Seton Hall University students participated in the “To the Heights”: Catholic Studies Conference at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, on October 19, 2025. The event was organized by the Salesian Honors Program and brought together students from across the country to discuss how Catholic intellectual traditions intersect with current issues of culture and identity.
Abigail Mathew, a biology major at Seton Hall, presented her paper titled “A Guide to Cultivating Happiness in the Modern World.” She discussed St. Thomas Aquinas’s teachings as relevant for today’s society, emphasizing that lasting happiness is achieved through intellectual pursuit of truth and virtue rather than temporary pleasures.
Adriano La Bruno, an undergraduate research scholar in biological sciences at Seton Hall, delivered a presentation called “Saints and the Spirituals: Embracing Catholic Wisdom to Bridge Differences and Cultivate a Better Future.” He introduced the concept of “cultural faith identities,” particularly focusing on communities where religious affiliation is more cultural than institutional. La Bruno shared his personal experience: “As an Albanian-Italian whose heritage intertwines Islam and Catholicism, I have never comfortably identified with either faith due to the legacies of religious imposition that left generations of Albanians adrift in an abyss of fractured identity,” he said. “This pathology of faith — unique to what I define as the Spirituals, those whose faith functions as an expression of culture rather than institutional doctrine, remains largely unexplored in religious, anthropological and sociological academia. As a Spiritual, biological researcher and descendant of Ahmet Gashi — academic and creator of the ethnic map of Albania — I am honored to have spoken at this conference and to use my voice to advocate for tolerance and foster dialogue between science, faith and culture.”
Kayhlynn Dickey, who studies theology with a minor in Catholic Studies at Seton Hall, spoke about how academic learning can be integrated with pastoral care and spiritual practice. Her talk highlighted ways these elements can work together within university life.
Nancy Kajo serves as president and founder of Seton Hall’s Albanian Student Organization while double-majoring in Catholic Studies and Political Science. She discussed how student organizations can promote responsibility and interreligious dialogue when guided by principles from Catholic humanistic tradition. Kajo stated: “Presenting at this conference reaffirmed the power of student organizations not simply as clubs but as living classrooms of encounter,” she said. “The Catholic intellectual tradition calls us to be leaders of culture, building bridges across identity and belief, and this conference was a testament to what that mission looks like in action.”
John Shubeck also attended; he majors in both Catholic Studies and Philosophy.
Alan Wright from Seton Hall’s faculty accompanied the group.
Ines Murzaku, Ph.D., professor of religion at Seton Hall University and director of its Catholic Studies Program commented: “The excellence on display at DeSales made me proud of our students and of Seton Hall’s Catholic Studies Program,” she said. “They did not just summarize the tradition — they extended it. From Aquinas on happiness to new models of cultural belonging and concrete practices of campus hospitality, our students showed what the Catholic intellectual tradition looks like when it becomes a living conversation. They are not only learning the story; they are helping to write its next chapter.”
The participation underscored Seton Hall University’s ongoing commitment to integrating faith with academic inquiry.
