Lilly Grant Will Support C21 Effort to Promote Youth Worship Practices
BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a $971,000 grant to Boston College to support a Church in the 21st Century Center project aimed at strengthening and nurturing children’s worship practices through innovative experiential and formational faith programming and events—all designed to build a community focused on helping children find God in their everyday lives.
The four-year grant, awarded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative, will enable the C21 Center to establish the Catholic Children’s Ministry Partnership (CCMP), where a cohort of 100 parishes throughout New England and New York will be connected to the center’s repository of multimedia resources and programming for children and families.
“The C21 Center is profoundly grateful to the Lilly Endowment for its generous support of the Catholic Children’s Ministry Partnership,” said C21 Center Director Karen Kiefer. “This grant is an extraordinary opportunity that will help Catholic
parishes and families nurture children’s faith and imagination and foster in them a lifelong friendship with God.”
The grant will enable the center to enhance and expand its proven resources for children and families into robust platforms that will be shared for free through a password-protected portal serving as an exclusive hub for the cohort parish staff and families. The CCMP will feature four distinctive C21 programs: the Breakfast with God Worship Programming, the Drawing God Program, the Growing God Care for Creation Project, and the Misfit Sock Advent Prayer Tradition.
The C21 resources for children are fully inclusive and use music, art, singing, planting, baking, and storytelling as catalysts to enhance a child’s worship practices. Through videos, children’s books, activities and experiences, downloadable companion/curriculum guides, and training videos, catechists and parents will be empowered to profoundly impact the way children experience God’s love through worship.
Led by Jesuit priest Quang Tran, S.J., and preschool teacher Anne Krane, Break-
Hanley Is New Moakley Professor of Political Science
BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
Professor of Political Science Ryan
Patrick Hanley, a historian of political philosophy who explores the work of eminent Enlightenment thinkers and their relevance for 21st-century society, has been named as the J. Joseph Moakley Professor of Political Science.
Hanley is the second to hold the Moakley Chair, endowed in honor of the longtime South Boston Democratic congressman. Kay Schlozman, appointed to the chair in 2002, retired at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year after 50 years at BC.
For Hanley, who joined Boston College in 2019 after 15 years on the Marquette University faculty, his selection for the Moakley Chair only adds to an already fulfilling tenure at the Heights.
“I am humbled at being chosen for this chair,” he said. “First, because it is named for Joe Moakley, whose service to his constituency and his willingness to take on challenging ethical and political issues is such an inspiration. Second, because the chair was held by Kay Schlozman, who made such a huge impact on our understanding of American politics, and did such invaluable service to the discipline of political science. She was so welcoming to me when I first came here and helped me to get to know the University.
“Boston College is my dream job,” added Hanley. “This department takes politics and political questions very seriously, and I feel very fortunate to be among such talented colleagues. I also enjoy working with the students here, and am impressed by their enthusiasm and incisiveness. And as the parent of a current senior, I’ve been able to experience the BC community in a
more personal way.”
“I believe that Ryan is a most worthy successor to Kay as Moakley Professor,” said Professor Gerald Easter, the department chair, who praised Schlozman for her “highly valued teaching and service at Bos-
2 Around Campus BCDS holiday baking; grad student arts group debuts.
4 Reaching a Summit Design event meant a lot to Woods College student.
8 BC Global New beginning for BC Irish Institute.
Ryan Patrick Hanley has been on the Boston College faculty since 2019.
photo by peter julian
Ringing In the Season of Light
Boston College held its annual Christmas tree lighting on the Plaza at O’Neill Library on December 3, featuring caroling and performances by student groups, greetings from University President William P. Leahy, S.J., hot chocolate and other treats, and a visit from Santa Claus.
photos by seho lee ’27
Around Campus
BC Dining Services Helping to Indulge the Holiday Season Sweet Tooth
As pre-holiday schedules become increasingly busy and “to-do” lists grow longer, a popular Boston College Dining Services initiative is making it easy for campus community members to check off the time-consuming task of baking: The BCDS Holiday Bake Shop, led by Executive Pastry Chef Tim Fonseca, is offering decadent desserts via online order, to be enjoyed at home with family and friends, or given as seasonal gifts.
The menu of mouth-watering treats includes the Holiday Yule Log—a centerpiece-worthy, rich chocolate cake with vanilla and chocolate frosting—as well as a variety of palate-pleasing cakes: carrot with cream cheese frosting; almond Heath Bar caramel crunch; and classic vanilla cheesecake, as well as gingerbread Bundt cake with “snow glaze.”
“When our BC community customers make requests, we listen,” said Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services Patricia Bando. “Our BC Bakery specialties are in high demand, especially during the winter holiday season. We just sold a selection of pies, cakes, and fruit breads for Thanksgiving take-home desserts, so without hesitation we are now preparing for Christmas.”
These desserts are available to BC community members via the BCDS GET Mobile app. The deadline for bakery orders
is tomorrow, December 13; customers can arrange pick-up December 18 through 20 at Hillside Cafe. Details on Holiday Bake Shop menu and pricing, as well as on placing and picking up orders, are available through the BCDS website [rb.gy/vxoz5x].
