Academics, the USMA and other thoughts on Education

As I said in an earlier post, the patron saint of Panama is Santa Maria la Antigua (the Old Our Lady - old painting, not old Blessed Virgin). She is also the patron of the Catholic University here (Universidad Santa Maria la Antigua - USMA). This is considered to be among the best, if not the best university in the country. This is a university that has a close relationship with the seminary and during the next year seminarians will begin to take part in courses there - especially in the areas of philosophy and English.

I think this is a great step for the seminary for a number of reasons. Firstly, it ensures that the

seminarians are studying among their peers - these are the people among whom they will eventually be ministering so it is important not only that they know each other, but that they are speaking the same language. Being educated only in the seminary brings with it the risk that the seminarians would have an experience that would make them significantly different from their peers, thereby making honest and open dialogue difficult.

Secondly, I think it is important academically. Where there is only an internal forum in the academic context there is always the danger of standards slipping - even with the best will in the world to avoid this. Being formally part of the life of the larger university provides a sort of objective yardstick by which academic progress can be measured. This is of tremendous help in ensuring that both teachers and students in the seminary maintain a proper standard in terms of academic discipline and learning.

Police Notice - an attempt to deal with drug dealing on campus

Thirdly, I think the seminarians have a lot to offer the university. To have a group of seminarians mixed in with the general body of students has to be helpful in terms of promoting discussion, dialogue, and reflection. I think that the interaction between the two groups - and one group at the same time - is a good platform from which to launch the idea of religious commitment in the context of a group of students that is living in a world that is increasingly subject to materialism and the breakdown in community that has been seen in other countries.

Panama seems to have quite a good system of education. At least, judging by the seminarians, they seem to have a good ability to deal with concepts, to talk through problems, and to engage with questions. This augurs well for the church of the future, here in Panama. However, one thing that I notice is that general world culture is not familiar to them very often. Even simple things like knowledge of world events or awareness of world figures is often lacking. I'm not too sure what, if anything, can be done to rectify this - now that everyone has access to internet this information is so accessible that maybe it doesn't need to be retained in the same was as it used to be necessary. I think, however, that I would be traditional on this one - I think that awareness of history and of how our world has come to be as it is, is essential formation for anyone.