University Students on a Bike Excursion
UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES
Please contact Anthony Schratz for more information about these activities.
For Current University Activities please click here.
- - - - - -Friday Get-togethers
Join us every Friday for a meditation preached by Ernescliff’s chaplain followed by supper. Afterward, we have varied activities, such as guest speakers, movies or sports.
Fridays at 6:30 P.M.
Wednesday Ernescliff Literature Club (ELC)
This club brings together those interested in reading and discussing good literature. We have read and discussed Huckleberry Finn, Ender's Game and The Hobbit, in addition to many short stories by Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, O. Henry and others! Bring a friend and your opinions, Wednesdays at 8:30 P.M.
- - - - - -Philosophy Sessions
Quite literally, the term "philosophy" means, "love of wisdom." In a broad sense, philosophy is the science that seeks to understand fundamental truths about man, the world in which he lives, and man’s relationships to the world and to other men. Dr. Leslie Tomory leads these weekly sessions at Ernescliff, in which the participants discuss issues in Philosophy. Tuesdays at 8:15 P.M.
- - - - - -Catechism Program
Many of our residents teach catechism to Confirmation students at Sts. Martha and Mary, a parish in Mississauga and at St. Dunstan’s, a parish in Scarborough.
- - - - - -Academic and Sports Enrichment (ASE)
ASE is a program that provides inner-city youth of Regent Park and Moss Park with tutoring, sports development and one-on-one mentoring. There are many ways to get involved with the program, and there is always a need for dedicated tutors and mentors to serve as positive influences for the children. For more information, please contact the Program Director at Toronto Youth Development.
- - - - - -Classes on Church Teaching
In order to explain the Faith in depth to friends and classmates we need to know it well. These classes are designed to help university students strengthen their grasp of the Church’s teaching. Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the classes are offered at various times to different groups. For more information, please contact Anthony Schratz.
- - - - - -Annual University Seminar
The 2008 edition of our university seminar, themed A Crisis of Cultures: How the West Was Won (and Lost), was held from August 27 to 29. Participants were able to share ideas and learn about the cultural and ideological struggles taking place on campuses all over the world. We were honoured to have two prominent speakers presenting on the theme: Kenneth Whyte, the editor and publisher of Maclean's magazine, and Richard Bastien, a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen.
The 2009 University Seminar took place from September 4 to 6 and was on the theme of Relativism on Campus and in Society. Dr. Joseph Boyle, a philosophy professor at St. Michael’s College, and Dr. Robert Kenedy, a sociology professor from York University were among the speakers.
Relativism, the notion that there is no absolute truth, and that all truth is somehow a construction, is one of the hallmarks of the postmodern world in which we live. This philosophy underlies many popular attitudes towards religion and ethics, and is pervasive in politics and academic life alike.
University students often feel themselves hemmed in by the relativistic attitudes they are exposed to from their colleagues, from popular discourse and in the classroom. The seminar explored the origins and causes of relativism, its hallmarks in contemporary society and in particular in the university setting and presented participants with a robust foundation with which to counter relativism.
Themes of the 2009 University Seminar included:
- The connection between relativism and tolerance
- Relativism and politics: Is relativism the source of political peace?
- The historical roots of relativism
- Relativism in the university
- The orthodoxies of relativism
- Religion and relativism: Personalized religion
For more information, please contact Anthony Schratz.