The West’s educational crisis may be unresolved, but there are signs of renewal in Catholic education. In this effort, the Habiger Institute for Catholic Leadership’s 2020 volume The Heart of Culture has given its readers hope that the Catholic educational tradition is both resilient and true.

Gwen Adams’ Handbook to The Heart of Culture fortifies this hope with stories of renewal, spiritual reflections, and practical applications. In each of the three Handbook volumes, Adams examines an aspect of Catholic educational history with particular attention to the education of children and adolescents; offers an insightful reflection on a virtue critical to education; and supplies abundant resources in pedagogy and materials. Perfectly balancing the weight of the tradition across the three volumes, Adams offers to new and experienced teachers alike insights and skills for educating in truth.

Volume I traces Catholic educational history from its roots in Israel and Greek paideia, through the Incarnation and the early Church, to the establishment of monasticism. Following a reflection on sensory-emotional formation, wonder, and studiousness, the Workbook gives guidance for cultivating wonder, with practical plans and suggestions for physical education, nature study, reading aloud, and the Socratic method.

Volume II traces Catholic educational history from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance-Baroque era, surveying the rise of cathedral schools, universities, and humanistic models, most notably the Jesuit school. Following a reflection on docility, the Workbook gives guidance for cultivating that virtue, with practical plans and suggestions for crafting great lectures, leading poetry discussions, teaching the art of memory, and staging a play.

Volume III traces Catholic educational history from the Enlightenment to present-day renewal movements. Following a reflection on integrity, the Workbook gives guidance for cultivating that virtue, with practical plans and suggestions for leading seminars on literature, studying art and architecture, and improving feedback and grading practices. Volume III concludes with advice from leaders in the revival of Catholic education.

Featuring Interviews with

Michael Naughton, Director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minnesota)

Elisabeth Sullivan, Executive Director of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education

Dale Ahlquist, President of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Andrew Seeley, Director of Advanced Formation for Educators at the Augustine Institute (Florissant, Missouri)

Do committed Christians need to withdraw from society? This is the question that many people are asking. No one can predict how the future will look, but one thing is clear. We don’t need countercultural gestures, so much as the grace of Christ. By an Unexpected Way explores true stories of modern men and women living and sharing their faith against remarkable odds. Through the grace of Christ, they have embraced the tasks of evangelization where they are, with the tools they have.

Featuring Interviews with

Mary Pat Donoghue, executive director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education for the USCCB

Janet E. Smith, professor and author

Edward Sri, professor, author, and vice president of formation for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS)

From the founders of adventure camps, festivals, and coffeehouses, to the architects of Catholic mental health networks, parish renewal, and transformed neighborhoods, learn how to sustain your faith and renew your community. With replicable ideas and further reading, By an Unexpected Way not only inspires, but offers the concrete guidance you need to build Christian culture in your own circumstances.

A New Curriculum for the New Evangelization

The New Evangelization requires a new apologetics, that is, a defense of the faith that responds to the questions that believers and non-believers alike are asking today with philosophical and theological arguments rooted in Sacred Scripture, Catholic Tradition, and the best philosophical reflection available. Why Believe? offers just such a new apologetics and in a format that appeals to our contemporary desire for beauty. A year-long apologetics course, Why Believe? is intended for the use in the senior year of Catholic and independent high schools as well as by home educators and in home-school cooperatives.

The Curriculum Includes

A two-volume textbook set

60 short-form videos produced by the award-winning Augustine Institute Studios (available at formed.org/whybelieve).

A Teacher’s Manual

The textbooks and videos are marked by significant works of art, literature, and Sacred Scripture, offering teachers the opportunity to enliven the student’s experience of the apologetic material.