For decades, those involved in Catholic higher education - including administrators, professors, philosophers, theologians, and students - have perennially taken on the challenge of defining and clarifying what exactly and uniquely characterizes their endeavor. Borrowing his title in part from John Henry Newman's "The Idea of the University", Kenneth Whitehead collects in this volume thirteen original essays that examine the mission of Catholic higher education, covering such topics as Catholic studies programs at Catholic and non-Catholic universities and the engagement of Catholic universities with secular culture.