Introducing Our Fall ‘24 Rosary College Faculty!

Elizabeth Larrivee
May 29, 2024
11:08 am

Rosary College provides a rigorous liberal arts education steeped in the Catholic tradition. Located in beautiful downtown Greenville, SC, with online programs, our non-residential college provides affordable opportunities for students seeking a balanced approach to developing their minds, characters, and faith.

We’ve been blessed to engage highly credentialed, experienced, and devoted instructors for our inaugural semester! Keep reading to learn more about the Rosary College faculty who will be teaching the students this fall.

Professor Joseph Pearce

Fall Courses

Joseph will be teaching two sections of HUM 101 (online and in-residence): CLASSICAL EPIC AND TRAGEDY. The first of four consecutive courses covering the historical breadth of literature and culture, Classical Epic and Tragedy lays the foundation of the liberal arts by examining the great poetry and drama at the foundation of human storytelling and Western Civilization.

Biography

A native of England, Joseph Pearce is the internationally acclaimed author of many books, which include bestsellers such as The Quest for Shakespeare, Tolkien: Man and Myth, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis and The Catholic Church, Literary Converts, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc. His books have been published and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Croatian and Polish.

He has hosted two 13-part television series about Shakespeare on EWTN and has also written and presented documentaries on EWTN on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. His verse drama, Death Comes for the War Poets, was performed off-Broadway to critical acclaim. He has participated in and lectured at a wide variety of international and literary events at major colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Europe, Africa, and South America.

He is a Visiting Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University and a Visiting Fellow of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (Merrimack, New Hampshire). He is the editor of the St. Austin Review, series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions, senior instructor with Homeschool Connections, and senior contributor at the Imaginative Conservative and Crisis Magazine. His personal website is www.jpearce.co.

We asked Joseph for a personal statement explaining why he is a teacher and how his faith relates to his teaching. Here’s what he had to say:

I’m passionate about the need for and importance of a good classical Catholic education. I’ve taught for twenty-three years at Catholic colleges and universities at both undergraduate and graduate levels and have also taught high school-age children for many years for Homeschool Connections. My primary vocation is, however, as a writer. I’m the author of more than thirty books, mostly on Catholic literature and history….

I am honored to be a founding faculty member of Rosary College, which offers an exciting new approach to tradition-oriented higher education in the Catholic tradition.

Dr. R. Jared Staudt

Fall Course

Jared is slated to teach ART 101 (online): SACRED ART. The Catholic imagination stems from the reality of the Incarnation of the Son of God. This imagination will be explored through an overview of the development of Christian visual art and architecture from a historical perspective.

Biography

R. Jared Staudt, PhD, is the Director of Content for Exodus 90 and an instructor for the St. John Vianney Seminary Lay Division. He previously served as Academic Dean of the Augustine Institute, Director of the Catholic Studies Program at the University of Mary, and Associate Superintendent for the Archdiocese of Denver. He co-founded two Catholic high schools and was the managing editor of the theological journal Nova et Vetera.

He is the author and editor of many books, including Words Made Flesh: The Sacramental Mission of Catholic Education (Catholic Education Press), How the Eucharist Can Save Civilization (TAN), and The Primacy of God: The Virtue of Religion in Catholic Theology (Emmaus Academic).

He and his wife, Anne, have six children, whom they homeschool, and he is a Benedictine oblate.

Dr. Elizabeth L’Arrivee

Fall Courses

Elizabeth is scheduled to teach classes in two sections of COM 101 (online and in-residence): ELEMENTS OF WRITING. Communication flows from the Word of God, who spoke forth creation and revealed himself in the words of Scripture. Students will learn the art of communication through the logical organization of thought and the elegant expression of words.

Biography

Elizabeth works in the fields of political theory and the history of political philosophy and has published on Plato. Her first book manuscript is A Precedent for Freedom: The Philosophic Way of Life and Plato’s Republic. Her first experience of a Catholic university was attending the University of Notre Dame, where she earned her PhD in political science. She received her BAHons degree at the University of Winnipeg in philosophy. She was the recipient of the Gold Medal in philosophy and the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Committee selectee. She received numerous Earhart Foundation Fellowships while at Notre Dame.

