NEWBURGH, N.Y. — Mount St. Mary College, where Kevin Mackin, OFM, is president, will sponsor the “Inaugural Philosophy Workshop: Aquinas and Contemporary Philosophy,” June 23 to 26 at the school.
The college’s Catholic and Dominican Institute is co-sponsoring the workshop with the Thomistic Institute, Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C. The workshop will bring together scholars and students interested in philosophy, especially the work of Thomas Aquinas, according to Janet Gianopoulos, assistant to the president.
The seminar will also consider the values and goals of philosophy in the Catholic tradition, and the engagement of these ideas within the context of the contemporary academy. Presenters have been invited from The Catholic University of America, Dominican Institute of Ottawa, University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Fordham University in Bronx, N.Y., Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., the Angelicum, Rome, and other institutions.
The Catholic & Dominican Institute of Mount St. Mary College promotes the college’s heritage; advances the charism of study and service, provides a forum for discussion of contemporary ethical issues, and enhances Catholic and Jewish dialogue.
The workshop is not the only news being announced at the school. Kevin, who has been MSMC’s president since the fall of 2008, said that the communication arts-media production program is growing. It now offers courses in the history of cinema, and TV and high-tech non-linear editing studios, according to Gianopoulos.
In addition, Kevin recently formed a president’s advisory council to strengthen the college’s ties with the business community. It includes Carl Meyer, CEO of The Solar Energy Consortium; Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations; William Cummings, retired director of research for Texaco Inc.; Denise VanBuren of Central Hudson Energy Group; and other business leaders.
Mount St. Mary College offers bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in education, business, nursing and other health professions and human services studies.
— Wendy Healy, a freelance writer based in Connecticut, is a frequent contributor to this newsletter.