Collaboration International Education

In the spirit of the Augustinian intellectual and spiritual tradition, in my position of Associate Dean of New Initiatives in the College of Professional Studies at Villanova University, I am currently working on three partnerships with international Augustinians. I have been in conversation with Yago Piedra Luis-Yagüe, Director General of Real Centro Universitario Escorial-María Cristina in Madrid, Spain. We have been sharing ideas of how we might collaborate on academic programs and exchanges between the two universities. Real Centro Universitario Escorial-María Cristina was established in 1892 by the Regent Maria Christina. The university has been run by the Augustinian Order ever since.

Additionally, I am in the beginning stages of building a program to be run by the College of Professional Studies at Villanova to advance Augustinian spirituality and the Augustinian intellectual tradition. This project would support academic programming, spiritual formation and personal enrichment. In recent months, I have begun a new collaboration with two Augustinian Friars from the Province of Peru. They have already established a similar website, focused mainly on spirituality in Spanish. I am hoping to be able to integrate these programs to create global access to the Augustinian tradition.

Finally, I have been fortunate enough to do graduate studies in Dublin, Ireland. Irish hospitality is hard to beat! At Villanova, our Irish Studies program is in the exploratory stage of how we might work more closely with the Irish Augustinians in order to set down deeper roots for Villanova students and faculty to study and live in the midst of the rich global Augustinian legacy of unitas, caritas and veritas.

Background: Cliffs of Moher, Dublin, Ireland

By Madonna Sutter Director of Advancement