In honor of the 200^th birthday of Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon, Assumption College released a festschrift titled, Teaching after d’Alzon: Essays on Education Today, about the power of the Assumptionist founder and educator’s ever-present influence on today’s classroom. In the publication, Assumption community members reflect on how their own teaching lives have been formed in the tradition of d’Alzon.

The book, published by Twenty-Third Publications in New London, Conn., was introduced on Nov. 21, 2011, in Assumption College’s d’Alzon Library at an international gathering of Assumptionists. The project began two years ago during a meeting of the d’Alzon Bicentennial Committee, and its genesis was recalled by Academic Dean Eloise Knowlton.

“We wanted something lively, something inclusive, something that showed the power of d’Alzon’s influence still at work,” she explained. “And so Teaching after d’Alzon: Essays on Education Today was born. The idea was to invite actively teaching members of the Assumption community – alumni, faculty, and students – to reflect on their pedagogy’s place in a d’Alzonian educational tradition, and to show how that tradition is active and alive.”

The 146-page festschrift includes essays from Fr. Roger Corriveau ’69, chair of Theology at Assumption College; Christian Gobel, assistant professor of Philosophy at Assumption; Assumption Theology Professor Marc LePain ’69; Andrew Salzmann, an intern and Boston College Ph.D. candidate; Barry Knowlton ’84, assistant professor of history at Stonehill College; teaching alumni and student teachers from the Class of 2010; and Cathleen Stutz , assistant professor of education. The book is introduced by Fr. John Franck, member of the General Council of the Augustinians of the Assumption; with a foreword written by Assumption College President Francesco Cesareo. Fr. Dennis Gallagher A.A., ’69, vice president for Mission at Assumption College, shepherded the project and also penned a piece for the book.

A true Assumption College production, the book’s cover was designed by Assumption student Ashley Costanzo a graphic design major, “who very beautifully integrated the idea of time and tradition,” Knowlton noted. “She even alludes to the Religious of the Assumption in her choice of purple as the dominant color.”