Past Programs

September 24, 2024: "Can I Bring Catholic Values to the Lab?" A Conversation with Distinguished Alumna Dr. Marilyn Coors and Dr. Joseph Fuchs

 Sometimes it can seem like one has to leave one’s Catholic and Christian identity at the door. In a pluralistic society and at public research institutions, surely there are good reasons to transcend difference so as to live and work productively together. But what happens when tensions arise between predominant research and medical frameworks and our core religious beliefs? Is it really possible to be a good Catholic and a good scientist, researcher, or doctor?

August 30, 2024: "Science and the Psalms"*

• A boat cruise and science tour of Cayuga Lake with the crew of Discover Cayuga; reflections on the psalms and science by Catholic Cornellians including Dr. Stephen Jesch (Molecular Biology and Genetics); participation in Vespers.

April 11, 2024: "Is It Worth It To Have Kids? A Conversation Between the Social Sciences and Theology”*

• Panelists: Nicholas Eberstadt (Demography, American Enterprise Institute), Abigail Jorgensen (Sociology, Saint Louis University), Karl Pillemer (Gerontology, Cornell), and Julie Hanlon Rubio (Theology, Santa Clara University).

March 23, 2024: COLLIS Sacred Music Lenten Concert to benefit Catholic Relief Services

March 7-8, 2024: "Words, Images, Reality: A Symposium on Living with AI," co-presented by the Society of Catholic Scientists and the Thomistic Institute.*

• "Artificial Intelligenge: Whose Image is This?" a talk by Michael Totaro, PhD, OP (University of Louisiana at Lafayette). 
• “The Regulation of Simulation in an Era of Generative AI,” a talk by Frank Pasquale (Cornell Tech). 
• “Beyond Words: What ChatGPT Can't Say,” a talk by Jane Sloan Peters (University of Mount St. Vincent) 

February 7, 2024: "Hospitaller Charism and the Vocation of Medicine," a lecture and Q&A by Dr. Michael Espiritu, MD, KM (Weill Cornell). Co-presented by the Catholic Community at Cornell.*

February 1 and 13, 2024: "Feeding the Hungry, Caring for Creation" Co-presented by Fons Vitae at Duke University*

• Panelists: Norman Wirzba (Professor of Christian Theology, Duke Divinity School), Norbert Wilson (Professor of Food, Economics, and Community, Duke Divinity School), Sr. Damien Marie Savino (Dean of Science and Sustainability, Aquinas College), and Christopher Barrett (Professor of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University).

November 15, 2023: " 'The Abolition of Man'? Technology and Anthropology in the Modern World," a lecture by Sr. Damien Marie Savino, FSE, PhD (Dean of Science and Sustainability, Aquinas College). Co-presented by the Society of Catholic Scientists.*

November 9, 2023: "God and the Good Life: Big Questions of Faith, Flourishing, and Meaning," a lecture by Prof. Meghan Sullivan (University of Notre Dame). Co-presented by Chesterton House.*

October 30, 2023: "Sounding the Saints in Books of Hours," a lecture by Prof. Michael Alan Anderson (Eastman School of Music). Co-presented by the Program in Medieval Studies.

September 29, 2023: "What Does Geometry Have to Do With Mysticism? Space and Interiority in Medieval Christian Thought," with Prof. David Albertson (Religion, USC) Co-presented by the Program in Medieval Studies.*

August 31, 2023: "Notes from the Field: 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 2024—HUMAN NATURE AND THE BODY IN CATHOLICISM*
Instructor: Prof. Daniel Drain (St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry)

The Catholic Church holds to specific claims about the nature and destiny of the human being, and in doing so it puts forward an anthropology, sometimes called a theological anthropology. What is the content of that understanding of the human being? How does it relate to other proposals about the nature and meaning of human life, the body, marriage, society, and questions of destiny and eternity? What is implied when the anthropology put forward by the Church is ignored, denied, overturned?

Session 1: Ancient and Patristic Understandings of Embodiment
Session 2: Enlightenment and Modern Anthropological Revolutions 
Session 3: Meditation on Givenness: John Paul II and the Difference Gender Makes

Fall 2023—CREATIO*

Does a Creator fit with what we know from modern science? Can a Christian believe in Evolution and the Big Bang? In this non-credit course, we'll tackle Genesis from within its historical context, dig into authors such as Augustine and Aquinas on Creation, and consider some important developments in modern science from a theological perspective. A collaboration with the Cornell Chapter of the Thomistic Institute.

September 7: In the Beginning: Genesis (Charles Hughes Huff, Sacred Heart Seminary)

September 21: Augustine on Measuring the Cosmos  (Elizabeth Lyon Hall, COLLIS)

October 12: A Thomistic Take on Quantum Mechanics (Megan Furman, Sacred Heart Seminary, and Zachary Huber, Cornell University))

October 26: Aquinas on Creation (Dr. Brian Carl, St. Thomas University)

November 2: The Big Bang (Jonathan Lunine, Cornell University)

November 16: Evolution (Jonathan Lunine, Cornell University)

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 12, 2024: "Economics as a Christian Vocation," led by Joseph Kaboski (David F. and Erin M. Seng Foundation Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame)*

February 19, 2023: "Provocation, Perception, and Passion: A Thomistic Take on Criminal Law," led by Prof. Stephen Garvey (A. Robert Noll Professor of Law, Cornell Law School.*

February 8, 2023: "Catholic Social Thought and Newborn Life: Reflections of a Neonatologist," led by Dr. Michael Espiritu, MD, KM (Weill Cornell).*

November 15, 2023: "Life and Work: A Discussion on Vocation with Sister-Scientist Sr. Damien Marie Savino."*

October 13, 2023: "Faith-Based Investing," led by Maureen O'Hara (Robert W. Purcell Professor of Finance at the Johnson Graduate School of Management)* 

September 8, 2023: "Archaeology and the Bible​​​​​: Rivals, Friends, Other?" Charles Hughes-Huff (Assistant Professor of Scripture, Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology; Area Supervisor, Balu'a Regional Archaeology Project, Jordan)*

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).*

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).

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)*

*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.

May 2, 2024: Sacred Art—Calligraphy Workshop led by artist Brenna O'Toole.

November 11, 2023: "God and the Good Life Lab," led by Meghan Sullivan. Cosponsored by Chesterton House*

September 30, 2023: "Reading the Body with Pope JPII," with Prof. David Albertson (USC Dornsife; Nova Forum for Catholic Thought)*

July 23: "The Church in the Modern World: A Conversation with Archbishop Charles Balvo"*

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. 

April 27, 2024: "All Creatures of Our God and King," meetup at Barnyard Fun Day. Led by Jack Fortna (CALS, '26)

March 22, 2024: "Harmonizing Mind, Body, and Soul: Music as Healing Art," an interactive talk and performance by Dr. Elizabeth Lyon Hall (COLLIS), assisted by Nathaniel Storaska (CALS, '26). Part of The Johnson Museum's "Art and Wellness" Professional Development Day for K-12 Educators. 

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

June 2023: "Explorations in Integral Ecology: Science, Theology, and Creation," a summer seminar co-organized by COLLIS Institute and Lumen Christi Institute*

August 2024: First Year Summer Read*

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