Mission & Goals

Join us in the pursuit of truth as revealed in the Gospel and discovered by human reason.

Our mission

The Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology, a member of the Graduate Theological Union, is a community of scholars committed to the pursuit of truth as revealed in the Gospel and discovered by human reason. Inspired by the Dominican practice of disciplined inquiry and learned preaching, the School draws its students into the rich tradition of classical philosophy and Catholic theology, especially as exemplified by St. Thomas Aquinas, and from this tradition engages contemporary scholarship and culture in mutual enrichment.

As a Center of Studies of the Order of Preachers and an apostolate of the Western Dominican Province, the mission of the School is to prepare religious, clerics, and laity for academic and apostolic vocations.

Institutional goals

Our faculty strive to instill the values articulated in these goals into our teaching and research environment. Guided by documents from the Dominican Order on the initial formation, all DSPT students develop skills needed for an effective ministry of the Word as it relates to their particular vocation in the Church and society. Learn more about our professors’ approach through the rubric for assessing student Skills Related to Institutional Goals.

Deep learning

Motivated by a thirst for truth, the disciplined inquirer is a life-long learner who recognizes fundamental principles in a given field of inquiry and applies them in innovative ways to broader contemporary issues which are of importance to Church, the academy, and/or society.

Integrative Thinking: the ability to recognize, understand, retain, integrate, and apply the fundamental principles operative in a field of inquiry, and use them to make synthetic judgments.
Intellectual Humility: an orientation of mind and heart that fosters intellectual collaboration, precludes both rigidity and passivity of mind, and recognizes that contrary opinions are not a threat, but provide the opportunity to test and deepen one's own grasp of the truth.
Self-Direction: the disposition to take primary responsibility for one's own education, manifested in a keen intellectual interest in the topic of studies, and the ability to teach oneself through a habit of skilled and responsible research and resilient exploration.

Collaborative leadership

A collaborative leader inspires within others the desire to realize the common good by articulating to academy or society a coherent vision rooted in the mission of the Church, all the while leading by example.

Ability to Collaborate, expressed in good listening and communication skills which foster decisions stemming from and leading to an open, transparent, and mutually enriching dialog with others in order that the gifts of all can be appropriately acknowledged and utilized.