Convocation of Student Leaders 2024
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COLLIS Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture is pleased to announce aConvocation of Catholic Student Leaders: "Inflection Point"November 15-16, 2024 | Cornell University, Ithaca NYA gathering of Catholic student campus leaders, club officers, and fellows to reflect upon our present moment of Christian witnessBut the Lord God to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”(Genesis 3:9)
Few would deny that the Church is approaching an inflection point, even while we may disagree about where the Church is and should be headed. At such a moment, it is important to step back to ponder individually and collectively the question posed to Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis, “Where are you?” For Catholic student leaders—Where are young Catholics in the pews and on campuses? Where do we find ourselves amidst various competing frameworks of modernity, and where do we find our identity as Catholics? With two acclaimed keynote speakers, Stephen Bullivant (Theology and Sociology, St. Mary’s University, London) and Angela Franks (Theology, St. John’s Seminary), we will tackle aspects of these questions at the intersection of sociology and theology. We will share experiences of Catholic life at our respective campuses, workshop ideas for engaging fellow students, and find community with one another in worship and friendship.Keynote lectures and liturgies are open to the public. Other sessions and events are open to registered conference participants. -
KEYNOTE TALKS
Keynote 1: "The US Church in an Age of Secularization: Past, Present, and Possible Futures," a lecture by Stephen Bullivant, PhD
Roughly one in three Americans now identify as religious "nones" (including c. 15 million who were raised Catholic). Churches are closing/merging in many dioceses. And yet... in plenty of places the Church seems to be thriving, especially among young adults. This talk aims to help American Catholics get a better sense of how we got here, what the future might hold, and how they might contribute to it.
Keynote 2: "Liquid Identity: Our Current Situation and How We Can Respond," a lecture by Angela Franks, PhD
Few things are more important to our age than "identity." Contemporary identity is liquid, performative, and self-created, but how happy does that make us? This presentation will examine contemporary identity, look briefly at the history of the idea of identity, and propose some constructive responses to our current situation.ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Stephen Bullivant, Ph.D., is a theologian and sociologist based at St Mary's University, UK, and the University of Notre Dame, Australia. A Catholic convert (and ex-none), his books include: The Trinity: How Not To Be a Heretic (Paulist, 2015), Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II (OUP, 2019), The Cambridge History of Atheism (CUP, 2021), Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America (OUP, 2022), and Vatican II: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2023). 
Angela Franks, Ph.D., is a theologian, speaker, writer, and mother of six. She serves as Professor of Theology at St. John's Seminary in Boston and as a Senior Fellow at the Abigail Adams Institute in Cambridge. She is the President-elect for the Academy of Catholic Theology for 2024-25, as well as a Life and Dignity Writing Fellow for Church Life Journal (University of Notre Dame). Her CV can be found here. Her areas of specialty include the body, identity, the Trinity, Christology, and the thought of John Paul II and Hans Urs von Balthasar. She is currently focused on bringing key ideas in contemporary Continental philosophy into conversation with the Catholic intellectual tradition.
*This conference is made possible by the grant, "In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on College Campuses Nationwide," (Grant #62372) from the John Templeton Foundation.
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participateCatholic campus ministries, clubs, and institutes are invited to send student leaders as delegates to this conference. Please e-mail director Elizabeth Lyon Hall ([email protected]) to learn more and ask about sending a group.
A registration form for Individual participants and those interested in attending the public lectures will be available soon. -
schedule
Friday, Nov. 15 (Pre-Conference)
- Solemn Vespers for Feast of St. Albert the Great
- Welcome Pizza Party
Saturday, Nov. 16- Breakfast
- Keynote 1 (Stephen Bullivant)
- Workshop 1
- Lunch
- Keynote 2 (Angela Franks)
- Workshop 2
- Vigil Mass
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