All Things Hold Together: A Great Books Education and the Catholic Tradition
Jared OrtizHope College
The Great Books can lead us to God and a liberal arts education finds its fulfillment in the liturgy. Yet, the curriculum and culture of many universities today are, by their very structure, inimical to such ends. Reflecting on his own education as a Fundamentals major at the University of Chicago and on the Catholic tradition he now teaches, Professor Ortiz will consider the blessings and limits of a Great Books education and how the Catholic tradition might restore the promise of the liberal arts by providing a vision of the whole and cultivating a habit of praise and thanksgiving.
Jared Ortiz is Associate Professor of Religion at Hope College and Executive Director of the Saint Benedict Institute. He holds a BA from the University of Chicago, an MA from St. John's College, and an MA and PhD from Catholic University of America. Prof. Ortiz works on Latin patristic thought, especially St. Augustine. His current research is in the themes of politics, holiness and disability in Augustine’s City of God. He is author of You Made Us for Yourself: Creation in St. Augustine's Confessions (Fortress Press, 2016).
