The History of Domuni
Domuni is a private university founded in 1998 and administered by French Dominicans. The history of its confounding is synonomous with how it actually, currently functions : communal, international, and online.
At the Beginning : Peru
In 1997, Fr Michel van Aerde was living in Peru. Director of an NGO, Centro Bartolomé de las Casas, he began to use the internet from its earliest stages of development. Nearly 4000m above sea-level in the heart of the Andes mountains, in the midst of a time of deep suffering following the Sendero Luminoso civil war, the internet was a means for people in the region to connect to more advanced centers of study and communicaiton.
Futhermore, it is in the context of Latino-American theology that the idea of Domuni took root : Domuni was conceived of in the midst of the the poorest of the poor and for the poorest of the poor. In using technolgy, Domuni privileged (and still does) the least expensive means of internet communication, that is, written text (and not video and audio instruction which privileges the more fortunate). Domuni also privileges written material because is the fastest means and the most sure means for communicating familiarity and knowledge. Next, in joining with those who are poor, a strategy for flexibility in the flow of study was cadopted, since the poor are severely limited by professional and a family responsibilities, Finally, the pedagogical strategy was oriented towards those who cannot benefit from an education that is overly structured and regulated. Finally, methodological courses were included as a means of offering further assistance.
Dominican tradition is founded on communication and excahnge. An encounter with technology based on a model of exchange was inevitable step in the development of the Order.
Toulouse : A Starting Point
Elected provincial of the Province of Toulouse in July 1998, FR Michel van Aerde talked of his project to Fr Hervé Ponsot, a former HEC, who was an expert in information technology and who was very enthusiastic about the idea of an online university. He gave this idea a concrete birth in entitling the project « Domuni » and in creating the first website. Domuni was born.
During the early years, Domuni developed slowly : it had to follow the development of the earliest beginnings of the internet. This permitted it to grow bit-by-bit, thanks to a burgeoning network of professors, who were principally Dominican friars. The courses were put online and the first students registered for courses. The formation of interactive seminars was also slowly, progressively adopted over time. And without a vast network of pro-bono administrators, to edit the courses and even teach them, Domuni would not have been possible.
Multiple Accreditations
The university is supported by the Rectorat of Toulouse. , and has enjoyed a series of iportant accreditations.
In 2010, under the guidance of Sr Claire-Marie Monnet, OP, the Vatican, through the Congregation for Catholic Education, established the Institute of Superior Religous Sciences- DOMUNI, officially attached to the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas at Rome (Angelicum). Then, an accord signed with the University of Lorraine recognized Domuni’s credits and curricula in the departments of Philosophy and Theology. This gives students access to European LMDs.
International Growth
13 years after its creation, Domuni is very active in the field of theological higher education, as it wecomes over 1500 students from around the world. And today, from Paris to London, by way of Oxford, Cambridge, Ottawa, Salamanca, Madrid, Valencia, and Seville, Domuni is associated with universities all over, including study centers in the developping owrld, like the PUST University in Colombia. This international network benefits students who find themselves in places across the globe: in Bangladesh or Tadjikistan, in Haiti or Algeria, in the North of Canada or in the Arab Emirates, In Nigeria, Cameroon, in nearly every African country, as well as France, Belgium, Switzerland….
A Trilingual University
Top-flight academic accreditation and the success of our students means that today the Domunican online university has earned the right to offer its educational programs on both a Spanish-language and English-language platform. This trilingual identity, along with the geographical diversity of our students learning via the internet, makes Domuni unique in the world in the fields of Philosophy and Theology.
This History of the Order of Preachers
Veritas, that has been the goal of the order for 8 centuries. Truth, that is somebody : « I am the Truth and the Life ! » Beginning with academic research, one can mine the depths of hte human heart.
Verbo et exemplo, that is the motto fo the Order of Preachers . To be true, one must live what one preaches, and share that which one lives.
Contemplare et aliis contemplata tradere, that is the adage lived out by St Thomas Aquinas, St Catherine of Siena, Meister Eckhart, and coming from a locus of mysticism, it calls on the responsibility to teach and preach via all mediums (via TV with ‘The Day of the Lord’ and via the internet with ‘Retreats in the City’ etc.)
Bonum et diffusivum sui. Goodness spreads ! The Dominican rediscovery of the call to Apostolic Life lets Dominicans move on from placing a priority on prayer to placing a priority on a faith that communicates and transmists itself. Contemplation is lived out in action, even communication.
The Foundation of Domuni and the Foundation of the Order of Preachers : similar paths
· In the same place : Toulouse
· 13th Century : Cathars// 21st Century secularisation : a post-Christian environment
· 13th Century : Creation of universities//21st Century, creation of the internet
· The same intellectual enterprise unites Domuni, the Order of Preachers, and the internet : Access for everyone to learning, a networked organisation, a democratic approach to research and knowledge
Domuni is a private university founded in 1998 and administered by French Dominicans. The history of its confounding is synonomous with how it actually, currently functions : communal, international, and online.
