Fr. Dennis M. Gallagher, A.A., Provincial and Former Vice President for Mission at Assumption College, reflects on the enduring importance of liberal education in the Catholic tradition in his new book Liberal Education at the Crossroads.

These are challenging times for liberal education. For quite some time now, pre-professional education has been in the ascendancy in our colleges and universities. While it is not difficult to identify the reasons for this – the expense of higher education requires a “return on investment” in the form of employable skills; the humanities themselves have fallen captive, too often, to narrow, formalistic approaches – the waning of the great tradition of liberal learning is not to be celebrated. In this volume of short essays, arranged chronologically over a fifteen-year period, Fr. Dennis M. Gallagher, A.A., Provincial of the North American Province of the Assumptionists and formerly Vice President for Mission at Assumption College, makes a strong case for the present and enduring value of liberal education in the Catholic tradition. The essays cover a wide range of subjects – profiles of great teachers, education to citizenship, the place of athletics, the relation between study and prayer – all aimed at renewing our appreciation for an education that liberates students from the reigning opinions of the day and prepares them to live thoughtful and generous lives.

Check it out here.

Fr. Dennis' book is now available as an e-book through the kindle store.