Frances G. Harpst Center for Catholic Thought and Culture

In essence, the CCTC’s mission is concerned with helping USD and its neighbors to explore, understand and celebrate everything it means to participate in a university community that calls itself Catholic in the twenty-first century. 

The Role of the Center

In its mission to enable and foster the engagement between USD’s Catholic identity and its academic mission, the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture seeks to:  

• Develop thought-provoking programs that will engage the university and local community in critical dialogue with the Catholic intellectual and cultural traditions
• Promote Catholic Social Teaching and its integration into the academic and institutional life of the university community
• Organize conferences, liturgical and cultural events and exhibits that showcase the Catholic Church’s rich heritage and its contributions to the arts, letters and sciences and to all which ennobles humans to pursue what is right and just
• Provide faculty with opportunities and support for development and to create quality courses that expose students to the Catholic intellectual and cultural traditions

• Showcase and Facilitate the many exciting and important areas of USD life that embody the foundational ethos, vision and ongoing mission of the University through collaborative and bridge-building ventures across campus and beyond

• Contribute to key discussions pertaining to the Christian cultural, ecclesial, intellectual and social life at local, national and international level through research initiatives, projects and the ongoing core activities of the Center

From its inception, the Church has been a community of faith and service. Historically, Catholicism has also always been a community of inquiry, learning and reasoned discourse. The catholicity of the University of San Diego is aptly captured in the gospel-inspired principle ‘all are welcome’. Though the focus of CCTC’s programs and cultural events is Catholic, people of all faith traditions and people of none, are most welcome to attend CCTC sponsored events and benefit from the exchange of ideas.

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