Matthew V. Smith
Editor-in-Chief
IN THIS ISSUE, Executive Editor Brian Boyd completes his three-part series on Catholic “mission hiring” at Notre Dame and gives us, in the data presented, a snapshot of what Our Lady’s University may look like if current trends in Catholic faculty hiring are not soon reversed. In addition, Kathleen Donahue reports on the University’s declared shift, under the leadership of president Fr. John Jenkins, to a “research university” model that will place a greater emphasis on research in the undergraduate curriculum.
Part of what makes the issue of mission hiring so controversial is the concern shared by many faculty that, should a hiring committee’s focus on an individual job candidate’s catholicity become too great, that emphasis may come at the expense of their expertise or standing in the fields in which they teach. Basically, that the quality of Notre Dame’s applicant pool will be stunted. And yet nothing could be further from the truth.
Part of what makes Notre Dame such an extraordinary place, as has been remarked on in other forums, is that it is distinctive among this nation’s top institutions of higher education for its possession of a religious character which most – if not all – of its “aspirational peers” have lost. This character is not just a draw for students and alumni, but for faculty and potential faculty as well.
To take just one example, Prof. Paul Griffiths, currently of the University of Illinois at Chicago, recently expressed his desire to leave the endowed chair that he holds there and come to teach at Notre Dame. It is Notre Dame’s Catholic character, he indicated, that attracted him. Griffiths, who delivered the keynote address at the Center for Ethics and Culture’s annual fall conference last year, is a prominent Catholic intellectual whose writing is also highly accessible – a rare bird in any discipline – and would have no doubt contributed greatly to the intellectual life of this University. He was, however, denied placement in favor of another candidate. Griffiths will begin teaching at Duke in January.
The internal departmental politics of that decision aside, Griffiths is one of many highly respected Catholic academics who apply every year for placement at Notre Dame, and yet run into trouble when they encounter a faculty that is, at times, more concerned with departmental prestige than with each department’s contribution to the University’s greater mission.
Indeed, it is precisely that concern for prestige which is driving Notre Dame’s shift toward a “research university” model. It is a declared institutional goal of this University, says Fr. Jenkins, to enter into the Association of American Universities – an exclusive consortium of research-based institutions. It should be noted that he also gives the following caveat:
“I want to emphasize that our primary goal is not to join an elite club simply for the sake of prestige or pride. Our goal, rather, is to be the sort of institution that is accurately judged to be in such a group, and to reap the benefits of association, information and reputation that membership can bring.”
The nuance of that statement, however, does not mask the circularity of its reasoning. To wit: we don’t want the prestige, just to be recognized as deserving of it, which will in turn bring the benefits of it.
Our concern, of course, is not that Notre Dame will eventually join the AAU. Rather, it is that a single-minded focus on research, particularly at the undergraduate level and in the humanities, will be the death-knell of our integration across-disciplines.
It is implicit in any statement that supports the research-university model that that research will be highly specialized. If undergraduates are engaged in such specialized research – as early, some say, as their freshman year – that involvement will come to some degree at the expense of the “foundational” education that Notre Dame should aim to offer. Once graduated from Notre Dame, it is unlikely that most students will encounter a broad, interdisciplinary curriculum later in life. While there are a number of convincing arguments to be made for a focus on research, the idea that it will lead produce better-rounded graduates is not one that you often hear.
“As a Catholic university one of its distinctive goals is to provide a forum where through free inquiry and open discussion the various lines of Catholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions, and every other area of human scholarship and creativity. . . The Catholic identity of the University depends upon, and is nurtured by, the continuing presence of a predominant number of Catholic intellectuals.”
Contact Matt at NDIrishRover@gmail.com.
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