First Day of Classes

at Mount Saint Mary's , the University where I teach.  We had shortened classes for the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit/ Freshman Matriculation/Opening Convocation.

Here's a photo of the dignitaries marching out at the end:

 

It was a pageant of light and color!  And the music, provided by three different student choirs, was fantastic.  

Then we all marched out in the hot and humid August noon and had a picnic.

Then, back to classes.  This semester, I'm teaching three:

1. The Veritas Symposium:  our take on Freshman Comp, with lots of literature and writing on lots of philosophical questions.  The first essay they read was "Curiosity and Smartphones" - have to look up that writer's name to add it in here later.

2.  The Church in the Modern World/Women of Faith:  juniors and seniors of all majors. During the first month, we study the Vatican II document  "Lumen Gentium" and after that, we delve into the lives of women throughout Christian Tradition.

3. Introduction to Poetry:  this is studying poetry, not writing it.  Lots of writing about it, though.