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Paul Morrissey: ‘Educating the Whole Person’ The Enduring Importance of a Liberal Approach to Education

Robert Menzies was a firm believer in the value of a broad liberal education. The Menzies Government reinvigorated and greatly expanded Australia’s university system through both the implementation of the Murray Report into Higher Education and the introduction of merit-based Commonwealth Scholarships. Menzies insisted that this ground-breaking investment was not based on the mere utilitarianism of boosting the economy by training people for jobs. He wanted universities to create well rounded citizens who would serve and uphold Australia’s democracy, and he wanted to encourage a search for truth that viewed life’s purpose as something greater than felicific calculus.

This fundamental question, ‘what is the purpose of a university education?’, remains highly relevant, particularly in an era where universities increasingly function as businesses and their budgets have been devastated by shrinking international student numbers.

Campion College in Sydney is Australia’s first modern liberal arts college. They provide an integrated educational program incorporating history, philosophy, literature and theology, deliberately eschewing early specialisation and upholding the notion that education is good for its own sake.

Joining us to discuss the benefits of this broad approach is Paul Morrissey, President of Campion College. Paul became president of Campion in 2015 after a career teaching theology and religious studies at university and high school. After completing his Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Lateran University in Rome and his Doctorate at the Catholic Institute in Sydney, Paul taught systematic and moral theology at the University of Notre Dame for eight years. He has published numerous papers in New Blackfriars, Nova et Vetera, Logos and Solidarity.