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Magdalen College Welcomes Dr. Erik van Versendaal to the Faculty

Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts > About > News, Events, & More > Academics > Magdalen College Welcomes Dr. Erik van Versendaal to the Faculty

Magdalen College is delighted to welcome Dr. Erik van Versendaal to serve as a member of the faculty. Dr. van Versendaal–a graduate of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute at the Catholic University of America–will be among four new members of the faculty joining the college this year and will bring both extensive teaching experience and scholarly expertise.

The academic dean of the college, Dr. Brian FitzGerald, observed, “The college is delighted to welcome Dr. van Versendaal, a devoted teacher and promising young scholar, who will be a guiding force for our philosophy major and a strong presence in our core Humanities sequence.”

Dr. van Versendaal will be teaching in the Philosophy and Humanities sequence, leading seminars for the philosophy majors, and contributing in significant ways to the college’s academic and spiritual life. His presence will further develop and distinguish the philosophy major at Magdalen College.

As a member of the faculty, Dr. van Versendaal joins a community of faculty with decades of teaching experience committed to the Catholic intellectual tradition and the renewal of Catholic liberal education in America. This faculty includes Dr. Peter Sampo, the college’s founder, Dr. Mary Mumbach, a specialist in southern and Russian literature, Dr. Brian FitzGerald, a medievalist, and Dr. Anthony Esolen, our Writer-in-Residence. Additional new faculty will also be joining the college this year in classical languages and music.

Upon joining Magdalen College, Dr. van Versendaal remarked, “It will be a joy for me to share in the communal and liturgical life of Magdalen College. I look forward to joining students and faculty alike in contemplating and enjoying the truth of things through living dialogue with the great tradition, and through our shared commitment to a fully human way of being centered on the love of God.”

Most recently, Dr. van Versendaal has published “Reason for Being: Festivity, Perfection, and the Very Good,” “A Gift for Doing Nothing: Ordering Play, Liberating Work,” and “The Symbolism of Love: Use as Praise in St. Augustine’s Doctrine of Creation.”

Dr. van Versendaal received his bachelor’s from Boston College in philosophy and English, his master’s degree from Villanova University in theology, and his Ph.D. in theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Washington, D.C.

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