Linking up with Kelly.

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I started writing about my recent pilgrimage to Guadalupe here. I’ll be following up soon with Part 2!

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Notre Dame has released a draft of its revised curriculum, and it looks good. I’d written a few months ago about the curriculum review. In the revised draft, the theology requirement is still there, and they’ve proposed a restructured format for fulfilling the other requirements. You can view the draft here. The introductory text includes some great quotes on the purpose and mission of the university:

In placing theology at the core of its Catholic liberal arts education, Notre Dame is not merely adding another discipline to the existing educational paradigm. Instead, it embraces a paradigm of the intellectual life that posits the complementarity of faith and reason.
[…]
Compared to its peers, Notre Dame is at the high end in terms of liberal arts requirements in part because we require theology and philosophy, which are usually not required elsewhere, and in part because we believe that students who have a wide range of intellectual capacities are better equipped to make a difference in the world.
[…]
The educational mission of the Congregation of Holy Cross has consistently emphasized the importance of preparing “citizens for society” as well as “citizens for heaven.” This impulse derives from an underlying commitment to the dignity of the human person and is echoed in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, where St. John Paul II writes that a Catholic university is called to study contemporary problems ranging from “the dignity of human life and the promotion of justice for all” to a more equitable “sharing in the world’s resources.

Good job, Notre Dame! Here’s to holding your ground on the things that are most important. (This is a much bigger win for the university than any football game would have been.)

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Speaking of Notre Dame, I went up to Boston a few weeks ago for the Shamrock Series game at Fenway Park. We played Boston College, which is a family rivalry in our house. I got to visit with one of my good friends from college who is in grad school in Boston. I had actually sold my tickets to the game, but I ended up scoring free wristbands for a gamewatch at a local bar and watched with my parents, my college friend Lizzie, and her friend Kaitlin. It was actually a fantastic place to watch the game: free food, open bar, and inside instead of out in the freezing cold. Plus I got to catch up with Lizzie! The game itself was lackluster, but we at least survived with a win. And I got to meet up with a lot of my college friends over the course of the weekend—it was great to see everyone!

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I watched The Wiz Live! last night. It was pretty good! It was definitely the most talented performance yet among the three live musicals NBC has produced in recent years. They did a good job with casting this one, and I think maybe they’re starting to improve the format after a few years’ worth of shows. I’m all for casting an unknown actress for the lead, selected based on talent, instead of a well-known celebrity, and it worked well in this case (especially with including lots of celebrities as minor characters). I still loved last year’s Peter Pan Live!, mainly because I’ve had a sentimental attachment to the Peter Pan musical since I was a little kid—I think some of the criticisms last year were about the musical itself, from people who were unfamiliar with it and thought it was a bit dull. I was not super familiar with The Wiz, but I think because of its more upbeat soundtrack and constant motion, it lends itself better to a television format than the quieter, calmer Sound of Music and Peter Pan do, much as I love them.

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I recently finished reading The Heart of June by Mason Radkoff, and I would definitely recommend it if you’re interested in reading literary fiction that isn’t depressing (as a lot of literary fiction tends to be). The best thing about it is its characters, which are well developed and believable. The story itself is quiet and reflective. It’s Radkoff’s first novel, published by a small Pittsburgh press dedicated to printing high-quality literary writing.

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