Elizabeth has taught in great books programs at Clemson University and Colgate University, and the political science department at Clemson. She was a Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute in Clinton, NY. She enjoys every opportunity she gets to teach the American Founding and is excited to begin teaching this summer for the Ashbrook Center, whose mission is to strengthen the capacities of the American people for constitutional self-government. Elizabeth has always loved to read and write and is honored to help students develop the craft of writing this fall at Rosary College.

A Catholic convert, Elizabeth was drawn to the faith after years of teaching St. Augustine’s Confessions, Genesis & Exodus, the Gospel of John, and the ideas of Bishop Robert Barron. She moved to Greenville, SC, in 2020, where she and her husband, also a political theorist, homeschool their three children and and raise a motley flock of backyard chickens.

Dr. Amie Bray

Fall Course

Amie will be teaching MATH 101: EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY (online). This foundational math course will work through Euclid’s Elements to lay the foundation for understanding mathematics as a whole and prepare students on how to grow in logical and disciplined thought.

Biography

Amie started her academic career with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics with an Emphasis in Secondary Teaching from the University of Northern Colorado. She then went on to complete an MA of Science and a PhD in Mathematics at Colorado State University. She maintains an active research program in number theory and, as of Fall 2024, teaches Advanced Placement and upper-level mathematics courses at Saint Mary’s Academy in Englewood, Colorado.

While at CSU, Amie taught a variety of mathematics courses, including Mathematics for the Liberal Arts. Amie is committed to high quality mathematics education from elementary school through college and enjoys organizing mathematics outreach events for the whole family.

Outside of research and teaching, Amie enjoys finding beauty in the every day, spending time with her family, and creating art. With a deep devotion to Jesus through Mary, Amie is excited to join the faculty at Rosary College Faculty list and hopes to instill in her students a dedication to the truth rooted in knowledge of Christ’s love.

Dr. Alex Lessard

Fall Course

Alex is scheduled to teach THEO 101 (online): SACRED SCRIPTURE. Theology rests upon God’s revelation of himself and his plan of salvation. This course provides an overview of the Old and New Testaments, modeling a Catholic approach that draws upon tradition, prayer, and modern methods.

Biography

Alex studied theology as an undergraduate at the University of St. Thomas (MN) with Don Briel, the founder of the Catholic Studies movement. He was introduced to the writings of St. John Henry Newman and to the breadth and depth of Catholic literature. He took his doctorate in systematic theology at Boston College with Fr. Matt Lamb, who directed his thesis, Conversion & the Art of Reading: Dante vs. Augustine.

He is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Catholic School Leadership at Saint Paul Seminary | University of St. Thomas, teaching “The History, Philosophy & Mission of the Catholic School.” Having co-founded St. Monica Academy, an independent Catholic school in Pasadena in 2001, he and his wife, Angela, now support the renewal of Catholic Liberal Education and Culture through their nonprofit, Adeodatus. Alex is Executive Co-Director of The Cornerstone Forum, founded by Gil Bailie to bring René Girard’s anthropological contribution to human self-understanding into fruitful dialogue with the theological tradition exemplified by Joseph Ratzinger, Henri de Lubac, et al.

He is a Fellow of the Boethius Institute; serves on the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Regents; on the Wyoming Catholic College Presidential Advisory Council; on the board of the Cantwell Foundation, a nonprofit supporting Los Angeles Catholic Arts & Culture; on the Executive Advisory Team of the John Paul the Great Institute of Lafayette, Louisiana; as the Theological Advisor to Gaudent Angeli, an apostolate promoting renewed devotion to St. Vibiana, the patroness of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; and is Executive Board Secretary of the Newman Club of Los Angeles, a lay Catholic literary organization founded in 1899 under the inspiration of Bishop George Montgomery – less than a decade after Newman’s death – with an uninterrupted series of monthly meetings over the subsequent 125 years.