“The winter holiday season brings to mind delicious treats,” Bando added. “We are blessed to have a very talented professional bakery team, something that is somewhat unique nowadays on university campuses. Our BC Bakery is truly our
Santa’s Workshop of Chestnut Hill, conducted and coached by Tim Fonseca, who inspires our culinary team with his tasty and beautiful desserts while continually raising the talent bar among the bakery team members.”
Bando also praised “the large and clever gingerbread house display that Tim and his team construct for decorating at most every Christmas party catered by our BC Catering team—every year our BC community members are in awe.”
According to Fonseca, holiday baked goods are designed to be joyful and enhance entertaining—and when it comes to BC holiday favorites and tradition, the Holiday Yule Log (called “a chocolate lover’s delight” by Bando) is at the top of the list.
“Our virtual bakery store is available with not only our top-selling Holiday Yule Log, but other family and campus favorites,” he added. “These bakery items bring a little spark to someone’s day: celebrating on or off campus, baked treats can uplift the occasion and certainly make it more memorable. We enjoy hearing the stories about various ways we touch the lives” of the BC community.
“What a happy way,” quipped Bando, “to celebrate the ‘season’s eatings.’”
—Rosanne Pellegrini
An Opportunity for Grad Students to Show Their Artistic Side on Campus
Last month, the curtain rose on the Graduate Association of the Performing Arts (GAPA) Showcase—the inaugural event presented by the recently formed group, which provides Boston College graduate students with performing arts opportunities.
Hosted in collaboration with the Graduate Student Association, the November 22 showcase was held in the Bonn Studio Theater, where 10 graduate students took the stage to sing and play instruments for an audience of more than 90.
dents shared an interest in the performing arts,” said Maslan, who pursued a minor in theatre as an undergraduate. “Performance opportunities are so limited as a graduate student that it’s not typically a topic of conversation.”
For GAPA President Cate Maslan ’24, a student in the BC School of Social Work, the showcase created a unique moment where a new community could come together and support one another.
“I think many of us, myself included, didn’t realize how many other graduate stu-
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Jack Dunn
SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Patricia Delaney
EDITOR Sean Smith
Transitioning from undergrad to grad student, Maslan found that many of the performing arts opportunities on campus aren’t open to graduate students or compatible with their schedules. She missed performing but never thought she’d actually start a performing arts student organization—that is, until a BCSSW retreat introduced her to Lauren Ware, who is the current GAPA vice president.
“I met tons of other social work students who had been involved with the arts before graduate school. Meeting Lauren and seeing that other graduate students
CONTRIBUTING STAFF Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Audrey Loyack Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Caitlin Cunningham Lee Pellegrini
want performance opportunities motivated me to try and make GAPA happen.”
Despite limited resources, Maslan, Ware, and GAPA were able to put together the showcase. Students from graduate programs across BC were in the audience as well as on the stage, with many expressing gratitude for the event.
Maslan herself had a slot at the showcase, performing “For Good” from the musical (and recently released film) “Wicked” as a duet with a close friend. Reflecting on the night, she said the biggest feeling she’ll carry with her is complete and utter joy.
“Growing up in theater, the songs that I got to perform and who I performed them with were always outside of my control. The ability to pick a song I love and sing it with one of my dearest friends was a new experience that meant the world to me.”
As GAPA grows and establishes itself, Maslan hopes a wider range of performing
artists join, from dancers to more musicians. The group is looking forward to at least one event each semester, with plans to host a pre-spring break open mic night and semester-end showcase this spring. —Ellen Seaward is a digital content writer in the Office of University Communications
For information and inquiries, contact GAPA at bostoncollege.gapa@gmail.com. Follow GAPA on Instagram @bc.gapa.
Chronicle Schedule
This is the final edition of Boston College Chronicle for the fall 2024 fall semester. Chronicle will resume publication on January 16.
The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (617)552-3350.
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Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.
The Boston College Dining Services Holiday Bake Shop is offering an assortment of desserts for sale; the deadline for orders is December 13.
‘Opportunity of a Lifetime’
Students, faculty relish the chance to attend UN Climate Change Conference in Baku
BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER
As an official Observer Organization at last month’s COP29—the United Nations Climate Change Conference, held November 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan—Boston College sent a delegation whose members once again had a front-row seat to history in the making at the highly influential summit, which serves as the center of global climate change policymaking.
The University’s fourth consecutive COP contingent included four faculty members, six graduate and seven undergraduate students, and staff lead Kaley McCarty, assistant director of programs at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, which organizes the initiative.
“We consider coordinating BC’s COP delegation to be one of the signature programs of the institute and we are very proud that the University has entrusted us with the responsibility,” said Laura J. Steinberg, Schiller Institute Seidner Family Executive Director.
“Each year, I continue to be impressed with the quality of the students and faculty that we send to the conference. As those who attended our ‘Broadcasts from Baku’ events [held November 13 and 20] could hear, our delegates are well versed in a variety of climate- and sustainability-related issues. They’ve had the opportunity to meet high-ranking officials from around the world and have held their own in those conversations.”
