Established in 2012 in the division of Mission and Identity, the Center for Catholic
Faith and Culture (CCFC) is a steward for Duquesne's unique Catholic, Spiritan character
and for Catholic intellectual tradition more broadly. The Center is an institutional
space that hosts conversations on social justice issues, pedagogy, and the arts, as
well as an agent for change in concert with internal and external stakeholders.
Mission, Vision and Core Values
Animated by Duquesne University's Spiritan heritage, our mission is to promote and advance the Catholic intellectual tradition across the entire spectrum
of the University's pursuits. Through interdisciplinary research and collaborative
problem-solving, our vision is to become a vital contributor to Catholic ideas, ideals and intellectual life.
Our core values are academic excellence, inclusivity, collaboration, concern for marginalized persons,
innovation and impact.
Who We Are
The Center for Catholic Faith and Culture exists to enhance and enrich the work done
by Duquesne faculty, administrators, staff, and students. The Center develops innovative
ways to integrate the Catholic intellectual tradition more deeply and broadly across
the life of Duquesne. Toward that end, we pursue initiatives that engage historical
and contemporary Catholic thought in such fields as the arts, aesthetics, business,
economics, literature, and science. The Center supports programs that connect and
network scholars from across Duquesne's nine schools and creates opportunities for
cross-disciplinary research and teaching that engage and apply Catholic ideas and
ideals.
Catholic ideals and ideas animate Duquesne University. They orient and inform our
community in all its dimensions—academic, professional, spiritual, cultural, and moral.
This common inheritance and shared dialogue unites Duquesne with other Catholic colleges
and universities. Yet the Spiritan strand of that tradition imbues Duquesne with a
distinctive identity and mission. Our Spiritan heritage is characterized by special
commitments to educating the whole person, liberating those who suffer injustice,
enacting cultural sensitivity, and sustaining spiritual openness in complex and challenging
times.
Catholic ideals are grounded in a fearless spirit of inquiry and a confidence that
the truths of our faith and the truths of reason are not opposed, but in fact are
ultimately and profoundly compatible.The Center for Catholic Faith and Culture embraces
and seeks to deepen Duquesne’s distinctive Catholic and Spiritan identity in a fashion
that regards hospitality, charitable interfaith engagement, and cultural sensitivity
as key ingredients for living that identity faithfully in the modern world.
Priorities and Strategic Goals
Our priorities are to foster substantive scholarly engagement with Catholic ideas
and ideals at Duquesne, impact scholarship and problem-solving beyond Duquesne and
nurture an educational community characterized by the Spiritan charism.
Contribute to Duquesne University's Catholic and Spiritan mission and to facilitate
institutional culture and practice consonant with our mission and identity.
Increase DU faculty and student awareness of Catholic ideas and ideals by utilizing
diverse forms of faculty support and create new opportunities to broaden and deepen
faculty engagement with the Center.
Produce scholarship that contributes to Catholic intellectual life by sponsoring research,
publications, dialogue, and problem-solving.
Promote the reputation of the Center for Catholic Faith and Culture by communicating
and amplifying our mission and our core values.
Seek external funding for innovative programs and initiatives.
We will rely on quantitative and qualitative evidence for assessment.
What We Do
We promote research, teaching, and programs that engage and contribute to the Catholic
intellectual tradition. We communicate the mission within the University and outside
of it. We collaborate with University offices and programs to support programs across
sectors of the University that enable us to live our mission consistently.
We support faculty scholarship that engages mission-related topics, resources and
problems. We provide programs to educate members of the Duquesne community and interested
visitors about aspects of the Catholic faith and culture. We develop initiatives that
highlight the resonance and relevance of Catholic perspectives in the different disciplines
and professions that make up our nine schools. We support and cooperate with programs
that focus on culturally diverse contributions to the Catholic faith and culture.
We encourage scholarship and teaching in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional
schools that bring the resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition to bear on
important contested issues. We support Duquesne's commitment to mission and justice
in local and global contexts.
We support the work of Spiritan Campus Ministry. We look for ways to integrate ethics
across the Duquesne curriculum. We create programs for faculty, staff, students and
alumni to learn more about the moral and spiritual wisdom of Catholic tradition.
Scholarship & Grant Opportunities
The Common Good
Human Dignity in Catholic Tradition
The project, Catholicism and the Common Good, was hosted by the Center for Catholic
Faith and Culture at Duquesne University, and generously supported by the Henry Luce
Foundation. The multi-year project (2017-2021) fostered original scholarship on issues
that are vital to our mutual wellbeing, forged collaborative networks across public
and private stakeholders, and imagined the future of Catholic higher education. The
project's mission connected scholars, religious leaders, and the public to work together
for the common good. We uplifted Catholic ideals to inform fresh scholarship to address
contemporary social problems and developed new practices in higher education.
Catholicism and the Common Good aims to foster innovative scholarship as well as practices
of public engagement. The goals are:
to understand and address issues that are important for the common good;
to foster collaborative networks across institutions, academic disciplines, and faith
traditions;
to develop better ways for connecting scholarship to the variety of stakeholders it
is meant to serve.
Congratulations to our 2023 Common Good Student Research Award Winners
Graduate Research Symposium Gregory Jones | Theology | McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Contestant Theology: Toward a Play Theology of Religions Faculty Advisor: Radu Bordeianu, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium Samiya Henry | Physics | School of Science and Engineering | Sophomore In the Beginning, God Created Atoms Faculty Advisor: William Wright, Ph.D.
Human Dignity
Human Dignity in Catholic Tradition
The project, Catholicism and the Common Good, was hosted by the Center for Catholic Faith and Culture at Duquesne University, and
generously supported by the Henry Luce Foundation. The multi-year project (2017-2021)
fostered original scholarship on issues that are vital to our mutual wellbeing, forged
collaborative networks across public and private stakeholders, and imagined the future
of Catholic higher education. The project's mission connected scholars, religious
leaders, and the public to work together for the common good. We uplifted Catholic
ideals to inform fresh scholarship to address contemporary social problems and developed
new practices in higher education.
Paluse Grant Details
Reflecting the Catholic, Spiritan mission and identity of Duquesne University, the
Paluse Faculty Research Grant is an important university-wide internal funding opportunity
intended to support full-time faculty scholarly research.
Grant awards are for up to $6,000. Up to two awards will be granted.
Open to all full-time Duquesne faculty in any academic discipline with continuing
full-time faculty appointments.
Intended to lead, at least, to publication in a reputable peer-reviewed journal.
Can be used to support a portion of a multi-phase research project, provided the project
funded by the Paluse grant is clearly defined and the proposal makes a strong case
for the likelihood of future external funding and publication.
Faculty are encouraged to pursue collaborative and cross-disciplinary research projects
and to submit them for Paluse funding.
Recipients may teach no more than one summer course for supplementary pay during the
summer they hold the grant.
Previous winners of Paluse Faculty Research Grants are welcome to apply. Proposals
must demonstrate research outcomes from previous grants, and applications must show
that the current proposal focuses on a new research project.
Preference will be given to applicants who have not received a Paluse Faculty Research
Grant in the last two years.
