The
University of Notre Dame's Satellite Theological Education
Program (STEP) will launch a full-service Web site Sept.
1 (Sunday).
"This
is a true landmark both for our program and for Notre Dame,"
said STEP director Thomas C. Cummings. "We want to
place the academic resources of the University in the service
of the whole Church, and this new Web site will make those
resources much more available."
STEP,
an initiative of the University's Institute for Church Life
(ICL), deploys various distance learning technologies to
place a theological education within the reach of interested
people worldwide. Founded in 1999, the program has aired
a series of interactive videoconferences for ministers and
laypeople in the Catholic dioceses of Erie, Pa.; Richmond,
Va.; Reno, Nev.; Belleville, Ill., and El Paso, Texas, as
well as the archdioceses of Chicago and Atlanta.
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 will offer 10 on-line courses
and 12 CD-ROM lectures through the new Web site, at http://step.nd.edu,
where students also will be able to register, enroll and
pay tuition fees.
This
year's STEP courses and lectures feature many members of
Notre Dame's faculty including 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, professor
of history; Maura A. Ryan, associate professor of theology;
and Rev. Michael J. Baxter, C.S.C., assistant professor
of theology. Also featured will be 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.
Participants
receive a certificate of completion upon the conclusion
of each course.