The broadcasts, she added, provided “the BC community a chance to take a peek behind the scenes at this massive
relations major and now a law student specializing in human rights and environmental law, I’ve been following COP for as long as I can remember. Attending, I could actually envision my role in this field. The most meaningful aspect was sharing this experience with my fellow delegates, who each brought their unique voice to our discussions. Being a part of this delegation reinvigorated my passion for climate justice and introduced me to some of BC’s best.”
conference. I heard information from our delegates that I had not seen reported on in media coverage.”
Representing schools and departments across campus, the BC delegates were chosen in a competitive selection process from a pool of some 300 applicants selected by a committee of faculty, staff, and students.
For Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences senior Elizabeth Schwab, it was “an eye-opening experience that deepened my understanding of the dynamics of climate negotiations. One of the most impactful moments for me was meeting a Boston College alumna from the United States delegation and witnessing firsthand how her expertise shaped critical discussions on equity in climate finance. I was also deeply moved by my conversations with Caribbean delegates, who emphasized the urgent need for greater financial support for vulnerable nations.”
Schwab also saw “the importance of collaboration and equity in crafting policies
that truly address the global climate crisis. This experience will add depth to my thesis on the Paris Agreement, particularly in examining how different U.S. administrations have framed equity and climate finance. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to contribute to these discussions and learn from such inspiring leaders. I am now more committed than ever to continuing to fight for climate justice in my future career.”
Among the key priorities of COP29 was securing a new goal on climate finance, ensuring every country has the means to take much stronger climate action, slashing greenhouse gas emissions, and building resilient communities. At the climate summit, developed countries agreed to take the lead in providing some $300 billion per year by 2035 to help vulnerable ones fight global warming.
“It was truly the opportunity of a lifetime,” said BC Law student Sangeeta Kishore. “As an undergrad international
“Being part of the BC delegation allowed me to see how ideas and innovation can drive meaningful climate solutions on a global scale,” said Morrissey College junior Junsoo Chung. “Effective climate finance must support both mitigation and inclusive development, bridging public and private investments to create sustainable and equitable systems.” He also cited as significant “the opportunity to witness firsthand how countries, particularly in Asia, are navigating the balance between rapid economic growth and the urgent need for climate resilience.”
The Schiller Institute is dedicated to extending the University’s investment in COP participation through outreach programming that engages students, faculty, and the wider community, said Steinberg.
“We’ve heard from past delegates that attending COP has been a transformative experience for them and, for the students especially, has impacted their future career goals. We’re also very excited for our second annual COP Symposium planned for February, where the delegates will create a ‘mini-COP’ to continue to share their experience with the greater BC community.”
Broadcasts from Baku are available on the Schiller Institute’s BC@UNCOP page [tinyurl.com/2zy7x89y], which also features the BC delegation and other details, and at youtube.com/@BC_Schiller_Institute
Endeavor Program Set to Celebrate Its First Decade
BY AUDREY LOYACK STAFF WRITER
Boston College’s Endeavor is getting ready to celebrate its first decade of helping sophomores and juniors navigate career paths and explore the potential of their liberal arts degrees. The program will take place January 8-10.
Jamal Halepota ’09, an account director at Microsoft and an expert in cross-functional collaboration, client relationships, leadership, and strategy, will be this year’s keynote speaker. Halepota received a bachelor’s degree in economics from BC and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. His career experience ranges from advancing legislation on Capitol Hill to analyzing revenue and operations at Snapchat, as well as investment banking at Credit Suisse. He is a member of the Boston College Alumni Association Board of Director and serves as
co-chair of the association’s Atlanta chapter.
Established by BC’s Career Center in partnership with the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences and the BC Alumni Association, Endeavor enables participants to connect with hundreds of alumni from diverse industry fields through panel discussions, networking opportunities, and a “career trek” to various organizations in the Boston area. Registered students are paired with an Endeavor Fellow, a former program participant and student leader who will encourage and help their designated mentees reflect during the program’s three days.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating a decade of Endeavor,” said Career Center Associate Director of Career Exploration and Access Julianne Smith. “This initiative has become a cornerstone for students seeking to navigate their career paths and uncover possibilities for their lives. In a world that is constantly evolving, finding purpose-
ful work has never been more crucial. Endeavor empowers students to not only identify their career aspirations but also to understand how they can have a significant impact on the world.”
A 10th-year celebration networking event on January 9 invites all past and present Endeavor volunteers to collaborate and engage with current students while celebrating the program’s meaningful impact over the course of a decade.
“We believe that by guiding students to align their skills and interests with meaningful work, we are fostering a generation of change-makers who are ready to address the challenges of tomorrow with enthusiasm and innovation,” said Smith.
For a schedule of events and more information about this year’s Endeavor program, see bc.edu/endeavor, or email bcendeavor@bc.edu.
Members of the Boston College delegation to COP29—the United Nations Climate Change Conference—relaxed after a busy day. Attending the event, said one student, “allowed me to see how ideas and innovation can drive meaningful climate solutions on a global scale.”
Jamal Halepota ’09, an account director at Microsoft, is the keynote speaker for next month’s Endeavor program.
