Presidential Colloquia on Jesuits and the Liberal Arts

This series, presented by the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture and the Office of the President, focuses on important historical moments in Jesuit history and pedagogy. The lectures are followed by discussion on the impact these events have for Jesuit education today.

Past Events

September 30, 2010
Saints and Mandarins: Science, religion and Jesuits in late imperial China — Florence Hsia, associate professor in the Department of the History of Science at University of Wisconsin-Madison, speaks about her book Sojourners in a Strange Land: Jesuits and Their Scientific Missions in Late Imperial China. Janine Shertzer, physics professor at Holy Cross, is the respondent.
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February 18, 2010
Inter-Religious Dialogue in Tibet: The Example of Ippolito Desideri, S.J.
Trent Pomplun, associate professor of theology at Loyola College Maryland, discusses his recent book, Jesuit on the Roof of the World, the first full-length study of the 18th-century Italian Jesuit Ippolito Desideri, the first Christian intellectual to seriously engage Tibetan Buddhism and begin an interreligious dialogue.
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September 21, 2009
What Hopkins Can Teach Us - Paul Mariani, professor of English at Boston College and author of Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Life, speaks about the Jesuit poet, his work and its significance for understanding Jesuit life and mission, both in his time and now. Respondent Thomas M. Landy, director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, talks about what Hopkins can teach us about educating students at Holy Cross.
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March 26, 2009
How Jesuitical were the Jesuits? A brief encounter with the morality of the Jesuits.
James Keenan, S.J., who holds the founder's chair in theology at Boston College, speaks on Jesuit casuistry and comparative forms of moral reasoning. His talk traces the development of casuistry, from John Mair to Francesco de Toledo and Robert Parsons. Respondent Helen Whall, professor of English, cites case studies of ethical issues in Shakespeare plays.
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November 24, 2008
Emperor Akbar and the Jesuits: Artistic Encounters Between Europe and Asia at the Mughal Courts of India - Mika Natif, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Visual Arts.