Biography
Emmanuel Ojeifo is a third year doctoral student in theology at Notre Dame. He researches on issues at the intersection of political theology and ecology. He holds graduate degrees in religion and politics, as well as religion and science, from the University of London and the University of Edinburgh, respectively.
Paper Abstract
This paper explores the contribution that the liberal education tradition can make to the development of a sound ecological spirituality that focuses on integral care for human and non-human creation. I frame the discussion by looking at how important developments in the intellectual life of the west and the long process of modernization have brought about a fragmentation in the ways that our pre-modern ancestors viewed and related with creation. I argue that this crisis is evident in the curriculum of western educational institutions where disciplinary specializations have led to the increasing dissociation of science from arts and the humanities as well as the ascendancy and dominance of the techno-economic paradigm, which have contributed significantly to equipping educated persons to be effective vandals of the earth. In calling for an educational renewal, I argue that liberal education which focuses on the cultivation of free and virtuous persons can help in the development of an ecological spirituality that honors, rather than destroys, creation. For as Pope Francis notes, “Only by cultivating sound virtues will people be able to make a selfless ecological commitment” (LS 2015, pg 211).