Summit Made a Positive Impact on Woods Student
BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
The annual Boston College-hosted Design for Impact (DFI) Summit—which took place for the fifth time on November 22—is an opportunity for students to think big, and creatively, about how to promote well-being across the human lifespan. For one BC participant, though, this year’s summit was the latest milestone in what once seemed an improbable journey.
Boston native Christian Miranda, a 54-year-old junior in the Woods College of Advancing Studies, was a member of a DFI team self-named “Fountain of Youth.” Four years ago, he had been one of 16 inmates from the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Shirley accepted into the Boston College Prison Education Program (PEP).
PEP participants take roughly 10 hours of classes a week with BC faculty, attend office hours and tutoring sessions, complete assignments and group projects, and take part in extracurricular activities. With enough credits, they become eligible for a bachelor’s degree in applied liberal arts issued by the University.
Miranda began learning about design thinking while in prison—taking his first Design Thinking course there through PEP—and following his release on parole in early 2023 and enrollment in the Woods College, he took the courses Cyberstrategy, Design, and Formative Development and Design Research Methods. The lessons resonated with him.
“To get a job done correctly, everyone’s interests must be taken into consideration during the developmental stage,” said Mi-
randa, who commutes to BC from Connecticut. “You must combine all the many perspectives to design a robust solution to a problem, so you don’t disenfranchise a portion of society while making life more enjoyable for some. We need to switch lenses, trade places, walk in each other’s shoes, then make decisions and act to right wrongs.”
The BC DFI Summit, part of a global competition to conceive innovative products and services to improve everyday life, featured seven teams composed of students from BC, Clemson University, Virginia Tech, and Wentworth Institute of Technol-
ogy.
Each five-person team presented its solution to this year’s task of “Reimaging Education and Learning for Long Lives” posed by the 12th annual Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge, conceived by the Stanford University-based center founded in 2007 by two leading authorities on longevity and aging. Fountain of Youth included two Wentworth industrial design students, a Clemson architecture student, and BC junior Elizabeth Payne in addition to Miranda. They designed a prototype for a wall-mounted, electronic “bulletin board”—envisioned as an intervention for
loneliness and isolation—that promotes social and educational activities for retirees in the local community.
“Given my age, I’m much closer to the over-60 target audience of our design project than my teammates,” said Miranda. “My contributions to the project were personal and reflected real-life experience.”
Other DFI teams’ projects included an interactive mobile game designed for people with autism spectrum disorder to help them manage change as they age; a tool to address lifelong financial literacy; a small electronic device that offers virtual hugs; and a wearable tool that prevents the diminished quality of life that results from carpal tunnel syndrome.
All teams submit their final DFI projects to the Stanford Design Challenge.
“I’m so happy this all worked out so that Christian could participate,” said BC DFI program leader Julia DeVoy, an associate dean at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, who noted that Miranda needed parole board approval for travel to Clemson and Virginia Tech for team meetings. “It’s been a trailblazing experience for both of us.”
She added, “DFI is more than a course—it’s a collaborative, interdisciplinary initiative that reshapes how students from multiple institutions, who are unfamiliar with each other, coalesce and collectively design and respond to society’s pressing needs. Our approach encourages students to step beyond their academic confines, fostering an environment where cross-functional interaction is not just encouraged, it’s essential.”
“I get excited to see students who chart a different course from what they originally set out to do,” says Hanley. “That’s such an important feature of college.”
BC Enlightenment Scholar Is New Moakley Chair
ton College and highly acclaimed scholarship and service to the American political science field.
“Ryan is an internationally renowned scholar of early modern political theory in general and Adam Smith and the Enlightenment in particular. Our political theory subfield is consistently ranked among the very best in the country and the successful recruitment of Ryan has been a major factor in maintaining this status.
“I see common themes running through Ryan’s scholarship and teaching, regarding what is good, what is just, what is honorable, and what is ethical in the exercise of political power—all of which complement the Jesuit mission of Boston College.”
In addition to serving as Mellon Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Marquette, Hanley has held visiting appointments or fellowships at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago, where he earned a doctorate. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge.
At BC, Hanley has taught courses such as Politics and Literature, Enlightenment Political Theory, and Adam Smith, and is looking forward to offering a new class in the spring on Political Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition. He is the author of The Political Philosophy of Fénelon, Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life, Love’s Enlightenment: Rethinking Charity in Modernity, and Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue. Hanley also is editor of the recently published volume Love: A History.
The works of Smith, Pascal, Descartes, and their contemporaries may seem far removed from our era, said Hanley, but in fact have relevance for the modern world. Smith, for example, believed that commercial society opens up unique opportunities for both vice and virtue—living a good life requires us to develop capacities, skills, and virtues that enable us to flourish in the midst of the unique temptations and constraints of a market society.
“The fundamental questions they raise about the nature of human flourishing and the good society are just as meaningful in
the 21st century as the 17th or 18th, and the way they articulate core ideas offers us a cogent point of reference: How can we look to the past for guidance, and what do we need to do on our own?”
That question doesn’t exist in a vacuum, Hanley added, what with the norm-shattering societal changes brought by the information technology age.
