New program joins Catholic teaching and environmental science

[Michie]

Ave Maria University "is engaging coherently with this conversation and proposing robust alternatives that emerge from the Church’s anthropology."

A Catholic college in South Florida has come up with a novel way to prepare the next generation to be custodians of our shared environment. In the Fall 2024 semester, Ave Maria Universitywill begin offering an Agriculture and Catholic Environmental Stewardship (ACES) minor, a program that will utilize Catholic teaching to train future leaders in the field.

According to the university’s website, the minor will integrate Catholic teaching “on the person, family, ecology, and economy,” into students’ formation in the renewal of our way of life.

Along with practical outdoor skills, students who complete the course will be equipped to become “a transformative Catholic presence in local society,” as well as taking part in the broader public conversation.


Ave Maria points towards the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI to explain the inspiration for the new minor:

“The environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations, and towards humanity as a whole.” — Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, no. 48

Dr. Samuel Shephard, associate professor of biology at Ave Maria University and director of the ACES minor, said of the course in a press release:

“While the Western world is deeply invested in solving crucial environmental challenges, it often proposes solutions that reflect a superficial understanding of the human person, creating a critical gap of sustainable and holistic ideas by Catholic leaders and thinkers.”

Students outside​

Continued below.

New course joins Catholic teaching and environmental science

Ave Maria University "is engaging coherently with this conversation and proposing robust alternatives that emerge from the Church’s anthropology."

aleteia.org

 

[DJWhalen]

It is a good idea to train college students.

 

[AlexB23]

Ave Maria University "is engaging coherently with this conversation and proposing robust alternatives that emerge from the Church’s anthropology."

A Catholic college in South Florida has come up with a novel way to prepare the next generation to be custodians of our shared environment. In the Fall 2024 semester, Ave Maria Universitywill begin offering an Agriculture and Catholic Environmental Stewardship (ACES) minor, a program that will utilize Catholic teaching to train future leaders in the field.

According to the university’s website, the minor will integrate Catholic teaching “on the person, family, ecology, and economy,” into students’ formation in the renewal of our way of life.

Along with practical outdoor skills, students who complete the course will be equipped to become “a transformative Catholic presence in local society,” as well as taking part in the broader public conversation.


Ave Maria points towards the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI to explain the inspiration for the new minor:



Dr. Samuel Shephard, associate professor of biology at Ave Maria University and director of the ACES minor, said of the course in a press release:

Students outside​

Continued below.

New course joins Catholic teaching and environmental science

Ave Maria University "is engaging coherently with this conversation and proposing robust alternatives that emerge from the Church’s anthropology."

aleteia.org

Amen to this. I will not summarize the article, cos this is self-explanatory. We as Christians must be good stewards of the earth, of God's Creation. I am glad that the college will offer classes on being ecologically friendly.