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.