“At a time when tech is upending what we do, one might wonder whether the views and values of classical thinkers are really obsolete,” he said. “It’s all the more important to think and articulate what, exactly, it means to be a human being—and it seems to me that AI is making the case for liberal arts education.”
A Jesuit university, Hanley believes, is ideal for this consideration of past and present. “A hallmark of Jesuit education is the exploration of how the gifts we have been given can help us live meaningful lives and contribute to the common good. Boston College encourages and supports innovative faculty efforts that encourage students to make these explorations.”
Hanley points to a Core Curriculum class, The Making of the Modern Mind, he has taught in tandem with Professor of Mathematics Avner Ash, in which students read and discussed foundational works in philosophy and mathematics.
“It was dense material, but the class did a great job of connecting it to their own perspectives,” he said. “Students are very willing to do this work, and quite enthusiastic about it, too.”
Hanley is a firm believer in the power of education to shape one’s life trajectory: The courses in art history and intellectual history he took as a Penn undergrad made such an impression that he wound up leaving the pre-med track he was on.
“Being introduced to the life of the mind, to the possibility that you could lead a life dedicated to reading and studying ideas, was very exciting—one of the greatest things that ever happened to me,” he said. “As a professor, I get excited to see students who chart a different course from what they originally set out to do. That’s such an important feature of college.”
Christian Miranda, a former participant in the BC Prison Education Program, making a presentation at the 2024 Design for Impact Summit hosted by the University.
photo by lee pellegrini
Q&A: Fr. Philip Larrey
AI and the Catholic Church
For many observers and followers of the Catholic Church and its stance on artificial intelligence (AI), Fr. Philip Larrey—about to start his second year on the Boston College faculty—is the guru.
Fr. Larrey (pronounced “la-RAY”) has been characterized as one of the Church’s foremost experts on a technological advancement viewed as both as transformational as the wide-scale adoption of the Internet, and no less than an existential threat. His most recent book, Artificial Humanity (2019), offers a philosophical analysis of AI’s significance for humanity, and its predecessor, Connected World (2018), explores the profound effects of digital advancements on modern life.
A professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development who has contributed to its Department of Formative Education, Fr. Larrey is an assistant professor of the practice in the Philosophy Department. Prior to arriving at BC last January, he spent three years as dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and 15 years as chair of Logic and Epistemology at the Romebased Pontifical Lateran University.
An AI investigator and commentator for more than 20 years, he serves as chair of Humanity 2.0, a non-profit organization focused on identifying and removing the most significant impediments to human flourishing in collaboration with the Vatican.
Chronicle sat down with Fr. Philip (as he prefers to be called) to explore his AI focus and how it has shaped the Catholic Church’s position, and how the former Rome resident has adapted to living in the “Athens of America.”
What are the roots of your interest in AI?
Fr. Larrey: As I taught philosophy of knowledge for many years, which explores what we mean by thought and how we think, I became interested in examining human thought through the lens of artificial intelligence. Therefore, I have followed the discussions around AI and machine learning and have tried to apply those lessons to a greater understanding of how human beings think and reason. There are many important distinctions between the two types of intelligence to keep in mind, so as not to conflate artificial intelligence with human cognition.
How did your intellectual inquiry into AI transition from researcher to organizing a yearly forum at the Vatican?
Fr. Larrey: The formation of the Humanity 2.0 Foundation was important
C21 Receives Grant
fast with God is a children’s faith formation program that creatively wraps prayer, song, and a children’s story and craft in a Gospel message. The program, launched in concert with the Lynch School of Education and Human Development’s Roche Center for Catholic Education, was livestreamed Sunday mornings for 80 episodes during the pandemic when families were unable to gather in person for Mass. The grant will allow C21 to professionally produce 12 new episodes available for use by the parishes in the cohort. Each thematic episode will have a companion guide and curriculum to support the parents and catechists.
The Drawing God Program began with the publication of Drawing God, a children’s book authored by Kiefer that explores faith imagination and how everyone sees God differently. The Drawing God Program has expanded into a suite of resources that includes an online art museum, downloadable curriculum guides, a World Drawing God Day celebration, and Drawing God prayer ribbons.
Kiefer’s second book, Growing God, anchors another C21 multimedia resource, the Growing God Care for Creation Proj-
in terms of convening several significant forums at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The foundation represents an interesting network of people from many sectors of society who are willing to help the Holy Father and the Vatican address issues dealing with new technologies and AI. Cardinal Peter Turkson, chancellor of the academy, has been a true guide and mentor along this path.
It’s clear that Pope Francis has both embraced AI—underscoring that it should be used ethically to promote human dignity—while expressing serious concerns. Is it a realistic expectation that the Catholic Church, through the pope’s considerable influence, could meaningfully impact a yet unestablished global regulatory framework for AI ethics?
Fr. Larrey: The short answer is yes. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia’s work from the Pontifical Academy for Life is also significant, especially his initiative called “Rome Call,” concerning the ethics of AI (which has been endorsed by many tech leaders as well as other significant actors in society). Given that there is currently no universally accepted group of norms or laws, the Church is positioned to contribute in a significant way to the development of a framework that will ensure that AI will be used to promote human flourishing and not its demise, as some in the field have predicted.
