Which university to study scholastic/Thomistic philosophy and theology?

[Kephapaulos]

Which one would you recommend?

[Geremia]

Which one would you recommend?

Have you heard of The Scholasticum?

[Kephapaulos]

I was looking at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC (http://www.dhs.edu/course-descriptions/spring-2017-course-descriptions.html) and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (https://www.dspt.edu/syllabi-and-course-information) in Berkeley, California.

What do you think about either one?

[Geremia]

I was looking at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC (http://www.dhs.edu/course-descriptions/spring-2017-course-descriptions.html) and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (https://www.dspt.edu/syllabi-and-course-information) in Berkeley, California.

What do you think about either one?

DSPT is very Modernist. DHS might be better. Still, you probably won't be using pre-Vatican II manuals in either.

[Kephapaulos]

DSPT is very Modernist. DHS is probably better. Still, you probably won't be using pre-Vatican II manuals in either.

How so? I subscribed to the Dominicana Journal linked to DHS. What I read seemed alright, but I get a little vigilant when "dignity" or "human dignity" are said, but I suppose it depends on the context and how the terms are employed: http://www.dominicanajournal.org/sins-of-speech/

[Geremia]

DSPT is very Modernist. DHS is probably better. Still, you probably won't be using pre-Vatican II manuals in either.

How so?

It is part of the Graduate Theological Union, which is an ecumenical organization of Berkeley.
Also, it is accredited by atheist ("secular") institutions, which is opposed to the way St. Dominic envisioned it (source):

The nature of their studies was regulated and limited so as, if not exclusively theological, at least to bear more or less on theology. Merely secular and honorary distinctions and degrees, granted by the university authorities, were not recognized, the Order reserving a system of graduation in its own hands; and so by means of very minute and most sagacious legislation, one of the great Dominican ideas was gradually given an active and practical existence, namely, the Christianizing of the intellect, the cultivation of human science as a handmaid to the science of divine things, and the pursuit of learning under the safeguard of that subjection and spiritual bondage which secured humility. This was the system which, founded by Dominic himself, in the succeeding age produced St. Thomas. We say, founded by St. Dominic himself, for it is in the very year following that of his first visit to the brethren of St. James, before spoken of, that we find that community described by Pope Honorius as "The brethren of the Order of Preachers, studying in the Sacred Page at Paris."

See also ch. 2 of Sr. Drane's Christian Schools and Scholars (vol. 2), which is entitled "The Dominicans and the Universities."
Letters of recommendation were also forbidden; cf. St. Thomas's Contra Impugnantes.

I subscribed to the Dominicana Journal linked to DHS. What I read seemed alright, but I get a little vigilant when "dignity" or "human dignity" are said, but I suppose it depends on the context and how the terms are employed: http://www.dominicanajournal.org/sins-of-speech/

I've never heard of Dominicana. Is it similar to The Thomist (run by DHS)? (I'm not sure The Thomist has even published any new issues since 2015.)

Are you looking for a university, specifically? Why not a seminary program with a traditional seminary (e.g., FSSP's, SSPX's, ICRSS's, etc.)? Ralph McInerny's son teaches at the FSSP's Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, for example. Those three seminaries have very good professors.

[Kephapaulos]

Yes, but it is wishful thinking for me.

[Geremia]

Yes, but it is wishful thinking for me.

Faith is "wishful thinking," being "the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not" (Heb. 11:1).

Considering online education and MOOCs (massive open online courses, like MIT Open Coursware and the UK's Open University) are growing (cf. the books tagged "Distance; Open & Online Education" in the St. Isidore e-book library), and the brick-and-mortar-university-system-ivory-tower-monopoly complex is futilely trying to adopt the technology they realize is making them obsolete, I wrote to my friend:

I've always had a dream of founding a Catholic technical university called CTI or "Catholic Technical Institute," where scholastic philosophy and the history of medieval physics is taught in conjunction with modern physics (as learning the historical development of physical theories is the best way to learn how to formulate new physical theories; cf. Duhem's Aim & Structure p. 268ff.), but now that I've learned about recent technical advances (like Bitcoin and the upcoming "Blockchain 2.0" & "3.0," the application of Bitcoin/blockchain tech beyond monetary usages; cf. "LearnCoin" of Swan's Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy pp. 62-63), my dream is taking on a form much different than the brick-and-mortar university I originally envisioned. I'm thinking of a sort of peer-to-peer, online, "learning web"-style university like P2P University (motto: "online courses, offline") which would have its own built-in accreditation system (akin to OpenBadges). Basically, students would download a software program I'd write,* and Bitcoin would simultaneously manage payment of the teachers and pseudonymously record the students' course history / transcripts on the Bitcoin ledger for anyone to verify (cf. ProofOfExistence.com).
 
 What inspired me in this direction was the Dominicans' tensions with the seculars at the U. of Paris (because the Dominican "scabs" sabotaged the seculars' strike, occasioning St. Thomas's Contra impugnantes) and the Dominicans' resolve of not recognizing "Merely secular and honorary distinctions and degrees, granted by the university authorities," but "reserving a system of graduation in its own hands" (ch. 25, ¶16 of Sr. Drane, O.P.'s The Life of St. Dominic). With enough network effect, these better alternative educational systems will render current ones obsolete, just as Bitcoin/blockchain tech likely will for [today's] monetary systems within a few decades.

*Actually, open-source learning management systems already exist, e.g., Moodle

[Kephapaulos]

Which one would you recommend?

Have you heard of The Scholasticum?

Yes. Sorry for the late response. I really want to learn more. There's just so much to read and so little time. I would like a more structured way to learn.

[Kephapaulos]

What happened to the Scholasticum? Does it still exist? Do you have any other school suggestions?

[Geremia]

What happened to the Scholasticum? Does it still exist? Do you have any other school suggestions?

I think the Scholasticum was a summer school. I'm not sure if they're planning to do another summer school.
I heard about Ave Maria University (which Monaghan helped found) from an ICRSS canon. It and UST's CTS are probably the best of the Novus Ordo universities. But you will not be 100% free from personalism, etc.

[Kephapaulos]

Are the Dominicans in England the most traditional/conservative in the world right now? Or is another province more so than them?

I've never heard of Dominicana. Is it similar to The Thomist

I don't get around to reading the Dominicana Journal that often even though I receive it in my email regularly, but from what I have read of it, it is meant for spiritual guidance instead of scholarly study as in The Thomist.

[Kephapaulos]

Are you looking for a university, specifically? Why not a seminary program with a traditional seminary (e.g., FSSP's, SSPX's, ICRSS's, etc.)? Ralph McInerny's son teaches at the FSSP's Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, for example. Those three seminaries have very good professors.

I was looking for a university specifically and with a good doctorate program in theology. I could not do it now though because school debt, finishing a master's program right now in business, and need for a better job prevent me from pursuing a doctorate in theology. Those are the same reasons why I would not be able to enter a SSPX, FSSP, or ICRSS seminary.