIT had so many people from different backgrounds, and you’re getting so many new perspectives that you wouldn’t have thought about,” said Westberg.
She believed that taking the courses and having deep conversations was special to her time as a Sacred Heart student.
“Questioning what you believe in and what you don’t believe in is really important,” said Westberg.
“One thing I especially value is that this kind of education can extend far beyond the classroom. The questions we raise in CIT can shape how students think about their professions, their communities, their responsibilities to other people and to the world they inhabit,” said King.
