Veritas Roundtable
The Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities awarded Providence College a grant for the 2025–2026 academic year to launch the Veritas Roundtable. This transformative initiative is aimed at strengthening the integration of faith and reason among Providence College faculty, providing a crucial space for deep engagement with the Catholic intellectual tradition. Through papers, interdisciplinary discussions, and critical reflections, faculty members will delve into themes that connect their academic expertise with the broader mission of a Catholic college.
The initiative will take place in November 2025 over the course of a day-long series of roundtable sessions, where faculty participants will present and critically engage with guiding papers. Two faculty will be selected to prepare guiding papers and will each receive a $1000 stipend. A faculty respondent will be selected for each guiding paper. Paper writers will be selected to participate in Summer 2025.
Call for Paper Proposals – Due June 1, 2025
We are excited to invite current Providence College faculty members to submit a brief, one-paragraph proposal to draft a guiding Veritas Roundtable paper. Submission form can be found below.
Proposal Prompt
Central to the mission of Providence College is the commitment to pursuing the fullness of truth—veritas. The College “is a place of research, where scholars scrutinize reality with the methods proper to each academic discipline, and so contribute to the treasury of human knowledge” (Ex Corde Ecclesiae, no. 15). At the same time, Providence College is called to “work towards a higher synthesis of knowledge,” integrating diverse disciplinary perspectives into a unified vision of truth, where faith and reason are in illuminating collaboration.
The Catholic intellectual tradition offers a rich and living resource for this task of integration. Drawing on scripture and Catholic teaching, the wisdom of the early Church fathers, Catholic social teaching, and centuries of engagements with the arts, natural and social sciences, and humanities, this tradition has wrestled with profound questions of justice, beauty, truth, God, and the nature of the human person. As a roundtable paper writer, you are invited to join this integrative conversation with your training and research. By no means an exhaustive list, we encourage you to consider the following themes from the Catholic intellectual tradition:
- The relationship between faith and reason in fields such as the natural and social sciences, philosophy, and literature.
- The meaning of beauty and creativity in the arts and literature.
- The idea of justice in history, sociology, and education.
- The common good and solidarity in economics, political science, and social work.
- The meaning and dignity of the human person in fields like nursing, education, and business.
Distinctive avenues of approach you might find illuminating (though not exhaustive), could be:
- How your disciplinary training and research can engage in meaningful dialogue with the Catholic intellectual tradition, particularly through exploring intersections of faith and reason, ethical concerns, and theological perspectives.
- Challenges and opportunities you identify in bridging your discipline with broader faith-based or philosophical inquiries central to Catholic higher education.
- An examination of fundamental assumptions/frameworks that guide your discipline through engagement with the Catholic tradition.
- Practical implications for teaching and scholarly work arising from these integrative considerations, especially in the context of Providence College’s identity as a Catholic institution.
As a paper writer for the Veritas Roundtable, you will be asked to prepare an approximately 10-12 page paper (2,500-3,000 words) that thoughtfully explores how your current research or disciplinary interests intersect meaningfully with the Catholic intellectual tradition. Your paper should aim to provoke reflective dialogue among colleagues across diverse disciplines, while deliberately engaging this tradition and encouraging collective insight into how the college’s mission can enrich both scholarship and teaching at Providence College.
Your paper will be circulated to participants in advance and will serve as a focal point for roundtable discussions. One colleague will be tasked with beginning the conversation with a shorter written response paper. We are eager for your insights and grateful for your contributions to this important institutional conversation.
Proposal Form
Submit a proposal here by June 1