Magisterium AI, an authorized online evangelization tool that synthesizes and explains Catholic Church teaching, has its critics and supporters, but it’s already used in over 150 countries to help people
achieve an understanding about faith and the Church in easily understood language. What are your concerns about this tool? What are its advantages? What role do you envision that it will have in the future?
Fr. Larrey: We are only at the beginning with this platform, which I have always endorsed and supported, as I sit on their advisory board. The tool is being developed by very talented people who are familiar with the risks of using AI to provide answers to people asking questions concerning Church doctrine. The company which created Magisterium AI is in the process of developing very powerful tools based on AI which will benefit not only Catholics but society as well.
In addition to Rome, you lived in Spain and Denver, and you grew up in the Bay Area. BC is your first East Coast posting. What’s your impression of Greater Boston and Massachusetts?
Fr. Larrey: I have spent most of my adult life in Rome, and so moving to Boston has represented a challenge for me, but one that I have embraced with enthusiasm. As I studied for many years at the Pontifical Gregorian University, one could say that I was raised by the Jesuits and therefore the environment at Boston College is very familiar: The wonderful Ignatian spirit found here resonates with me and I am glad to be a part of the University. Boston is also home to some of the most prestigious universities in the world, and I am glad to be able to collaborate with various professors and institutions here.
—Phil Gloudemans
ect. It includes a virtual farm and the Be A Sower campaign. The grant will enable C21 to build the curriculum on this platform, according to Kiefer.
The fourth resource focuses on Advent: Inspired by another Kiefer book, The Misfit Sock, this program encourages children to write a prayer for each day of Advent and place it in their hanging Misfit Sock. On Christmas Eve, the Misfit Sock transforms into a gratitude sock.
“The thing I love about this tradition is it creates a great memory not only for children but also for the parents,” said Kiefer. “They can look back later and see all their children’s Advent prayers.”
The culmination of the grant will be a two-day Catholic Children’s Ministry Partnership conference at Boston College. Kiefer expects that by the end of the grant period, at least 5,000 families will have participated in the CCMP initiative. She said the hope is to expand its reach to parishes and families nationally, helping more children come to know God and grow in faith.
“We have ready-made resources for the parishes in our cohort that are free and
have been proven to be successful,” said Kiefer, who taught religious education in her parish for 25 years. “We’re not trying to replace what the parishes are doing; we’re just giving them more ideas and options.”
The CCMP models one of the objectives of the C21 Center, which is to establish partnerships between Catholic higher education, Catholic parishes, and families.
“I think bridge building is so important for the future of our Church,” said Kiefer. “All of the Catholic Children’s Ministry
“We have ready-made resources for the parishes in our cohort that are free and have been proven to be successful. We’re not trying to replace what the parishes are doing; we’re just giving them more ideas and options.”
—Karen Kiefer
Partnership resources are bridges between BC and the parishes and the home or Catholic school.”
She continued: “While we’re focused on children’s ministry, there is also an opportunity to build partnerships with this parish cohort and make them aware of other free and powerful resources C21 has to offer.”
To learn more about the Catholic Children’s Ministry Partnership or to join the parish cohort, contact Karen Kiefer at karen. kiefer@bc.edu.
photo by caitlin cunningham
photo by gary wayne gilbert
LSOEHD Faculty Research Projects Receive Funding
BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
Faculty from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development recently landed a variety of high-profile external grants totaling nearly $2 million for math and artificial intelligence education, and developing culturally informed mental health resources for Asian Americans.
•Elida V. Laski, an associate professor of applied developmental psychology, is the principal or co-principal investigator on two recent math education-focused grants.
value tasks well into elementary school,” said Laski, who heads BC’s Thinking and Learning Lab, and serves as the program director of the Applied Psychology and Human Development bachelor’s program. “Playing number board games is a fun and effective way to improve children’s numeracy knowledge.”
Counseling Psychology, was recently awarded a two-year, $600,000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Institutes of Health.
She, along with professors from Vanderbilt University and the University of Indiana-Bloomington, is the recipient of a twoyear, $860,000 STEM Learning Core program research grant from National Science Foundation (NSF). Their study will explore the effects of playing an innovative 0-100 board game with features designed to support children pursuing and using predictable number patterns, and understanding place value, number magnitude, and arithmetic. In total, 120 students, ages five to seven, from diverse public schools will participate in the project.
“Understanding the base-10 structure of multidigit numbers is foundational for later mathematics and a key instructional goal, yet many children struggle with formal place
The second award, a two-year, $59,000 grant from the Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood—an incubator of research and development projects focused on improving the welfare of young children through age seven—will fund a project titled “Facilitating Parent Math Talk through Games.”
Laski and co-principal investigator Marina Vasilyeva, an associate professor of applied developmental psychology, will lead a study investigating how play materials affect parent-child math-related interactions.
