Fall 2023
Close and Apart: Collaboration, Connection, and Community
September 12, 2023
Several collaborators – Matthew Jaskot, composer and Professor of Music, and Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, poet and Professor of English, along with Eric Gregory, author of All My Tomorrows: A Story of Tragedy, Transplant, and Hope, and Grace Gregory – discussed the making of Close and Apart, the song cycle inspired by Eric's memoir. The memoir is based on Eric's experience after his son Chris died from a brain aneurysm, and his organs were donated to strangers in need.
When Immigration Was Stopped by Eugenics: A Dark Chapter in American History
September 21, 2023
Daniel Okrent, a prize-winning author of six books, talked about how the 1920s movement to stop immigration from Southern and eastern Europe united with the simultaneous development of the false science of eugenics. Part of the Kraft-Hiatt Program for Jewish-Christian Understanding.
Bots in the Kitchen: A Philosophical Take on the Digital Food Transformation
September 22, 2023
Andrea Borghini, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Milan, Italy, unearthed the ethical and theoretical perils and prospects that digital food transformation creates. Co-sponsored with the Department of Philosophy.
Saving the University from Doom: Ethnic Studies as Ethics; Community as Praxis
September 25, 2023
Lorgia García Peña, professor at the Effron Center for the Study of America and the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, proposed community and ethnic studies as an antidote to the ethical dilemma we face as a university community, confronting the legacies of colonialism and slavery. Co-sponsored with the Department of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies.
Why Women Won
September 26, 2023
Of the 155 critical moments in women’s rights history from 1905 to 2023, almost half occurred between 1963 and 1973. Claudia Goldin, Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University and 2023 Nobel Prize for Economics winner, explained how the civil rights movement and the somewhat fortuitous nature of the early and key women’s rights legislation were behind the advances. Co-sponsored with the Department of Economics and Accounting.
Rethinking the Ethics of War in the Face of the Invasion of Ukraine
October 19, 2023
This panel featured David O'Brien, Professor Emeritus and Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies at Holy Cross, Andrea Bartoli, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Peacemaking Practice and President of the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue, and Laurie Johnston, Associate Professor of Theology at Emmanuel College and co-author of Can War be Just in the 21st Century?. Part of the Deitchman Family Lectures on Religion & Modernity.
W. Ralph Eubanks: Vocation of the Writer
October 19, 2023
The latest Vocation of the Writer Lecture featured W. Ralph Eubanks, the author of A Place Like Mississippi. The Vocation of the Writer Lecture is co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program as part of its Working Writers Series and the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture.
Wrongful Convictions: Working for Justice in Modern America
October 24, 2023
Christina Swarns, Executive Director of the Innocence Project, and Marvin Anderson, exoneree, talked about the challenges we face to prevent wrongful convictions and how we can create fairer, more compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone.
A Theology of Migration, The Bodies of Refugees, and the Body of Christ
October 25, 2023
Fr. Daniel Groody, C.S.C., Professor of Theology and Global Affairs and vice president & associate provost for undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame, visited Holy Cross to speak about migration and refugee issues.
Infinite Canaan: The NewSpace Race in Colonial Context
November 6, 2023
As the era of “NewSpace” takes hold, corporations and private capital are increasingly involved in space science, exploration, and conquest. Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University, explains the escalating NewSpace race as a mythological project.