Academic Services

Academic Advising

The Program Advisors for each degree bear primary responsibility for advising students about their course work and other degree requirements. The Program Advisors are available prior to registration for consultation with students who require guidance in the selection of courses. Ph.D. students, after completion of their second or third year, consult their program advisor for a review of their academic progress.

Other faculty members are available to offer academic and career advice to students according to their own experience and fields of interest.

Academic Advising Crawford Classroom

Mullen Library

Group of students discussing theology outside with cherry blossoms

Institute faculty and students are entitled to user privileges in The Catholic University of America’s University Libraries system, including Special Collections.

The John K. Mullen of Denver Memorial Library provides a variety of study spaces and technologies, including scanning and printing, that support the use of library resources. The print collections consist of more than 1,400,000 journals, books, dissertations, and other research materials, and the University Libraries provide access to thousands of full-text electronic journals and books. The Theology/Philosophy/Canon Law Library located on the third floor of Mullen Library houses specialized reference materials in the areas of religious studies and philosophy.

The Library has three floors of reading rooms with quiet and group study options; wifi is available through the building.

  • First Floor: Computer lab and mixed study space
  • Second Floor: Group study
  • Third Floor: Religious Studies/Philosophy Reading Room; Greek & Latin Reading Room; and Canon Law Reading Room

Catholic University and eight other university libraries form the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC). Students and faculty may request and borrow items from the other WRLC libraries through the Consortium Loan Service accessed through SearchBox, the online catalog. The combined collections available through the WRLC offer more than 13 million items. If a title is not available in the Consortium, students and faculty may submit an interlibrary loan request to borrow the item from another library.

Research assistance is available at the information desk as well as by phone, email, and one-on-one consultation for more in-depth assistance. The numerous Research Guides are a good starting point, and Institute students may find guides on Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Plato, Aristotle, Greek & Latin, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Theology, and Canon Law to be particularly relevant.

For more information regarding hours, policies, and services available, visit the library’s website.

Latkovic Collection

The family of graduate Mark Latkovic (S.T.L. ’90, S.T.D. ’98), a long-time professor at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, MI, donated his personal library to the Institute following his unexpected death in May of 2020. This library of over 2800 volumes, which is now housed in Room 214, contains significant resources on systematic theology, moral theology, and bioethics. Additional volumes now in the collection were donated by the family of David Szostak (1985-2019, S.T.L. ’14) and the estate of Msgr. David Liptak.

Except for certain non-circulating reference materials, the books in the collection are available to borrow. The catalog may be viewed through students’ Populi accounts.  Access to the collection is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by request to the Executive Assistant to the Provost and Dean. In addition, limited “open house” hours, during which the library will be staffed and open for browsing and study, will be posted each semester in Populi.

The Latkovic Collection circulation policy is available here.

Students studying catholic theology near library

Writing Center at The Catholic University of America

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Institute students are encouraged to make use of the Writing Center at The Catholic University of America (located at 219 Mullen Library). The Writing Center offers free, one-on-one consultations for writing projects at any stage of the process. Resources include: individual sessions with trained Writing Center instructors; reference material such as dictionaries, thesauri, and citation formats for APA, MLA, and Chicago style guides; and writing workshops, grammar clinics and tutoring, and outreach presentations. To schedule an appointment, email [email protected].  For more information, please consult the CUA Writing Center’s website.