Professors, students praise new course
The Moreau program began its pilot semester this year following an announcement last fall on the curriculum’s revision. Headed by Faculty Director William Mattison, professor of theology, the program now features a rewritten syllabus and other new elements intended to “better support students’ personal, intellectual, and spiritual development.”
The pilot program included 20 percent of this year’s freshman class, with the course set to be fully implemented in the fall of 2025.
In an interview with the Rover, Mattison stated, “The purpose was … the classical philosophical emphasis in contemplation before pragmatic.”
Father Gerry Olinger, C.S.C., Vice President of Student Affairs, explained the necessity for a new Moreau program to the Rover, saying, “I have heard a great deal from students these past few years about feeling over-programmed, overwhelmed, and unable to find time for this kind of deeper reflection. I feel strongly that the Moreau Program has the ability to respond to this need, and I think it’s powerful that Notre Dame is doing so within the context of the university’s core curriculum.”
He also expressed excitement for the revised curriculum, saying, “On a more practical level, one of my greatest hopes is that the program offers space for students to reflect on their deepest sources of identity, understand who they are and not just what they want to do, and learn to discern how God is calling them to draw on their gifts to be a force for good in the world.”
The course consists of 11 units on broad topics such as “tradition,” “friendship,” and “vocation.” Each week features several readings and a “refraction”—a short video presentation explaining the readings—given by a faculty member. All readings, refractions, and pages for notes are compiled in a hardcover “commonplace book.”
Mattison explained that “the most consistent theme of the class” was reflection and contemplation: “The busyness of life, the getting stuff done—that’s always going to happen in this world,” Mattison remarked. “But like the story of Mary and Martha, contemplation, time with friends, time in prayer, time with family: That’s actually what life is about. That’s not a break from work, that’s the point.”
Kellan Ren, a freshman who took the new course, appreciated the intellectual depth of the class: “I enjoyed being able to connect on a personal level with my peers, and through discussion, being able to not only understand their different views, but also understand how my own experiences have affected the way I look at the world.”
Ren continued, “I also enjoyed most of the readings although they were pretty lengthy because they had lots of good insight that allowed me to think deeper about myself and my purpose in life.”
Another significant feature of the new Moreau program is the employment of “peer leaders,” undergraduate students who stimulate class discussion and deliver a five-minute testimonial each class. These testimonials are intended to “integrat[e] the course’s perennial questions with real-life applications as a student at Notre Dame,” according to the class website.
Senior Daniel Jung commented to the Rover on his time as a peer leader, “My experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Each week, I had the privilege of being able to walk with first-year students, accompanying them through the week’s topic.”
Jung explained his work in the course, saying, “In every class session, I would attempt to expound upon the readings, offering insight as to how the week’s readings related to my own personal life and experiences from my time at Notre Dame.”
Another peer leader, junior Alejandra Ricardo, expressed her appreciation for the program’s impact on her own life to the Rover, saying, “The readings were very informative, even for me as a junior. It has been such an enriching experience to be able to stop and look back at my years at [Notre Dame] while hearing from those who look forward to their time here.”
Ricardo also compared the new program to her own experience with Moreau: “My Moreau freshman year experience was good and certainly informative. … Yet, I think in a lot of ways the old Moreau course lacked focus. The new Moreau is very centered on this culture of encounter, and students don’t just read and write about it. Rather, they live it out.”
Over the course of the past year, two committees led by Mattison created the new curriculum and expanded the course outside of the classroom through co-curricular activities that are now “better anchor[ed] in good intellectual reflection,” Mattison said.
Forrest Spence, professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the economics department, echoed Mattison’s sentiment in a comment to the Rover: “The old course had a bunch of content that was holdovers from back in the day when students had to take PE and various modules related to physical and mental health. So you ended up with a week on Holy Cross history, followed by a week on sexual assault, followed by a week on DEI. These things are important, but it made the course a bit incohesive.”
Spence continued, “The new content is centered on great works. [The students] read speeches by M.L.K. and C.S. Lewis and read excerpts from Hellen Keller and Aristotle.”
Another new point of emphasis was for faculty to teach class sections rather than university staff. Mattison explained how this element improves on the old curriculum: “Your faculty have to own your curriculum.”
Many faculty members are already set to teach Moreau sections next year, including several high-ranking university officials: Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., President Emeritus; John McGreevy, Charles and Jill Fischer Provost; Marcus Cole, Dean of the Law School; Sarah Mustillo, I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of Arts and Letters; and Father Daniel Groody, C.S.C., Vice President and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education.
Asked about teaching a section of the class, McGreevy told the Rover, “The university’s Strategic Framework calls for forging stronger connections between student life and the academic core, and the reconceived Moreau course is an essential part of that process. I am happy to teach a section of the course next year because I think it will be a great addition to the curriculum.”
The pilot course will continue to be improved and revised throughout the spring semester before its inaugural semester in fall 2025.
Michael Canady is a junior from Falls Church, Virginia, studying classics. He can be reached at mcanady2@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: Moreau First Year Seminar Webpage
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