Summer 2006
Message from the Dean, Dr. Edward Tingley:
We are now entering our 10th year! Growing slowly, yet there is much to do to secure our future. The word about Augustine College is getting out. A record number of students attended our Student-for-a-Day event, at which we welcome local high-school students to attend lectures and gauge for themselves the potential benefit of a year here. As a couple of these students came all the way from Toronto it is clear that word is travelling, as it must when relatives of alumni call us, as one did this past year, a "blow-your-mind fabulous" Christian liberal-arts school.
I tend to shy away from that kind of hyperbole but it is clear that that is a mistake, as I was forcefully reminded by our Weston Lecturer this year, Dr. David Lyle Jeffrey. At an informal talk in March, sponsored by the College, Dr. Jeffrey spoke of the hunger for depth of his students at Baylor University’s Honors College (‘Augustine College South’, shall we call it?) – and at the same time the general dearth of opportunities in this world to escape the prevailing vision of higher learning (jobs, money, security).
But how can you be secure, set up, in this world if the very nature of ‘security’ is hidden from you by the unthinking norms of our life – even, dare we say it, by certain norms of familiar ‘Christian life’? To be secure you need to know where the insecurity lies, and even the pagan Stoics could tell us how badly misinformed we are about that. (For more information on that ask one of our students, or better yet come here and find out for yourself.)
Here at Augustine College we try to talk about real life, the real threat, and the sources of truth, goodness, and beauty that sustain us far better than any stability of markets or unruffled comfort. Wisdom is not a weekend hobby, a nice subject to ‘read up on one day’ in off-hours. Wisdom is what will keep you from squandering the God-given gift of time between now and ‘one day’ – it is what you already need today.
Christians forget what the secular world has no need to remember: that learning is essential. If we want to know "what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God," we are told what to do: "be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom 12:8). By my count, Dr. Jeffrey repeated Jesus’ words citing Deuteronomy at least three times that evening: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Mat 22:37).
He also pointed out that Christian colleges in North America are seeing tremendous growth alongside only marginal increases at secular institutions. Augustine College offers a sound academic alternative with none of the social downside so prevalent at universities and colleges today.
Augustine College courses have this year been accepted at full university credit value by the University of Chicago, making the Augustine programme a remarkably inexpensive way to put in a year toward a degree from a major university.
This is an excellent place to spend eight months in study. If you know us, spread the word – help us to become better known. If you do not, look into what we do – perhaps we have something to offer you.
Summer at Augustine
This year’s CMDA-CMDS Conference approaches, to take place June 4-10 2006. This Summer's conference will develop the perspective The Strange History of the Word Fact. We will look at philosophy, theology, politics, science (John Ray to Darwin), literature (German romantics), art, and music.
Faculty News
This year we expanded our Programme to accommodate a full-year course in both Philosophy and Literature, formerly combined in one course as Philosophy and Literary classics. We have therefore added an additional faculty member in the person of Trevor Tucker, who taught the Literature course. Edward Tingley continues to conduct the course in Philosophy, following the departure of Richard Sembera in December 2004. Otherwise our faculty continues unchanged. Ed Bloedow continues to teach Latin, The Reverend Doug Hayman Reading the Scriptures (Theology), John Patrick the History of Science, Medicine, and Faith, David D. Stewart Art and Theology in the Christian West, Wesley Warren the History of Music and Culture, and Mark Whittall the History of Mathematics and Science. Our Book of the Semester discussion group continues to be led by Lorraine Links who studied with Dominic Manganiello at the University of Ottawa.
Administration News
This year Augustine College appointed a new Dean: Edward Tingley.
We also appointed a part-time Administrator, in the person of Harold Visser, who has managed the office over the past year. We are grateful for his initiative, thanks to which we had a record number of students at our Student-for-a-Day event in November and a presence at the Rideau Valley Homeschooling Conference on April 22nd.
2005/06 Students
In the fall of the 2005-06 year Augustine College welcomed fourteen students from Canada, the United States, and – a first! – Australia. The faculty can testify that they have had unforgettable experiences working with these students, who have all too soon disappeared from our midst. As in the past, some received their education in the public school system, others through home-schooling. Two came to us with undergraduate studies already completed, one with a distinguished career as a high-school counsellor well underway. We had quite a number of musicians with us this year – and we now miss hearing the occasional strains of Debussy.
Twelve students completed the Programme, six cum laude and one magna cum laude.
Our 9th Augustine College class was:
Shannon Ashton, Timberlea, Nova Scotia
Jean-Pierre Bourget, Laval, Quebec
Roslyn Brain, Nambour, Australia
Pieter Hak, Medicine Hat, Alberta
Leah Hovdestad, Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Levi Karpa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Allison Lefler, Fort Ashby, West Virginia
Reuben Lindeman, Rigaud, Quebec
Chance Pahl, Medicine Hat, Alberta
Luke Patient, Tucson, Arizona
Joel Reinhardt, Medicine Hat, Alberta
Roger Revell, Richmond, Virginia, & Rock Hill, South Carolina
Erica Roebbelen, Oakville, Ontario
Matthew VanMilligen, Guelph, Ontario
Many of our prospective students come to Augustine through word of mouth and personal contact with someone from the College. We wish to encourage everyone – students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the College – to talk about Augustine College wherever they may go, at every opportunity. Full-colour booklets describing the College are available for the asking.
