Church, Culture and Curriculum:
Theology and Mathematics in the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum

Translated essays with an introduction by
Frederick A. Homann, S.J.

1999 marks the fourth centenary of the promulgation of the Ratio Studiorum, the renowned study plan of the Society of Jesus that regulated Jesuit academics from grammar school through the seminary and university levels worldwide until well into the 20th century. Church, Culture and Curriculum commemorates this anniversary by making available, for the first time in English translation, three seminal studies, originally published in Latin or Italian, by Ladislaus Lukacs, S.J., and Giuseppe Cosentino, on the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum. This volume was also published in connection with the international conference “Jesuit Education 21,” held at Saint Joseph’s University in June 1999.

Lukacs’ “A History of the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum,” and Cosentino’s two essays on mathematics in this program of study are complemented by an introduction and bibliographical essay. The latter orient the reader to the principal themes of these studies, as well as provide a guide to the key relevant studies in English on these topics.

“Overall, the essays have been clearly translated by Frederick A. Homann, and they provide the novice with an excellent introduction to the Ratio Studiorum. Because it contains the only English translation of Lukacs’ fine historical essay, it is important that anyone working in the history of the Society of Jesus read this volume.”
- David A. Salomon, Sixteenth Century Journal

1999 94 pp.,
ISBN: 978-0-916101-30-5 (Paper) $ 19.95