Christian Anthropology
Human beings are more than producers, consumers, data points, or users. Formation begins with the dignity and vocation of the person.
Formation Framework
Foundations of Human Formation
The Christian, educational, ethical, and human-centered sources that shape Human Advantage™ and the Human Formation Institute.
The Human Formation Institute's work draws from Jesus Christ as the fullest revelation of authentic humanity, Christian anthropology, Catholic intellectual tradition, Benedictine spirituality, Newman's understanding of education and conscience, virtue ethics, educational research, human-centered technology scholarship, and properly attributed frameworks such as Notre Dame's DELTA Framework.
Foundational Sources
What shapes the work
Christ as the Fullness of Humanity
The institute is grounded in the conviction that Jesus Christ reveals the fullness of authentic humanity.
Benedictine Formation
Stability, disciplined practice, humility, stewardship, ordered work, prayer, and community inform the institute's understanding of formation.
Newmanian Education
John Henry Newman contributes a vision of education that forms intellect, conscience, judgment, and the whole person.
Virtue and Human Flourishing
Virtue ethics helps name the habits, loves, judgments, and practices needed for people and institutions to flourish.
Human-Centered Technology
Technology should be governed by human dignity, responsibility, truth, stewardship, and the common good.
Owen Formation Framework™
An original educational methodology for moving from encounter to embodied formation.
The Owen Formation Framework™ helps participants move from initial encounter toward examination, discernment, internalisation, practice, and embodied formation. It is independently developed by Dr. Owen and is not part of Notre Dame's DELTA Framework.
Formation sequence:
- Encounter
- Examine
- Discern
- Internalise
- Embody
Foundational Principles
Christian anthropology, Catholic intellectual tradition, human dignity, educational research, virtue ethics, human-centered technology scholarship, and relevant frameworks such as Notre Dame's DELTA Framework.
Owen Formation Framework™
Encounter, Examine, Discern, Internalise, and Embody.
Five Human Advantages™
Courage, Wisdom, Virtue, Stewardship, and Flourishing.
Personal and Institutional Practice
Workshops, keynotes, faculty formation, curriculum development, AI-enabled educational tools, institutional strategy, assessments, and resources.
The Five Human Advantages™ are Courage, Wisdom, Virtue, Stewardship, and Flourishing. They describe the human capacities cultivated through Human Advantage™ and the Human Formation Institute's formation work. They are not part of Notre Dame's DELTA Framework.
Explore Human AdvantageAttributed Source Framework
Notre Dame's DELTA Framework
The DELTA Framework, developed by the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, offers a Christian framework for engaging artificial intelligence through Dignity, Embodiment, Love, Transcendence, and Agency. Dr. Jason Owen did not create or own the DELTA Framework, and Human Formation Institute is not an official DELTA institute, trainer, representative, certification provider, or Notre Dame affiliate.
Dignity
Does this technology recognize and serve the inherent worth of the human person?
Embodiment
Does this practice respect the physical, relational, social, and situated nature of human life?
Love
Does this use of technology strengthen our capacity to serve and seek the good of others?
Transcendence
Does this use of AI orient people toward truth, meaning, purpose, and a good greater than efficiency?
Agency
Does this technology strengthen or weaken the human capacity to judge, choose, create, and take responsibility?
Where institutions are already engaging DELTA, the Owen Formation Framework can provide an independent pedagogical methodology for helping participants examine, internalise, and embody formative principles. Human Advantage does not require institutional adoption of DELTA.
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