At the Beginning : Peru
In 1997, Fr Michel van Aerde was living in Peru. Director of an NGO, Centro Bartolomé de las Casas, he began to use the internet from its earliest stages of development. Nearly 4000m above sea-level in the heart of the Andes mountains, in the midst of a time of deep suffering following the Sendero Luminoso civil war, the internet was a means for people in the region to connect to more advanced centers of study and communicaiton.
Futhermore, it is in the context of Latino-American theology that the idea of Domuni took root : Domuni was conceived of in the midst of the the poorest of the poor and for the poorest of the poor. In using technolgy, Domuni privileged (and still does) the least expensive means of internet communication, that is, written text (and not video and audio instruction which privileges the more fortunate). Domuni also privileges written material because is the fastest means and the most sure means for communicating familiarity and knowledge. Next, in joining with those who are poor, a strategy for flexibility in the flow of study was cadopted, since the poor are severely limited by professional and a family responsibilities, Finally, the pedagogical strategy was oriented towards those who cannot benefit from an education that is overly structured and regulated. Finally, methodological courses were included as a means of offering further assistance.
Dominican tradition is founded on communication and excahnge. An encounter with technology based on a model of exchange was inevitable step in the development of the Order.
Toulouse : A Starting Point
Elected provincial of the Province of Toulouse in July 1998, FR Michel van Aerde talked of his project to Fr Hervé Ponsot, a former HEC, who was an expert in information technology and who was very enthusiastic about the idea of an online university. He gave this idea a concrete birth in entitling the project « Domuni » and in creating the first website. Domuni was born.
During the early years, Domuni developed slowly : it had to follow the development of the earliest beginnings of the internet. This permitted it to grow bit-by-bit, thanks to a burgeoning network of professors, who were principally Dominican friars. The courses were put online and the first students registered for courses. The formation of interactive seminars was also slowly, progressively adopted over time. And without a vast network of pro-bono administrators, to edit the courses and even teach them, Domuni would not have been possible.
Multiple Accreditations
The university is supported by the Rectorat of Toulouse. , and has enjoyed a series of iportant accreditations.
In 2010, under the guidance of Sr Claire-Marie Monnet, OP, the Vatican, through the Congregation for Catholic Education, established the Institute of Superior Religous Sciences- DOMUNI, officially attached to the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas at Rome (Angelicum). Then, an accord signed with the University of Lorraine recognized Domuni’s credits and curricula in the departments of Philosophy and Theology. This gives students access to European LMDs.
International Growth
13 years after its creation, Domuni is very active in the field of theological higher education, as it wecomes over 1500 students from around the world. And today, from Paris to London, by way of Oxford, Cambridge, Ottawa, Salamanca, Madrid, Valencia, and Seville, Domuni is associated with universities all over, including study centers in the developping owrld, like the PUST University in Colombia. This international network benefits students who find themselves in places across the globe: in Bangladesh or Tadjikistan, in Haiti or Algeria, in the North of Canada or in the Arab Emirates, In Nigeria, Cameroon, in nearly every African country, as well as France, Belgium, Switzerland….
A Trilingual University
Top-flight academic accreditation and the success of our students means that today the Domunican online university has earned the right to offer its educational programs on both a Spanish-language and English-language platform. This trilingual identity, along with the geographical diversity of our students learning via the internet, makes Domuni unique in the world in the fields of Philosophy and Theology.
This History of the Order of Preachers
Veritas, that has been the goal of the order for 8 centuries. Truth, that is somebody : « I am the Truth and the Life ! » Beginning with academic research, one can mine the depths of hte human heart.
Verbo et exemplo, that is the motto fo the Order of Preachers . To be true, one must live what one preaches, and share that which one lives.
Contemplare et aliis contemplata tradere, that is the adage lived out by St Thomas Aquinas, St Catherine of Siena, Meister Eckhart, and coming from a locus of mysticism, it calls on the responsibility to teach and preach via all mediums (via TV with ‘The Day of the Lord’ and via the internet with ‘Retreats in the City’ etc.)
Bonum et diffusivum sui. Goodness spreads ! The Dominican rediscovery of the call to Apostolic Life lets Dominicans move on from placing a priority on prayer to placing a priority on a faith that communicates and transmists itself. Contemplation is lived out in action, even communication.
The Foundation of Domuni and the Foundation of the Order of Preachers : similar paths
· In the same place : Toulouse
· 13th Century : Cathars// 21st Century secularisation : a post-Christian environment
· 13th Century : Creation of universities//21st Century, creation of the internet
· The same intellectual enterprise unites Domuni, the Order of Preachers, and the internet : Access for everyone to learning, a networked organisation, a democratic approach to research and knowledge