“The importance of informal math interactions within the home for future math achievement is so well-established that the issue is not if—but how—to promote the quality and quantity of these interactions,” Laski said. “Capitalizing on recent research highlighting the link between spatial and numerical reasoning, the project will test the effects of embedding spatial cues of numerical magnitude into play materials on parental math discussions and children’s math outcomes.”
Their project builds upon work demonstrating the importance of games in learning and will contribute to the knowledge of different ways of enhancing home math environments via evidence-based play materials.
•Brian TaeHyuk Keum, the Buehler Sesquicentennial Assistant Professor of
In partnership with Anise Health Inc., a culturally responsive digital mental health and wellbeing platform, Keum will conduct research on improving culturally informed mental health resources for Asian Americans. The goal of the study is to develop proprietary care models, training, and tools to help drive long-term clinical outcomes of culturally literate mental health treatments for Asian Americans.
“Even if we address the issue of stigma and access to mental health resources, there is a systemic lack of culturally informed services catering to the needs of Asian Americans,” said Keum. “By leveraging the power of technology, a digital mental health platform such as Anise Health can help scale up the availability of such services. This grant allows us to build this foundation and contribute to making mental health services that are respectful of and responsive to the cultural beliefs, practices, and needs of Asian Americans at the national level.”
•A three-year, $2.4 million NSF grant will fund researchers from the Lynch School, New Mexico State University, and MIT to integrate artificial intelligence literacy education into middle and high school classrooms. The project is driven by research indicating that youth’s commonly held misconceptions about the technology hinder their understanding of abstract AI concepts and discourage them from learning about artificial intelligence and pursuing careers in related STEM fields.
Nota Bene
Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Raquel Muñiz, who has a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Boston College Law School, was selected as the recipient of the 2024 Steven S. Goldberg Award, presented annually by the Education Law Association in recognition of an outstanding article, book, book chapter, or other form of scholarly legal writing in the field of education law. Muñiz received the honor for her article “Exploring litigation of anti-CRT state action: Considering the issues, challenges & risks in a time of white backlash,” which appeared in the Syracuse Law Review.
The award is named after late ELA member Steven S. Goldberg, a professor of education and the Educational Leadership Program coordinator at Arcadia University, whose gift funded the award.
Professor of History Heather Cox Richardson was chosen for the American
The researchers will develop and test the learning trajectories—developmental paths that capture how students develop understandings of new concepts over time—of AI models, associated curricular activities, and assessments for participants in grades 7-10. These trajectories help teachers understand how students learn at different stages and guide curriculum designers to develop learning experiences that are age appropriate for the students.
The BC team is led by Research Associate Professor Helen Zhang, who serves as a co-principal investigator on multiple Lynch School STEM-related NSF grants.
“We’re grateful to the National Science Foundation for supporting our team’s continuous efforts to promote AI literacy education in K-12 schools so that students can become critical consumers and informed citizens who are aware of AI’s ethicsrelated issues,” she said, noting that BC will net approximately $440,000 of the overall grant.
This project, which launched on October 1, is the third NSF-funded project on AI literacy education awarded to the team; Zhang also served as a co-principal investigator on the prior projects.
“Lynch School faculty continue to be extremely successful in obtaining external funding to support their research efforts, with dramatic increases over the past decade,” said Stanton E. F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. “This reflects the quality of our faculty and the importance of their work. We are excited to have so many high impact projects occurring simultaneously.”
Historical Association’s Tikkun Olam Prize for Promoting Public Historical Literacy. The association offers annual prizes honoring exceptional books, distinguished teaching and mentoring in the classroom, public history, and other historical projects. The Tikkun Olam Prize honors individuals whose work has promoted literacy in public culture, according to the association, “with the abiding hope that such work will indeed help ‘to repair the world.’ We look for sustained historical work that contributes significantly to historical literacy (defined as ‘meaningful knowledge about the past, historical context, and ability to think historically and critically’) in American public culture, with an emphasis on history education (broadly construed) beyond the academy.”
Richardson will be presented with the award at the AHA 138th annual meeting January 3-6 in New York City.
photos by caitlin cunningham
BC Scenes
Week of Dance
Boston College’s annual Week of Dance culminated in a two-night showcase of student dance groups in Robsham Theater on December 6 and 7. The groups offered open workshops to students during the week-long run-up to the performances.
photos by seho lee ’27
OBITUARIES
Ken Kersch, PoliSci Professor
Professor of Political Science Ken I. Kersch, a highly respected constitutional scholar who was founding director of Boston College’s Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, died on November 27. He was 60.
Dr. Kersch, who joined the Political Science faculty in 2007, researched, wrote about, and taught American political and constitutional development, American political thought, and the politics of courts. He was particularly interested in the clash between conservative and liberal interpretations of the United States Constitution during the 20th century, in areas such as civil liberties, freedom of speech, separation of powers, and church-vs-state issues.
In addition to numerous articles in academic, intellectual, and popular journals, he authored or co-authored the books American Political Thought: An Invitation; Conservatives and the Constitution: Imagining Constitutional Restoration in the Heyday of American Liberalism; The Supreme Court and American Political Development; Constructing Civil Liberties: Discontinuities in the Development of American Constitutional Law; and Freedom of Speech: Rights and Liberties Under the Law.
