Breaking new ground, the University of St. Thomas-Houston (UST) and the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), joined forces on April 19 for an online conference on “Teaching Leadership in the Humanities.” Among the takeaways was that a Catholic liberal arts education is worth continuing even in wartime because it is a support for the soul — a support that war cannot snatch away.
The idea to collaborate on the day-long online conference came from UST Division Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences & Global Studies Dr. Tom Behr and UCU Head of the Philology Department of Humanities Dr. Oleksandr Pronkevich. They sought to have the universities, which are located on opposite sides of the globe and UCU in a war-torn country, compare lessons about leadership drawn from their shared Catholic liberal education resources.
Presenters and topics from UST offering diverse perspectives on leadership included: Dr. Chris Wolfe on “Leadership Versus Statesmanship in the Eyes of the American Founders,” Dr. Dominic Aquila on “Principles of Leadership Drawn from Recent History,” Dr. Joseph Cherny on “Moral Virtue and Contemplation,” and Dr. Timothy Furlan on “The Spirit of Ethical Leadership.”
Drs. Behr and Pronkevich led a discussion on “Liberal Learning in Wartime” by C.S. Lewis, which revealed some surprises, according to Dr. Wolfe.
“We were surprised to discover how familiar the Ukrainian professors were with the English Christian theologian, C.S. Lewis,” Dr. Wolfe said. “As for us Americans, we got the opportunity to be introduced to the works of many excellent Ukrainian poets who only recently were translated into English.”
Because of different time zones, the UST participants signed onto Microsoft Teams in the morning, while it was evening for the UCU professors as they joined the live conference.
The successful collaboration was in keeping with UST’s Greater Things vision for a global presence. UST and UCU aim to maintain their strong connection for friendship and brotherhood.