He is a perpetual member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and a Knight of Columbus at St. Therese Carmelite Church in Alhambra, CA. Alex & Angela have nine children and seven grandchildren.

We asked Alex to tell us in his own words about his faith and his approach to teaching:

My commitment to teaching stems from a deep love of Catholic education and culture, as well as a desire to honor the legacy of the mentors who shaped my intellectual and spiritual journey most profoundly. Don Briel and Bishop Arthur Kennedy at the University of St. Thomas and Fr. Matthew Lamb, Fred Lawrence, and Fr. Ernie Fortin at Boston College contributed the most to my understanding of Catholic liberal education and culture, the importance of great and good books in the perennial conversation, and the role of mentorship and friendship in the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty.

Through my involvement in various Catholic educational initiatives, such as co-founding St. Monica Academy in Pasadena (now Montrose), CA, and supporting the renewal of classical Catholic education through my non-profit Adeodatus, I have endeavored to provide students, teachers, and parents with a comprehensive education grounded in Catholic doctrine and the Western intellectual tradition it fostered. To paraphrase St. John Henry Newman: “For a long time now and to the end, Catholic education and culture will be my line.”

My dedication to teaching is informed not only by academic pursuits but also as a husband and father of nine children. All nine were homeschooled until 9th grade and then spent their high school years in the company of friends and family at St. Monica’s, where my wife has taught Literature and Latin for many years. We have fruitful firsthand experience of the importance of catholic higher education in fostering intellectual, moral, and spiritual virtue within the family and the broader community, and we are very happy to celebrate our seventh college graduation this year.

Our involvement in homeschooling and parent-run Catholic schools, as well as with five Catholic colleges and universities, has further reinforced my belief in the transformative power of Catholic liberal education. My catholic faith itself, firmly rooted in scripture and tradition and nourished by the lives and writings of the saints, serves as the guiding light in my vocation as an educator. My hope is ever to emulate Christ’s example of sacrificial love and humility in teaching, seeking to inspire students to seek holiness, goodness, and wisdom all their lives and to persevere in running the race for its imperishable prize.

Mrs. Kaitlyn Curtin, MTS, MEd

Fall Course

Kaitlyn will be teaching THEO 101 (in-residence): SACRED SCRIPTURE. Theology rests upon God’s revelation of himself and his plan of salvation. This course provides an overview of the Old and New Testaments, modeling a Catholic approach that draws upon tradition, prayer, and modern methods.

Biography

Kaitlyn teaches Theology and Latin. An award-winning instructor, she has also taught diaconate candidates, undergraduates, and catechists. Most recently, she was an adjunct professor at Holy Spirit College in Atlanta and a course facilitator for STEP courses from the University of Notre Dame. Her richest experience as an educator, however, has been raising her six children, including homeschooling her oldest child.

Kaitlyn obtained several degrees from various graduate programs at the University of Notre Dame: Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Philosophy (Honors Program), Master of Theological Studies, and Master of Education (ACE Program). While a student at Our Lady’s University, Kaitlyn served as president of the campus of ND Right to Life and acted as the club’s student body and liaison to Bishop Darcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

Kaitlyn authored a chapter in Teresa Tomeo’s book Listening for God and wrote on the Doctors of the Church for popular media. She and her husband, Tommy, headmaster of Our Lady of the Rosary School, are committed to providing excellent Catholic education in the Upstate.

Enroll Today for In-Person and Online Courses, Fall ‘24

We are honored to have engaged these tremendous scholars and devoted Catholics for our first semester. Rosary College strives to provide the best online education and in-person programs. If you are interested in learning from them and growing in your faith, Rosary College is still accepting applications for our fall ‘24 semester.

How to Enroll

Visit our website, www.rosary.college, to learn more about our two-year Associate Degree in Integrated Humanities, which is earned through 60 credit hours according to its curriculum plan.

And apply today!