The After Dinner Scholar

Sacred Signs with Dr. Kent Lasnoski

Papal biographer and scholar George Weigel is fond of saying that for Catholics, “stuff matters.” Stuff like our physical bodies, bread, wine, water, incense, candles, bells, linen, altars, and ashes. Catholic Christianity is deeply incarnational, rooted firmly in God’s good Creation. And that rooting shows itself most clearly when we worship, that is, in the liturgy of the Mass.

Fr. Romano Guardini was one of the towering Catholic intellectuals of the twentieth century who for all his erudition, wrote a simple little book entitled Sacred Signs in which he gently and simply explained this connection between  material and the inner world of the spirit.

The book is a favorite of theologian Dr. Kent Lasnoski and a wonderful book to read during these last weeks of Lent.

Outdoor Week with Dr. Tom Zimmer

This week the Wyoming Catholic College campus is deserted. Our dorms are empty. The kitchen and dining hall are silent. It’s Spring Outdoor week.

A Wyoming Catholic College education begins with three weeks backpacking in the mountains of Wyoming. After that, they spend an additional seven weeks in the backcountry, a week at a time during our fall and spring Outdoor Weeks.

Why? Dr. Tom Zimmer, Assistant Professor of Leadership and Outdoor Education and Director of the college's Experiential Leadership Program and COR Expeditions answers that question.

Philosophizing about Nature with Dr. Henry Zepeda

Whether it’s fermions and bosoms or air, earth, fire, and water or nothing but water, the question “What is the world?” has a long history and there have been many answers.

Wyoming Catholic College freshmen discover the many answers in Philosophy 102, going on this semester. Dr. Henry Zepeda has been teaching them the philosophy of nature and the material world and I asked him why student’s journey through philosophy begins here.

Lies and the Father of Lies in Milton’s ”Paradise Lost” with Prof. Adam Cooper

Defeated in the attempt to war against God, fallen from Heaven, chained in the fiery muck of Hell, Milton’s Satan nonetheless declares:

                   What though the field be lost?

All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,

And study of revenge, immortal hate,

And courage never to submit or yield:

And what is else not to be overcome? (I.1-5-109)

The Romantics in the nineteenth century saw Satan as the real hero of Paradise Lost, a mighty warrior who will not except defeat, will not apologize for his rebellion, insists on fighting on against impossible odds, and asserts his inner convictions, his inner identity no matter what.

Others aren’t so sure.

Prof. Adam Cooper has been teaching Paradise Lost to our Wyoming Catholic College juniors, debating, among other things, the character of Satan and his demon hoards.

Exploring ”The Brothers Karamazov” with Dr. Tiffany Schubert

Alexey Fyodorovitch Karamazov was the third son of Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov, a landowner well known in our district in his own day, and still remembered among us owing to his gloomy and tragic death, which happened thirteen years ago, and which I shall describe in its proper place.

Thus begins Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s last and arguably his greatest novel, The Brothers Karamazov. Recounting the story of Fyodor Karamazov and his three sons, Alexey, Ivan, and Dmitri, Dostoyevsky addresses suffering, the existence of God, good and evil, crime and punishment, worldliness and holiness.

Dr. Tiffany Schubert and our Wyoming Catholic College seniors have just finished reading the book.

Lent Begins with Fr. Godfrey Okwunga

Exactly 13 years ago today, Pope Benedict XVI noted in his Angelus address, “Lent is like a long ‘retreat’ in which to re-enter oneself and listen to God's voice in order to overcome the temptations of the Evil One and to find the truth of our existence. It is a time, we may say, of spiritual ‘training’ in order to live alongside Jesus not with pride and presumption but rather by using the weapons of faith: namely prayer, listening to the Word of God and penance.”

On February 21, 2010, the day Pope Benedict made that remark, Lent had already begun. For us, today is Shrove Tuesday, the eve of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of this season of spiritual retreat. Fr. Godfrey Okwunga, who grew up in Nigeria, is Wyoming Catholic College’s Latin chaplain and had this to say about Lent.

“Dumb but Disciplined: Why You Should Wake Up to Your Alarm” with Mr. Aidan Wood

“As a modern man,” wrote Wyoming Catholic College senior, Aidan Wood,” the paths to happiness are seemingly endless, and endlessly confusing. However, there is one simple path that guarantees man’s mission: the path of discipline.”

We all know the feeling: While trying to lose some weight, you pass the donuts someone put in the break room. Just one won’t hurt. Reading St. Thomas Aquinas is a great idea, but I’m tired in the evening and TV is an easier option. The alarm goes off, but well… there’s a snooze button. 

Our guest, Mr. Aidan Wood, wrote his senior thesis and oration on the topic of discipline. Clear here to hear his presentation.

The Age of Gnosticism: Transgenderism, Transhumanism, and Human Identity in the Digital Age with Miss Abigail O’Brien

Last week was orations week at Wyoming Catholic College, a highlight of our life together as a college. In the fall, our seniors write a thesis. Then in the spring semester, each senior presents his or her thesis in a half-hour oration before fielding a half hour of questions.

Senior Abigail O’Brien’s thesis title was: “The Age of Gnosticism: Transgenderism, Transhumanism, and Human Identity in the Digital Age.” Miss O’Brien is our guest this week.

Click here to hear Miss O'Brien's oration.

Augustine’s Confessions with Dr. Daniel Shields

St. Augustine was a prominent teacher of rhetoric in Roman North Africa and in Italy. Despite his success, he was restless, constantly casting about for what was true until he found his rest through faith in Christ. A great sinner, we learn in his Confessions who became a great saint.

Dr. Daniel Shields is attending sophomore humanities this semester and has been reading through Confessions with our students and he shares with us what he finds so compelling about the book.

Wyoming Catholic College and Technology with Dr. Kent Lasnoski

Lola Shub and a group of her friends at Essex Street Academy in Manhattan read Into the Wild about an adventurer who died while trying to live off the land in the Alaskan wilderness. As a result, she told The New York Times, “We’ve all got this theory that we’re not just meant to be confined to buildings and work. And that guy was experiencing life. Real life. Social media and phones are not real life.”

Lola Shub is a member of the Luddite Club, students who eschew technology—including smart phones—for the sake of other, better pursuits such as meeting together in a park, drawing, painting, and reading books included Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius.” 

Whether or not “Luddite Clubs” will become a social trend among teens has yet to be seen, but it does seem that the Wyoming Catholic College technology policy is, in fact, a good that’s ahead of its time.

As technologies and the needs of our students change, we update the policy and Dr. Kent Lasnoski has been at the center of recent revisions.