Matthew Walz
Profile -- (Fall 2000 Newsletter)
Two very different Catholic schools, one new bridge between
them: Matt Walz. In 1971, Thomas Aquinas College was founded
to establish authentic Catholic liberal education. Since then,
other colleges, such as Christendom College in Virginia, were
founded to achieve similar goals. It was inevitable that cross-pollination
of faculty would someday occur.
Dr. Tony Andres, a 1987 graduate of Thomas Aquinas, has been
a professor at Christendom for seven years. Now, Matt Walz,
a 1995 graduate of Christendom, joins the faculty of Thomas
Aquinas. A first exchange is complete.
Walz is the youngest of seven children. Three sisters and
a brother preceded him at Christendom. He was born in Albany,
New York, but was raised for most of his life near Kent State
University where his father teaches biochemistry.
On graduating from public high school – where he was
distinguished as a valedictorian – his main interest
was in mathematics. He planned to study at Christendom for
two years and then return to Kent State to study math. But
a love for philosophy held him hostage in Virginia. The math
could wait.
He double-majored in philosophy and theology and graduated,
once again, as class valedictorian. His philosophy thesis
addressed "How one can speak of God," while his
theology thesis focused on the modes of God's presence
in creation, grace, and the Eucharist.
He pursued graduate studies in philosophy at The Catholic
University of America, accumulating numerous academic honors,
including the Johannes Quasten Fellowship for Graduate Studies,
the Richard M. Weaver Fellowship, the McAllister Scholarship
for Advanced Studies in Scholasticism, and the Salvatori Fellowship.
In 1998, he obtained his master's degree in philosophy, writing
on "Thomas Aquinas' Adoption of Aristotelian Psychological
Method, Exemplified in His Doctrine on the Will." The
American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly also published his
article, "Theological and Philosophical Dependencies
in St. Bonaventure's Argument Against an Eternal World and
a Brief Thomistic Reply." He anticipates getting his
doctoral degree in May, being only one chapter away from completing
his dissertation on "Thomas Aquinas on the Human Will
and Freedom: Towards a Scientific Understanding."
While in graduate school Walz volunteered for a local Missionaries
of Charity clinic, bathing and feeding AIDS patients. "It's
really incredible to see how much the sisters love people
– the experience brings you back to the reality of Christianity."
Walz came to learn about Thomas Aquinas College through alumni
who were engaged in post-graduate work with him at Catholic
University. One advantage he saw to teaching at Thomas Aquinas
is the ability of tutors to be able to explore subjects that
professors at other schools could never do. "I've known
a lot of professors over the years who've been restrained
from teaching something they really love." Walz was impressed,
for instance, with the math and sciences at Thomas Aquinas
and relished the thought of being able to dive into those
courses.
Walz loved his time at Christendom, but sees many differences
between Thomas Aquinas and Christendom. "Christendom
clearly has a more practical bent, and its program is less
integrated – which might be good or bad depending on
how you see it. For me, it was a good because I was exposed
to a wider-range of philosophical thought through my major.
But at the same time, I missed out on the maths and sciences
that are done here."
"One thing I really like about TAC is the pedagogy –
the seminar discussion method. Christendom mostly follows
the lecture method, which has its strengths. But I also see
the value of the seminar method. When I lectured before in
my courses, I found my best work with students was always
done outside the classroom, when you'd be having a real
conversation about an issue raised in class. Here, you do
that all the time as part of the class. Students here learn
how to learn on their own. As a lecturer, I was always leading
by the hand."
"Plus, with the lecture method, it's hard to interest
those students who don't want to be interested. So you
start focusing on the 10-15 students who are interested and
then leaving out the other 25, or you start dumbing down the
material so the other 25 can pass. The seminar method, though,
helps an uninterested student cultivate the love of learning
himself and, once he discovers his own interest, he becomes
engaged. I got tired of students asking me, ‘Why do we
need to know this?' That question never comes up here."
Last year, Walz married his classmate, Teresa Ann Heim, who
after graduating from Christendom, obtained her master's
in education from Marymount in Virginia, and then taught kindergarten
and second grade. She gave birth to Damien Joseph this summer.
The Walzes are a long way from home. But they find a warm
welcome here.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 2000
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