Christian Brothers Conference has published a narrative and annotated bibliography by Mary Catherine Fox, AFSC, Ph.D. Titled “A Point of Departure for Further Scholarship: The Milieu of Women in the France of De La Salle,” the work explores different areas of women’s lives in 17th-century France. Themes of birth, education, work, marriage, Church, widowhood, and spiritual direction offer a window in the lives of women in the world of Saint John Baptist de La Salle.
Dr. Fox served as the founding dean of the School of Business at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and held a 28-year career at the university before retiring at the rank of professor of interdisciplinary studies in 2018. She has held varied roles serving the Midwest District, the Region, and internationally with the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. A recipient of the Distinguished Lasallian Educator Award, Dr. Fox received the Letters of Affiliation from the Brothers of Christian Schools in 2014 and the Brother John Johnston Award from the Lasallian Region of North America (RELAN) in 2021.
In 2024, RELAN awarded Dr. Fox a Lasallian Research Grant, which allowed her to continue research that she first presented at a 2023 program on women in the Lasallian family at the International Lasallian Center (CIL) and later at the Brother John Johnston Institute.
“As interest grows in women’s place in our Lasallian story, our ministries, and our governance, the need for further scholarship continues. The objective of this project, then, is both to ignite further research into the role of women in our mission and ministries and provide a resource for future Lasallian scholars,” Dr. Fox writes in the publication’s introduction.
In the following Q&A interview, Dr. Fox provides insight into what inspired her research and what impact she hopes her work will foster.
You have touched on these themes in a number of your presentations. What led you to putting these on paper?
As life would have it, both positive and negative responses inspired me to research and write on these themes. The CIL for Lasallian women in Rome in 2023 gathered women, men, and Brothers from all over the world. The reaction to my presentation there was most encouraging. At a later date presenting at the Brother John Johnston Institute, some participants were enthusiastic about this line of study, while others suggested eliminating this presentation as “irrelevant.” That, of course, ensured that I would forge ahead. I was ever more convinced of the necessity of securing a wider distribution of the research as well as more awareness of this perspective on our founding story.
This project was originally started as a 2024 Lasallian Research Grant proposal, and the findings were “put into action” in this publication. Can you describe your research process? Can you articulate the importance of this research in the context of women in the Institute today?
I am an interdisciplinarian, not a historian. Initially, I thought this fact might hamper me in the research, but it became an advantage. Searching broad themes, reading widely and trolling through authors’ works and bibliographies led me along twisted paths, through dense studies as well as into rabbit holes of fascinating details. The surprise, for me, was learning how varied and fascinating the lives of 17th-century French women were! The more I worked, the more committed I became to the need to bring this line of study into our 21st-century vision, not in any way to negate what has been written throughout our 300+ year Institute’s history, but rather to enhance it with a different perspective.
In reflecting on this experience of research and writing, how would you encourage others to pursue future Lasallian scholarship opportunities?
One of the true joys of research is discovering new questions to be explored, new lines of work to be mined and alternative stories to follow. This work was no exception, so I end each section with suggestions for further research. In beginning my work — and most assuredly in completing it — my fervent hope is that reading it will ignite future Lasallian scholars and scholarship. Grants such as the one I was awarded display a commitment to fund and support Lasallian scholars.
On the topic of women in the life of the Founder — in what ways do you envision this having an impact the current Lasallian family?
I hope my work: Sheds some light on women in De La Salle’s time, provides some hypotheses about the lives of the mothers of our first students, gives Lasallians today a sense of who our female ancestors in mission are, and serves to pique curiosity for further research.
Christian Brothers Conference is mailing a select number of copies to each ministry and Brothers’ community in RELAN.
To purchase a print copy, click here.
To access a digital copy, click here.