Michael O. Garvey
Assistant Director, News and Information
University of Notre Dame
September
29, 2003
Among the most conspicuous features of Pope John Paul II's pontificate
has been his enthusiastic embrace of modern communications technology
as an instrument of evangelization.
"We
must be grateful," he once wrote, "for the new technology
which enables us to store information in vast man-made artificial
memories, thus providing wide and instant access to the knowledge
which is our human heritage, to the Church's teaching and tradition,
the words of sacred Scripture, the counsels of the great masters
of spirituality, the history and traditions of the local churches,
and to the ideas and experiences of initiators and innovators
whose insights bear constant witness to the faithful presence
in our midst of a loving Father who brings out of his treasure
new things and old."
Responding
to the papal suggestion, the University of Notre Dame's Satellite
Theological Education Program (STEP) makes use of the Internet,
interactive videoconferences, the Web, and numerous distance learning
technologies to offer courses in theology and spiritual life to
interested Catholic lay people, pastoral ministers and other believers
nationwide.
"We
want to place the academic resources of the University of Notre
Dame in the service of the whole Church," said STEP director
Thomas C. Cummings. “The STEP courses available via our
Web site, on video, CD and, eventually, DVD, make those resources
much more accessible to people in all parts of the world."
Established
in 1999 as an initiative of Notre Dame's Institute for Church
Life (ICL), STEP began with a series of interactive videoconferences
for ministers and lay people in the Catholic dioceses of Winona,
Minn.; Erie, Pa.; Reno, Nev.; and Richmond, Va., all dioceses
lacking Catholic universities. Heartened by the response to the
videoconferences, the ICL staff soon decided to expand the program,
placing several of Notre Dame's best theology courses within reach
of people all over the world.
Among
the members of Notre Dame's faculty participating in the program
are Lawrence S. Cunningham, O'Brien Professor of Theology; Rev.
Brian E. Daley, S.J., Huisking Professor of Theology; Nathan D.
Mitchell, associate director in the Center for Pastoral Liturgy;
Jay P. Dolan, emeritus professor of history; Maura A. Ryan, associate
professor of theology; and Rev. Michael J. Baxter, C.S.C., assistant
professor of theology. Other STEP faculty include Zeni Fox, associate
professor of pastoral theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary
School of Theology at Seton Hall University; William C. Spohn,
professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University; Jane
Regan of the Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry
at Boston College; and Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie, Pa.
During
the 2000-01 academic year, STEP began to offer six-week Internet
courses in theology through the ICL's Web site. During the 2002-03
academic year, STEP launched its own Web site, at http://step.nd.edu,
where distant students could register, enroll and pay tuition
fees; obtain access to 10 on-line courses; or purchase 12 CD-ROM
lectures.
The
course offerings are as rich and varied as a sampling of their
titles suggests: "Creation: Christian Doctrine for Catechists";
"The Creed: We Believe…"; "Images of Christ
Through The Ages"; "Liturgy: A Guide for the Perplexed";
"An Introduction to the New Testament"; "On Prayer";
"The American Catholic Experience"; "American Catholicism
since Vatican II: Challenge of Change"; "The Christian
Conscience and Ethical Dilemmas: Guidance from the Catholic Tradition”;
“Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Christian Life";
"An Introduction to Sacraments"; “From Proclamation
to Scripture: An Introduction to Biblical Literary Forms in the
Gospels"; and "An Introduction to the Letters of St.
Paul."
Already
this year, STEP has sold more than 1,000 lectures in the CD-ROM
format, and the program's enrollment, now exceeding 300 students,
is expected to gain another 100 by the year’s end. STEP
students represent more than 80 different Catholic dioceses in
the United States as well as communities of faith in Botswana,
Canada, England, Ireland and Vietnam.
More
information is available from Cummings at 574-631-5510 or Cummings.8@nd.edu.
