James Despres, Ph.D.
Academic Director
Dr. James Despres joined the faculty of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in 2009 with interests in modern and contemporary philosophy, particularly phenomenology. He also has a deep philosophical interest in the thought of Plato, Aristotle, and the teleological conception of nature and the human person. He regularly teaches courses in the Philosophy of the Human Person, Ancient Philosophy, the thought of Plato and Aristotle, the Philosophy of Nature, Later Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, and electives in Phenomenology and the Rise of Philosophical Atheism in the Modern Context. Dr. Despres first developed the Master of Arts in Philosophical Studies (MAPS) Program. He serves as Director of the MAPS Program and Chair of the Department of Philosophy. He lives with his beautiful wife and three lovely children in an idyllic Philadelphia suburb.
Austin Detwiler
Managing Director
Austin Detwiler holds a Master’s degree in theology from Villanova University and a Bachelor’s from the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University. He works for American Philanthropic, a strategic consulting firm for nonprofits, and is also managing editor of Philanthropy Daily. Austin previously served as Assistant Director of the Matthew J. Ryan Center at Villanova University and an adjunct professor in Villanova’s Augustine and Culture Seminar Program. Along with his wife, Austin is committed to fostering a community of engaged and informed Catholics who are able to serve as witnesses of the Gospel in their local communities. In addition to his work with PCSP and American Philanthropic, Austin serves on the Board of Directors of the Charlotte Mason Educational Center and previously served on the board of Martin Saints Classical High School.
Rev. David M. Friel, S.T.D.
Vocation Director
Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, ordained in May 2011. He presently serves as director of the Vocation Office for the Diocesan Priesthood, which organizes PCSP, and he holds a doctorate in liturgical theology from The Catholic University of America. He studied philosophy & theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he also served as organist, cantor, and liturgical Master of Ceremonies. Upon ordination, Father Friel served for five years as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philadelphia. During that time, he also served several communities of Catholic young adults, coached CYO basketball and volleyball, and assisted the Vocation Office. Among his research interests are aesthetics, sacred music (particularly sequences), the feast of Christ the King, and twentieth-century liturgical reform.
Luca D'anselmi, Ph.D.
Founding Director
Dr. Luca D’Anselmi, who joined the faculty of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in 2016, conceived the original vision for PCSP. His academic interests include Latin poetry, classical reception, and the history of liberal education. He regularly teaches Latin, Greek, and the Humanities in the college seminary and in the seminary’s MAPS program. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Latin from Hillsdale College (2012), a Master of Arts from Bryn Mawr College (2014), and a Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College (2021), where he wrote a dissertation entitled “Inimitabilem Maronis maiestatem assequi: The Neo-Latin Supplements to Vergil’s Aeneid, 1400-1700.”