2005/06 Highlights
The fall term began with Commencement on September 4th at All Saints’ Church in Sandy Hill and an address by Dr. John Patrick: To Come Unto the Knowledge of the Truth.
tober of 2005 we hosted a return lecture by artist, novelist, and essayist Michael O’Brien (author of A Cry of Stone and the series Children of the Last Days, which includes Father Elijah and the trilogy Strangers and Sojourners, Plague Journal, and Eclipse of the Sun). Mr. O’Brien gave a memorable talk about his own life as an artist, under the heading The Christian Writer in an Age of Unbelief.
This year’s Visiting Artist was poet and author John Terpstra, winner of the CBC Radio Literary Competition for Poetry in 1992 and the Bressani Prize for poetry in 1988 and shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2004. He has published seven books of poetry, including Disarmament, Devil’s Punch Bowl, and The Church Not Made with Hands. In addition to teaching the Literature class he gave a well-attended reading and public lecture titled In the World: Walking the Tightrope of a Calling in the Arts, in which he spoke on how a writer, rooted in the Faith and living very much in the day-to-day world, understands his literary vocation.
In March we hosted the 2006 Weston Lecture, generously supported by George Weston Limited. We were delighted to have as our guest one of the founders of Augustine College, David Lyle Jeffrey (B.A. Wheaton, Ph.D. Princeton, F.R.S.C.), Distinguished Professor of Literature and Humanities at Baylor University in Waco (Texas), Professor Emeritus of English Literature at the University of Ottawa, and Guest Professor at Peking University, Beijing. Among Dr. Jeffrey’s many books are Houses of the Interpreter: Reading Scripture, Reading Culture, Knowing the Truth in the Present Age, and People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary Culture.
A capacity crowd turned out to completely fill the large Amphitheatre of St. Paul University in Ottawa where Dr. Jeffrey spoke about Christianity and academia in a lecture titled The Bible, Academic Freedom and Religious Liberty. The Weston Lecture has been a rare opportunity, in Canada, for senior academics from North America and abroad – academics who are Christians first – to communicate their integration of faith and understanding, both to the wider general public and to our students. In the past the Weston Lecture has presented our graduating class with a brilliant example of how faith and reason may be united in such a way that each strengthens the other. This year’s Weston Lecture shows the extent to which the Lecture has grown in prominence over the years, as we had audience members fly or drive in from as far away as Chicago and South Carolina.
We are now beginning production of a dvd of Dr. Jeffrey’s contribution to the series.
Before Dr. Jeffrey’s departure for Texas members of the faculty and administration of Augustine College and local supporters of the College met at the Laurentian Leadership Centre to hear him speak on the vital interdependence of Christianity and the higher use of the mind – a service to God that, says Dr. Jeffrey, is being forgotten in our Western culture. It was a moving experience to hear him speak of the currency and importance – the glorious "marginality" even – of our mission here at the college that he helped to create a decade ago.
The Corn Roast, the Annual Hymn Sing, and the Restless Hearts’ Café were enjoyed by students, faculty, and friends as were many other dinners and social events throughout the year.
The year closed with the 9th Graduation Ceremony and Dinner on April 22nd, held this year at the Church of St. Barnabas. Trevor Tucker gave the Graduation Address, entitled Tell Me the Old, Old Story, and the Valedictory Address was delivered by Erica Roebbelen. Two students were awarded the Andrew J.B. Stirling Award for their exceptional contribution to the life of the college, academically and socially: Roz Brain and Erica Roebbelen. Luke Patient was also singled out for significant recognition of the same nature.
Alumni News
Congratulations to all our Augustine graduates in their life endeavours. We love to hear from you and we are very proud of the life-changing influences you have on our society. We also need more news!
Roger Revell (2006) is now Field Director for the Campaign for Election to Congress of Mr. Ralph Norman. Roger writes, "It was a privilege and a blessing to have been invited to study at Augustine College in the 2005-2006 academic year. The Augustine programme holds true to its promise of offering a broad glance at the Western tradition and inspires continued reading for those who embrace this area of study. I hope to continue graduate studies in ethics/history of philosophy."
Cassie Betts (2005) writes, "The University of Chicago has accepted five transfer credits from Augustine, which will help me fill the core requirements here."
Also at the University of Chicago, Shane Caldwell (2005) was accepted into the Doctoral Programme in Physics.
Encouragement
We raised $50,000 this year through the Summer Programme and generous gifts from individuals, the Spaenaur corporation, and the Weston Foundation, which this year concludes its run of support. Please remember that we need to continue to raise $50-100,000 each year.
We are currently in the process of applying for charitable status in the United States. Moreover, we are in the planning phase of establishing an American Friends of Augustine College board to conduct fundraising and development activities in the United States.
Would you like to share in this exciting ministry?
Augustine College students need homes away from home, good discussion, good food, and a listening ear.
Augustine College house needs someone to see to maintenance through the year.
Do we have your current e-mail address? Please keep us up-to-date.