The Catholic Studies Reader: (Catholic Practice in North America)

The Catholic Studies Reader is a rare book in an emerging field that has neither a documented history nor a consensus as to what should be a normative methodology. Dividing this volume into five interrelated themes central to the practice and theory of Catholic Studies—"Sources and Contexts," "Traditions and Methods," "Pedagogy and Practice," "Ethnicity, Race, and Catholic Studies," and "The Catholic Imagination"—the editors provide readers with the opportunity to understand the great diversity within this area of study. Readers will find informative essays on the Catholic intellectual tradition and Catholic social teaching, as well as reflections on the arts and literature. This provocative and enriching collection is valuable not only for scholars but also for lay and religious Catholics working in Catholic education in universities, high schools, and parish schools.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction: The Need for Catholic Studies James T. Fisher and Margaret M. McGuinness Part I: Sources and Contexts "The Story Is What Saves Us": American Catholic Memoirs Debra Campbell The Catholic Intellectual Tradition: A Classification and a Calling Mary Ellen O'Donnell Passing on the Faith: Training the Next Generation of American Practicing Catholics Sandra Yocum The (Catholic) Politics of Catholic Studies David O'Brien Part II: Traditions and Methods Catholic Studies and Religious Studies: Reflections on the Concept of Tradition Ann Taves A Definition of Catholic: Toward a Cosmopolitan Vision Jeannine Hill Fletcher Method and Conversion in Catholic Studies Richard M. Liddy Part III: Pedagogy and Practice Catholic Studies in the Spirit of "Do Whatever He Tells You" Una M. Cadegan Afflicting the Comfortable: The Role of Catholic Social Teaching in Catholic Studies Programs Margaret M. McGuinness Teaching About Women, Gender, and American Catholicism Kathleen Sprows Cummings Visual Literacy and Catholic Studies Catherine R. Osborne Part IV: Ethnicity, Race, and Catholic Studies We Have Been Believers: Black Catholic Studies Diana L. Hayes and Cecilia A. Moore Asian American Catholic Experience and Catholic Studies Linh Hoang, O.F.M. Working Toward an Inclusive Narrative: A Call for Interdisciplinarity and Ethnographic Reflexivity in Catholic Studies Kristy Nabhan-Warren Part V: The Catholic Imagination Seeing Catholicly: Poetry and the Catholic Imagination Angela Alaimo O'Donnell Cultural Studies Between Heaven and Earth: Beyond the Puritan Pedagogy of The Scarlet Letter Thomas J. Ferraro Catholic Studies and the Sacramental Imaginary: New Directions in Catholic Humanism Maureen H. O'Connell Notes List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
James T. Fisher was Professor of Theology and American Studies at Fordham University. His most recent books are Communion of Immigrants: A History of Catholics in America and On the Irish Waterfront: The Crusader, the Movie, and the Soul of the Port of New York. Margaret M. McGuinness is Professor of American Catholicism at La Salle University. She is the author of Neighbors and Missionaries: A History of the Sisters of Our Lady of Christian Doctrine; and Called to Serve: A History of Nuns in America. She co-edited The Catholic Studies Reader (with James T. Fisher) and Roman Catholicism in the United States (with James T. Fisher).

Review :
"A helpful and necessary step in establishing a set of scholarship to further the discussion which also displays the lack of consensus among scholars and disciplines about what constitutes 'Catholic Studies.'" -- -Paula M. Kane University of Pittsburgh "In addition to serving as a launch pad for a new series called Catholic Practice in North America, The Catholic Studies Reader is a rare book in an emerging field that has neither a documented history nor a consensus as to what should be a normative methodology." -American Catholic Studies Newsletter "The Catholic Studies Reader promises to be of singular benefit to academics and programs that span the broad spectrum of ideology and mission, and will lend cohesion to a congeries of programs that are now united more in name than in purpose or structure. I never tell people to run out and buy a book. Run out and buy this book." -- -Mark Massa S.J. Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education