Newman Study Institute
The Western tradition,
rooted in reason.
An international institute offering courses in philosophy, theology, and the enduring intellectual tradition of the West — open to students of any faith, or none.
A place to think, and to believe
We take our name from John Henry Newman, the Oxford scholar and author of The Idea of a University, whose life's work insisted that faith and reason are not enemies but companions. In that spirit, the Institute offers rigorous, welcoming courses that draw on two and a half millennia of Western scholarship — and put the great questions of meaning, virtue, and truth back where they belong: at the centre of a life well lived.
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Our namesake
John Henry Newman
“Growth is the only evidence of life.”
Newman (1801–1890) was one of the great scholars of nineteenth-century England: a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, founding rector of a new university in Dublin, and author of The Idea of a University and An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. His writings on education, knowledge, and conscience remain landmarks of modern thought, and he lived his conviction that a first-rate mind and a life of faith are not merely compatible — they enrich one another.
Read more about Newman and our missionA long tradition
From the scholars of Ireland
to the classrooms of today
In the dark centuries after Rome fell, it was scholars on the western edge of Europe — at Clonmacnoise, Glendalough, and Skellig Michael — who preserved the writings, the languages, and the intellectual life of the ancient world. They copied and studied, taught and travelled, and eventually re-lit the lamps of a continent.
That inheritance is not a museum piece. It runs through the great universities of Europe, through Newman, through the long conversation about faith and reason, and into every course we offer at the Institute today. We are proud to teach in that tradition — and to keep it living.
Now enrolling
Our introductory course
Faith and Reason
A nine-month programme in three modules, taught live online each Tuesday evening. Recovers the philosophical and metaphysical foundations that underpin any serious engagement with the great questions of faith. Open to believers of every tradition, and to any serious enquirer.
Register & enrolStarts
Tuesday 13 October 2026
Schedule
Tuesdays 7–8pm (Ireland/UK time)
Duration
Nine months, three modules
Format
Live online classes; course materials emailed weekly
Support our work
Help keep the tradition alive
The Institute is a non-profit endeavour. Every donation — large or small, in euro, dollars, or pounds — funds course materials, scholarships, and the long, quiet work of teaching.
Make a donation