University Awards Grants to Deepen Faculty Understanding

The d’Alzon Chair sponsors up to two study grants per summer in the amount of $3,000 for members of the Assumption faculty who commit to exploring – or deepening their knowledge of – the educational mission and Assumptionist heritage of the University. Grant recipients pursue, through personal study or research, self-chosen topics that are inspired by the Venerable Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon, A.A., and his vision of education.

Theology Professor Thomas Elbourn, Ph.D., and History Professor Barry Knowlton, Ph.D., were recipients of 2021 d’Alzon Summer Study Grants. Prof. Elbourn researched d’Alzon’s vision of education as a response to the “odd paradox of how democracy gives birth to individualism, and how that individualism, when fully grown, threatens to smother democracy.” Prof. Knowlton drafted a translation-cum-commentary of articles published by Fr. d’Alzon.

“Both projects demonstrate significant degrees of originality,” said Prof. Christian Göbel, Ph.D., the d’Alzon Chair. “Prof. Knowlton’s work will address a lacuna in the existing d’Alzon scholarship – those articles Fr. d’Alzon published in the French journal La liberté pour tous haven’t really been given much consideration yet. And Prof. Elbourn emphasizes an important aspect of the lasting importance of d’Alzon’s vision of education – more precisely, the difficult relationship between democracy and individualism. Amid the current problematic political climate, we are witnessing examples of that ambivalent relationship now in our country.”

Eligible topics for the grants include the history and mission of the University (including, for instance, recent developments, new academic programs, and student life initiatives as they relate to Assumption’s mission); the life and spirituality of Fr. d’Alzon; his vision of education; his political thought; the history and work of the Assumptionists, including Bayard Press, in New England and worldwide; and more.

Applications are reviewed by Prof. Göbel in consultation with the vice president for mission and Father Dennis Gallagher, A.A., Provincial Superior of the Assumptionists.

In recognition of their commitment to the value of a strong Catholic liberal education that emphasizes humanity and patient-centered care as the focus of its curriculum, Richard J. Catrambone, D.M.D., M.D. ’81 and his wife, Sophia, have made a generous lead multimilliondollar gift in the naming of the University’s new health sciences building. Generous and steadfast supporters of Assumption, the Catrambones dedicate the Richard J. and Sophia Catrambone Health Sciences Center to the students who will grace Assumption with their desire to become competent and compassionate healthcare providers.

“Sophia and I are honored to support Assumption and the innovative learning taking place in the state-of-the-art Health Sciences Center that provides a high-quality learning environment and a place for students to gather, collaborate,