The fruits of a Catholic liberal education are cultivated over a lifetime. Putting this belief into action, CTEQ is proud to regularly sponsor Alumni Symposia. Twice a year, alumni and current CTEQ students gather on campus to discuss timeless works of art and literature.
Upcoming Symposia:
Spring 2026 (date tbd)
Text: Robert Sokolowski, Christian Faith and Human Understanding
Fall 2025 (27 September 2025)
Text: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Recent symposia include:
Spring 2025
Texts: Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure
Led by Travis Curtright (Ave Maria University)
Fall 2024
Text: Marilynne Robinson, The Giveness of Things
Spring 2024
Text: Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
Fall 2023
Text: Leon R. Kass, Leading a Worthy Life
Symposium Director
CTEQ Programs
Core Texts & Enduring Questions Minor
CTEQ introduces students to the dialogue between the best of ancient and modern thought as a way of providing access to the permanent questions human beings must face. As students engage directly with the great thinkers who have shaped our tradition, they sharpen their reasoning, writing, and speaking skills and develop an articulate appreciation for their own humanity. Working with and through the University’s required Foundations Program, this elite Great Books minor is compatible with every major the University offers.
CTEQ Pre-College Summer Program
This pre-college summer program is open to rising juniors and seniors in high school who want to participate in a competitive, academically oriented taste of being a college student. Students will live in a college dormitory alongside current Assumption students and meet each day with faculty members to discuss readings in philosophy, political science, art history, and theology. Participating students meet new friends, learn to address challenging ideas and questions in a mature way, and gain the confidence that they can thrive in a college setting.