2023-2024
Welcome Message
Ordered Souls, Ordered Cities
A flourishing community depends on the well-ordered souls of its members. At the heart of the Institute for
Human Ecology’s success is our investment in faculty and students who serve the common good through
their academic work. As virtuous leaders in their fields, they demonstrate that spiritual growth and intellectual
development are always mutually enforcing.
This truth underlies all of the IHE’s programs. One example, featured in this report, is our graduate student pilgrimage to the Holy Land (page 46). Mere weeks after we returned from Israel, war erupted in the same streets where we had walked and prayed. In the weeks following as the IHE prepared for our second Annual Lecture on Catholic Political Thought — featuring Dr. Gregory Reichberg of the Peace Research Institute Oslo on just war theory — we were struck by not only the severity of war but also the task of an academic whose work informs real-life decision making for military leaders (page 21).
When the stakes of scholarship become unexpectedly high, careful study, humility of heart, and clear discourse assume great importance. These are virtues that characterize IHE Scholars, especially in our Program on Catholic Political Thought (PCPT). We were gratified to see this confirmed during the academic year when two founding Directors of the PCPT were appointed Deans of pontifical schools at Catholic University: Joseph Capizzi (also former IHE Executive Director) in Theology and Religious Studies, and V. Bradley Lewis in Philosophy (page 18).
IHE Scholars are economists, engineers, sociologists, legal experts, political theorists, theologians, and philosophers whose work reflects a fundamental commitment to the dignity of the human person. It is a commitment that makes for deeper insight into the problems facing our society and healthier communities on campus and beyond. We invite you to see this commitment in action through the IHE’s 2023–2024 Annual Report.
F. Russell Hittinger, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Stephen P. Higgins, J.D.
Managing Director
This truth underlies all of the IHE’s programs. One example, featured in this report, is our graduate student pilgrimage to the Holy Land (page 46). Mere weeks after we returned from Israel, war erupted in the same streets where we had walked and prayed. In the weeks following as the IHE prepared for our second Annual Lecture on Catholic Political Thought — featuring Dr. Gregory Reichberg of the Peace Research Institute Oslo on just war theory — we were struck by not only the severity of war but also the task of an academic whose work informs real-life decision making for military leaders (page 21).
When the stakes of scholarship become unexpectedly high, careful study, humility of heart, and clear discourse assume great importance. These are virtues that characterize IHE Scholars, especially in our Program on Catholic Political Thought (PCPT). We were gratified to see this confirmed during the academic year when two founding Directors of the PCPT were appointed Deans of pontifical schools at Catholic University: Joseph Capizzi (also former IHE Executive Director) in Theology and Religious Studies, and V. Bradley Lewis in Philosophy (page 18).
IHE Scholars are economists, engineers, sociologists, legal experts, political theorists, theologians, and philosophers whose work reflects a fundamental commitment to the dignity of the human person. It is a commitment that makes for deeper insight into the problems facing our society and healthier communities on campus and beyond. We invite you to see this commitment in action through the IHE’s 2023–2024 Annual Report.
F. Russell Hittinger, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Stephen P. Higgins, J.D.
Managing Director
