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Boston College

Boston College is a coeducational university with undergraduate and graduate students hailing from every state and more than 95 countries. Founded in 1863, it is one of the oldest Jesuit, Catholic universities in the United States.

Since its founding in 1957, the Lowell Humanities Series has brought distinguished writers, artists, performers, and scholars to Boston College. Follow the series on Twitter at @BCLowellHS .

http://www.bc.edu

Presidential Reputations II

Sat, Nov 20, 2004

Marking the 30th anniversary of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, noted journalists and scholars, nearly all of whom have written books about American presidents, gather for three panel discussions on the shifting fortunes of presidential reputations. The third and final panel, 'The President and His Enemies,' features Joyce Appleby, professor emeritus of history at the University of California, Los Angeles; Pulitzer Prizewinning historian James MacGregor Burns; and John Dean, former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon. The moderator is David Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author.

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Shakespeare and the Bottom Line: Marketing Higher Ed

Mon, Oct 25, 2004

This talk from David L. Kirp, for the sixth annual Monan Lecture on Higher Education, shares its title with Kirp's recently published book. Kirp describes the conflict between the ways in which American universities are increasingly pressured to function as businesses within a competitive market, and their educational goals.

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Presidential Reputations I

Sat, Nov 20, 2004

Marking the 30th anniversary of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, noted journalists and scholars, nearly all of whom have written books about American presidents, gather for three panel discussions on the shifting fortunes of presidential reputations. Panel one, 'The Press and the Presidency', includes Jack Beatty, a senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly; Kathleen Dalton, an associate fellow at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University; and presidential biographer and prize-winning journalist Tom Wicker. The panel is moderated by Ellen Hume, a former White House reporter for the Wall Street Journal, who now directs the Center on Media and Society at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

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Postmodern Christian Ethics of Peace

Thu, Apr 28, 2005

William Murnion, co-editor of *Being and Thought in Aquinas*, examines the "just war" ethic within the context of St. Thomas Aquinas' writings, arguing that it reveals a fundamental incoherence in his philosophy. He reconsiders Christian ethics of peace as they might be applied today to the problem of terrorism.

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Why Celibacy? Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Views

Tue, Mar 25, 2003

Howard Gray, rector at John Carroll University; Geshe Tsetan, Tibetan Buddhist monk; and Swami Tyagananda, Hindu rector at MIT, offer perspectives on celibacy from the viewpoints of their respective religions. Mary Ann Hinsdale, from the Boston College Theology Department, introduces the speakers.

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Homosexuality in a Catholic Context

Mon, Apr 28, 2003

Authors Andrew Sullivan and David Morrison discuss homosexuality in Catholic culture. Sullivan argues that there is no scriptural substantiation for the Church's stance against homosexuality, while Morrison promotes chastity for those who are attracted to persons of the same sex. The program is introduced by Joseph Appleyard, vice president for University mission and ministry at Boston College.

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Healing the Wounds of Slavery: Can Legal Remedies Work?

Fri, Mar 14, 2003

Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree Jr. and Boston University Law Professor Keith Hylton give a two-part keynote address from a Boston College symposium, "Healing the Wounds of Slavery: Can Present Legal Remedies Cure Past Wrongs?"

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Faith and the Future of American Religion

Tue, Nov 4, 2003

Five journalists and scholars explore the changing landscape of American faith, using as a starting point two recent books: *A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Catholic Church in America*, by *New York Times* religion correspondent and former *Commonwealth* editor Peter Steinfels; and *The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith*, by Boston College political science professor and Boisi Center director Alan Wolfe. Steinfels and Wolfe are joined on the panel by R. Scott Appleby, director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and professor of history at Notre Dame; David Brooks, a columnist for *The New York Times*; and Wendy Kaminer, contributing editor of *The Atlantic Monthly*. The panel is introduced by moderator Ben Birnbaum, special assistant to the president and editor of *Boston College Magazine*.

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Politics of Sexual Knowledge: The Carrigan Report

Mon, Sep 22, 2003

Professor James Smith of Boston College's English department discusses the beginnings of an "architecture of containment" in Ireland, constructed to silence those whose sexual behavior or family circumstances contradicted an emerging image of Irish Catholic identity. James O'Toole, history professor at Boston College, responds. This talk is the second in the series "Ireland Before the Republic: Culture and Politics 1922-1949." Smith is introduced by Robin Lydenberg, English professor at Boston College.

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Alan Keyes on the Challenge of Gay Marriage

Tue, Mar 9, 2004

Alan Keyes, former US representative to the United Nations, and two-time candidate for the Republican nomination for president, offers an argument in opposition to gay marriage. Keyes bases his argument on a biblically-derived Christian understanding of marriage as sacrament, and a social understanding of heterosexual marriage as a necessary foundation for society. Keyes is introduced by Luke Howe, a UGBC executive and a sophomore in the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. This lecture is sponsored by the Undergraduate Government of Boston College and the College Republicans of Boston College

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