Elizabeth Huddleston is the Head of Research and Publications at the National Institute for Newman Studies and the Associate Editor for the Newman Studies Journal. She is also a is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Catholic Studies at Duquesne University.
Q: Can you speak a little about what drew you to studying Newman and then working with the National Institute for Newman Studies and the Newman Studies Journal?
A: I was introduced to the writings of Saint John Henry Newman during my graduate work at the University of Dayton and began to look more seriously at both the history and implications of his theology during my doctoral work. It was during this work that I began to investigate the reception of Newman’s thought, particularly in the Modernist Crisis and going forward into the dawning years of the Second Vatican Council. I eventually went on to write a dissertation on Wilfrid Ward’s reception of Newman’s understanding of divine revelation during the Modernist Crisis.
While I was writing my dissertation, Dr. Kenneth Parker invited me to apply to work for the National Institute for Newman Studies given my editorial experience and budding expertise in Newman studies. Once I began working for the National Institute for Newman Studies and the Newman Studies Journal, the world of Newman studies really exploded. I began to see how Newman’s thought is present in so many aspects of our contemporary Catholic and Anglican theological landscapes. Newman’s writings really do provide a framework for understanding our contemporary Catholic Church and how she responds to the ever-more-secularizing world. I also began to see how Newman studies was not just made up of theologians, there were philosophers, educators, historians, poets and literature professors, Classicists, and even musicologists who were all reading Newman through the methodological lenses of their respective academic genres.
Q: What do you think the journal offers the scholarly community that may not be filled by other scholarly publications?
A: I’ve already touched on this a little bit, but I think the multi-disciplinary approach inherent in the study of John Henry Newman, and thus the Newman Studies Journal, is one of the things that really sets us apart from other historical or theological journals. In any given issue, we can have analytic philosophers, theologians, historians, and even musicologists publishing on John Henry Newman’s writings and related topics.
The NSJ is also a specialized journal. While this means we may not reach everyone in the world, we are able to provide the diverse range of Newman and Newman-related specialists with the most up-to-date scholarship on the new saint. We are also able to provide a publication outlet for those in fields not typically thought of for a nineteenth-century religious thinker. The musicologist, Dr. Joanna Bullivant, comes to mind. She has done some work at the National Institute for Newman Studies and the British Museum on Elgar’s famous Oratorio, The Dream of Gerontius, which is one of Newman’s famous poetic works. While Dr. Bullivant could have published her work in many other musicology journals, by publishing it in the NSJ, she has ensured that her readership will extend well beyond the field of musicology.
All this is simply to say, the multi-disciplinary publication approach leads to a multi-disciplinary readership. This only enhances the field of Newman studies!
Q: How do you envision the journal developing in the years ahead?
A: Since the NSJ rebranded with CUA Press back in 2018, the journal has already experienced a period of growth, but I expect this growth to continue. The NSJ predates Newman’s beatification and canonization as a saint. As we see these milestones come to fruition in history, Newman’s writings have only grown in popularity and influence. All of this interest thrives in the pages of the Newman Studies Journal as scholars discover more and more about the newly minted saint (2019).
I also suspect that as the NINS Digital Collections continue to grow, more scholars will encounter the particulars of Newman’s life and writings that have not been seen since his death. NINS continues working to make these writings free and open to the public for academics and enthusiasts alike. This digital archive is a treasure for those seeking to learn more about Newman from the primary sources, which is perfect fodder for academic articles in the future.
Q: Do you have a favorite volume, particular issue, or article?
A: I have two favorite issues of the NSJ. The first is the 18, no. 1 (Summer 2021) issue, which features seven very strong articles and seven well-written book reviews, along with a year in review bibliography and other features. It was with this issue that I really began to realize the progress the NSJ had begun to make under the new editorship. In 2017 and 2018, the NSJ transitioned to an entirely new editorial team with a new distributor (CUA Press). With this issue, it felt like we had finally completed the rebuilding years and had turned a positive corner.
My second favorite issue 20, no. 2 (Winter 2023) issue because it features articles and lectures about Newman’s influence at the time of the Catholic Modernist Controversy. Selfishly, this issue is in my academic wheelhouse, so to speak, so I really enjoyed corresponding with the authors, all of whom are colleagues and friends, and learning a lot from editing their work.
Q: What does Newman have to offer a contemporary audience? What do his writings continue to offer us?
A: Newman’s hand is in so much of our contemporary theology, literature, philosophy, etc., that it makes sense for academics today to continue studying him. He is one of the few saints who wrote during a time of growing secularism. He is also one of the few saints to have written so widely on theological and philosophical topics in the modern age.
The sky is the limit for Newman studies. There is so much more for us to discover both theologically and historically, and I can’t wait to see how that all manifests in the Newman Studies Journal.