Past Programs

August 31, 2023: "Faith, Reason, and the Praxis of the Catholic Worker Movement," with Dr. Larry Chapp (Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm)*

April 26, 2023: "Benedict XVI: A Retrospective from the Inside-Out," with Prof. Daniel Gallagher (Classics, Cornell University).

April 21, 2023: "Laudato Si': Taking Stock and New Challenges," with Christiana Zenner (Theology, Fordham University), Daniel DiLeo (Justice and Peace Studies, Creighton University), and Benjamin de Foy (Earth and Atmospheric Science, St. Louis University).*

April 11, 2023: "Baroque Music from the Jesuit Missions among the Chiquito and Moxo Ethnic Groups," by Fr. Piotr Nawrot, PhD (Adam Mickiewicz University). Cosponsored by the Department of Music at Cornell and the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program at Cornell.

March 22, 2023: "The Eucharist, Physics, Metaphysics: (Mis)understanding the Real Presence," by Jospeh Mudd (Religious Studies, Gonzaga University). Cosponsored by the Catholic Community at Cornell.*

March 13, 2023: "The Sacred and Sonorous Desert: Acoustic Ecology and the Monastic Tradition," by Kim Haines-Eitzen (Prof. of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, Cornell University). [5:15 PM, 230 Anabel Taylor Hall]Co-sponsored by the Department of Music at Cornell, Chesterton House, Cornell Catholic Community, the Episcopal Church at Cornell, and Cornell Protestant Cooperative Ministry.*

November 5, 2022: Inaugural Ceremony with Lecture by Prof. Jonathan Lunine (Cornell) and the episcopal blessing of The Most Rev. Salvatore Matano, Bishop of Rochester. "Faith and the Expanding Universe of Georges Lemaître."*

*These projects were made possible by the grant, "In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on College Campuses Nationwide," (Grant #62372) from the John Templeton Foundation.

SPRING 2023—SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND THE ENVIRONMENT*

How can we care for our common home? We live in a period of planetary crisis marked by ecological collapse, loss of biodiversity, changing weather patterns with impact to infrastructure, food supply, and public health. These challenges have motivated the development of new technologies and new directions in scientific research, as well as in religious reflection and theological thought. Over the course of the semester, we will study the history of Biblical interpretations about the environment, natural law theory, frameworks for sustainability and justice, the "Green encyclical, "Laudato Si'," and consider several disciplinary responses to our planetary challenges.



Feb. 2: A Theology of the Present Moment? Theology, Science, Truth, and Meaning (Kieran Donaghy, Cornell University, City and Regional Planning)

Feb. 16: Interpreting the Bible on the Environment (Michael Twomey, Ithaca College, English, Medieval Studies, and Environmental Humanities)

March 2: Markets and Morality (Kieran Donaghy, Cornell University, City and Regional Planning)

March 16: Human and Planetary Healing in a Global Context (Jeanne Moseley, Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Public & Ecosystem Health)

March 30: Addressing Environmental Issues: Communication and Change (Poppy McLeod, Cornell University, Department of Communication)

April 13: Natural Law Theory and Its Relevance to the Environment (Michael Twomey, Ithaca College, English, Medieval Studies, and Environmental Humanities)

FALL 2022—CATHOLIC BIOETHICS*

Some of the most hotly debated political and social questions of our time are connected to bioethics. How do we know what constitutes ethically sound research? What are the scientific and ethical stakes for stem-line research and technologies? Explore questions like these at the juncture of science and ethics from the Catholic perspective with our Fall 2022 non-credit Mini-course on Bioethics with Dr. Jean Baric Parker (St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry) and Dr. Stephen Jesch (Cornell University).

October 13: Catholic Bioethics 101 (Dr. Parker)
October 20: Case Study—Genetic Modification (Dr. Jesch)
October 27: "What would you do?" Real-life moral dilemmas in the biomedical industry (Dr. Parker)
Nov. 3: Case Study—Vaccine Development (Dr. Jesch)

*These projects were made possible by the grant, "In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on College Campuses Nationwide," (Grant #62372) from the John Templeton Foundation.

March 28, 2023: "Green Burial: A Conversation with Prof. Jane-Marie Law (Religious Studies, Cornell) and Fr. Daniel McMullin (Director, Cornell Catholic Community."*

February 15, 2023: "How to Make an Encyclical: Behind the Penning of Laudato Si'," with Prof. Daniel Gallagher (Classics, Cornell University)*

January 24, 2023: "Estrangement, Forgiveness and Reconciliation: How Fractured Families Heal,” with Dr. Karl Pillemer, Professor of Human Development at Cornell University and Professor of Gerontology at the Weill Cornell Medical College.*

Nov. 15, 2022: "Social Theory and the Origins of Catholic Social Teaching," led by Isabel Perera (Professor of Government, Cornell University).*

Rerum Novarum, Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XIII on Capital and Labor, §1-50. 

Oct. 5, 2022: "Can we know anything about anything? JPII on Reason, Truth, and the Crisis of Knowing" with Dr. Matthew Hall (Associate Director, Cornell Catholic Community) and Dr. Elizabeth Lyon Hall (Executive Director, COLLIS Institute).*

John Paul II. "Fides et Ratio." The Holy See, 14 Sept. 1998, https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio.html.

Timothy Sean Quinn. "Infides et Unratio: Modern Philosophy and the Papal Encyclical." In Foster, David Ruel, and Joseph W. Koterski, eds. The Two Wings of Catholic Thought: Essays on Fides Et Ratio. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2003.

September 8, 2022 "The Ministry of Referees and Discussants" with Prof. Christopher Barrett (Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management)*

Barrett, Christopher and David B. Mustard. "The Ministry of Referees and Discussants." Faith and Economics Quarterly 40 (2002): 26-32.

*These seminars were made possible by the grant, "In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on College Campuses Nationwide," (Grant #62372) from the John Templeton Foundation.

April 22, 203: "Discernment, Faith and the Academy at a Time of Challenge and Opportunity," with Christiana Zenner (Theology, Fordham University), Daniel DiLeo (Justice and Peace Studies, Creighton University), and Benjamin de Foy (Earth and Atmospheric Science, St. Louis University).*

March 22, 2023: "Medieval Dilemma, Modern Muddle: Developments in Eucharistic Theology" with Professor of Theology Joseph Mudd (Gonzaga University). Connected with the lecture, "The Eucharist, Physics, Metaphysics: (Mis)understanding the Real Presence."*

October 1, 2022: "God and the University?" Undergraduate Kickoff Event with Fr. Mark Akubo, PhD (Lab of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell) and Dr. Elizabeth Lyon Hall (COLLIS).*

*These workshops were made possible by the grant, "In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on College Campuses Nationwide," (Grant #62372) from the John Templeton Foundation.

May 6, 2023: "Now Thank We All Our God: An Interactive Organ Concert" (Dr. Anna Steppler (Cornell University); Dr. Elizabeth Lyon (COLLIS).