School of Philosophy – Wishbook

As part of a long-term research project on social philosophy and economic ethics, the School of Philosophy is seeking funding for up to three PhD positions and an international conference on Catholic criteria for ethical investment.

Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) is on the rise. More people want to make sure that their investments are not only doing well, but also doing good. The most common strategy is to assess companies not only by their performance, but also by their environmental, social and governance policies (ESG). Nevertheless, the devil is in the details. While most investors accept the general ideals behind ESG investing, there can be a lot of disagreement over which market activities and corporate policies are good or bad for society. This is true of Catholics, who have their own distinctive views on integral human development and social justice, particularly when it comes to marriage, the family, and healthcare.

What, then, are the Catholic Tradition’s criteria for ethical investment, and do they stand under scrutiny in a secular society? Furthermore, do investments following these criteria perform well?

To answer questions such as these, the School of Philosophy seeks funding for an international and interdisciplinary conference on economic ethics, three funded PhDs on the subject, and the publication of research generated by the conference and PhD program. Through these research initiatives, the School of Philosophy hopes to provide individual investors, financial advisers, and fund managers with revised criteria for ethical investment.

As part of a Pontifical Athenaeum, the School of Philosophy can bring its expertise in the Catholic tradition to analyze, with help of social scientists and financial practitioners, the current ethical challenges of SRI.

Duration: 3 years

Total cost: € 265,800

• Three PhD scholarships: €228,300 (€ 76,100 each scholarship)
• International Conference: € 37,500

Today’s pluralistic world, despite widespread secularization, finds itself with ongoing, and sometimes polarizing, interest towards faith, religion and spirituality.

At Regina Apostolorumwe are passionate about fostering dialogue between the Church and contemporary currents of thought. We seek to properly understand and interpret the religious phenomenon, from a Christian philosophical and interdisciplinary framework, to aid in the fields of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, ecumenism and the New Evangelization.

In our project, awareness, understanding, critical reflection and education are key words. The current project stems from the need to do field research in religious experiences outside of our religion of reference (Christianity) and to network internationally with other scholars, who are dedicated to similar types of research. It also hopes to translate this research into enriched lectures and formative activities for the students of Regina Apostolorum. The end goal is to form a more integrated and solid science of religion, faith and spirituality, integrated with Christian philosophy and theology.

Our research aim focuses on foundational questions: What is religion? What is faith? What is spirituality? Through a rigorous interdisciplinary approach, involving history, empirical studies, philosophy and theology, we have developed a three-year project with annual field study of specific religions (three weeks each) in their local cultural settings, and annual participation in leading international conferences on religion. The fruit of this research will not only be the papers presented at these peer conferences, but also an enrichment of the courses on phenomenology and philosophy of religion, and hands-on pedagogy through two guided student trips per year.

Benefactors, contributing to the realization of this project, will help also to enrich the Faculty with greater expertise in inter-faith, inter-religious, and inter-spirituality phenomenology and philosophical reflection. Furthermore, it will facilitate the formation of students (future pastoral agents) in appreciating and entering into inter-faith, inter-religious, and inter-spirituality dialogue situations from a solid Catholic and humanistic perspective.

Duration: 3 years

Total cost: € 80,400

In our contemporary society, too often marked by radical contrapositions and unilateral visions, the philosophical and theological method developed by Romano Guardini can help with a wider and more balanced perspective.

Pope Benedict XVI defined Guardini as “a great figure, a Christian interpreter of the world and of his time.” With the opening of the cause for his beatification, the School of Philosophy launches a challenging project aimed at deepening the theoretical understanding of the current of his philosophical and theological thought, which has deeply affected the spirit of the New Evangelization.

We wish to engage benefactors and philanthropists in organizing a Congress on Guardini’s contribution to the epistemology of religion; establishing institutionalized research on Guardini’s thought, aimed at fostering systemic and integrated research, establishing synergies with related national and international study groups; offering a PhD scholarship for research on Guardini’s thought; publishing papers presented during the congress so to disseminate them nationally and internationally.

This project is meant to be not only an incentive to academic research on Guardini’s work, but also a concrete application of his reflection on the human person, religion, culture and education: we want to foster the dialogue between Guardini’s thought and contemporary currents of thought,integrating metaphysics and history, faith and reason, science and religion, in order to answer to the urgent questions arising in today’s globalized and pluralistic world. As in Guardini’s vision, the proactive engagement of young minds in tackling the big questions with an integral philosophical-theological approach will aid in forming students and future teachers to acquire a balanced view of the world and an effective capacity for dialogue.

Duration: 3 years

Total cost: € 256,800

• Support to 3 PhD scholarships: €228,300 (€ 76,100 each scholarship)
• Conference: € 16,500
• Library enrichment: € 12,000

As an Athenaeum committed to the comprehensive training of future Christian leaders, we want to offer most gifted and promising students with the opportunity of participating to the Summer School organized by the Catholic Worldview Fellowship held in Germany. It will allow our best students to establish relationships with other academic promises from prestigious international institutions and to develop a sound synthesis between faith and reason and between theory and life.

The scholarships will be reserved for the most deserving students, coming from the main universities of the world, who want to permeate contemporary society with the Catholic worldview. The participation of the students of the School of Philosophy in these courses represents an opportunity of great value for the individual formation path, but also for the strengthening of the institutional potential of the APRA alumni network with that of the other young Christian leaders. We seek to create an interdisciplinary, Catholic mainstream of thought in the context of emerging global culture by forming the leaders of the future.

Total cost for 15 Scholarships: € 105,000 (€ 7,000 each scholarship)

The course seeks to form, network and empower talented students to evangelize culture through historical, religious, philosophical and ethical perspectives on society. The students learn to appreciate the roots of Western culture: by analyzing contemporary society, they learn to understand the religious, ethical and philosophical context of culture. By projecting the responses to future challenges, they apply that knowledge to today’s world.

The course provides an interactive methodology, combining lectures, workshops and outings. This enables students to be the protagonists of their own formation.

Total cost for 15 Scholarships: € 24,000 (€ 1,600 scholarship)

Established in 2010, the Arosio Chair of High Medieval Studies aims to keep alive and expand the work done by Dr. Marco Arosio on Medieval studies, encouraging the research on philosophical and theological issues related to the medieval period (5th-15th century), promoting the Marco Arosio Prize, an annual project competition in medieval studies, organizing annual scientific events. The Chair, furthermore, is committed to support young researchers, giving them visibility and scientific recognition, creating opportunities for meetings and exchanges and creating opportunities for experience and work in the field.