The classes he taught at BC included U.S. Constitutional Development, Civil Liberties, and Conservatism in Modern America.
Taking a big-picture approach and drawing on history and constitutional law (he was a member of the bar of New York, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia) as well as political science, Dr. Kersch traced evolutions in the American ideological realm and their relation to the Constitution: for example, the changes in progressives’ attitudes toward civil rights during the course of the 20th century; or how, in the wake of the Supreme Court desegregation ruling and 1960s civil rights legislation, the conservative movement distanced itself from Southern conservatives and sought to position itself as “the polity’s foremost champion of constitutional liberty and equality,” as he explained in a 2020 interview with the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal.
In 2008, Dr. Kersch became the founding director for the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, which was established through a donation by Gloria Clough M.Div. ’90, M.S. ’96 and Charles Clough ’64, a University trustee associate. The center promotes interdisciplinary reflection on constitutional government in the United States and throughout the world through campus and virtual events featuring distinguished scholars and experts—including BC faculty—from a variety of fields and professions, among them David Brooks, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David McCullough, R. Nicholas Burns ’78, Mary Robinson, F.W. de Klerk, and Shirin Ebadi.
Dr. Kersch expounded on the center’s “touchstones” in a 2009 newsletter: Reflecting BC’s character as a liberal arts
university, the center “will place significant emphasis on the participation and formation of its undergraduates” while striving to be interdisciplinary and “to play a leadership role in breaking down the walls that have characterized intellectual life, not only at BC but in academia more generally.”
In addition, he said, the center “will endeavor to enhance our understanding of the nature and practice of democratic constitutional government, not only in the U.S., but also around the world” and “welcome the participation of scholars, students, and practitioners approaching the study of constitutionalism from a range of political, ideological, intellectual, and personal perspectives.”
Charles Clough called Dr. Kersch, “a wonderful person who built the center in its early days. It was his selfless determination that allowed it to get going.”
“Ken was a scholar of tremendous erudition and integrity and a person of deep humanity,” said BC Law Professor Vlad Perju, who took over the post from Dr. Kersch in 2012.
“Ken Kersch brought the Clough Center to life with his intellectual force and his infectious enthusiasm for American political institutions,” said Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence, the center’s director since 2022.
Among the honors Dr. Kersch earned were the American Political Science Association’s Edward S. Corwin Award, the J. David Greenstone Prize from APSA’s politics and history section, the C. Herman Pritchett Award from APSA’s law and courts section, and the Hughes-Gossett Award from the Supreme Court Historical Society.
Dr. Kersch earned a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, a juris doctorate from Northwestern University, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Cornell University. Prior to BC, he taught at Lehigh University, Princeton University, and Harvard University; he also served as a Tallman Scholar in Government at Bowdoin University and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the University of Missouri Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy.
He is survived by his parents, Robert and Barbara Kersch, of Great River, NY.
An on-campus tribute to Dr. Kersch is being planned for the spring semester.
—Sean Smith
Read the full obituary at https://bit.ly/keni-kersch-obituary
John Morawiec, OUC Staff
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on November 27 for John M. Morawiec, former director of marketing services in the Boston College Office of University Communications (OUC), who died on November 22 after a valiant battle against ALS. He was 51.
In his role as director, Mr. Morawiec oversaw the OUC marketing team’s strategic outreach to University partners, including BC’s schools and colleges and various divisions, offices, and departments, to support undergraduate and graduate student recruitment and brand management. In addition to leading the marketing team in OUC, he worked directly with the Office of Undergraduate Admission, the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, the Carroll School of Management, Irish Studies, and the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, among other programs.
“John brought a level of expertise in marketing, student recruitment, and digital advertising that was needed at Boston College and worked tirelessly to support the University in meeting its strategic priorities,” said Associate Vice President for University Communications Jack Dunn. “He was a talented person who challenged himself and his staff to promote BC, problem solve on behalf of the University and its schools and colleges, and produce work of the highest quality.”
In 2021, Mr. Morawiec was diagnosed with ALS—also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease—a terminal neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor neurons controlling voluntary muscle movement and breathing. But he elected to stay at his job, keeping up with partners and coworkers on various projects for as long as he was able.
A native of Poland who grew up in
Jobs
The following are among the recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/jobs or scan the QR code at right.
Director of Assessment and Accreditation, Lynch School of Education and Human Development
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Springfield, Mass., Mr. Morawiec received a bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University and an M.B.A. from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. After working at BU and the University of Southern California, he served as strategic marketing and communications manager at the University of Connecticut before joining BC.
Mr. Morawiec is survived by his wife, Amy; daughters Theresa, Christina, and Emily; his mother, Zenobia Morawiec; his siblings, Daniel, Ireneusz, Bernadette Nowakowski, Andrew, Anna Mansfield, and Katarzyna Jabbour; and 22 nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father, Aleksander.
“John’s dedication to BC was exceeded only by his commitment to his family,” said Dunn. “He loved his little girls and was grateful for the unwavering support he received from his wife, Amy, and his large family. He will be greatly missed by all of us who knew and worked with him.”
Memorial donations may be made to Compassionate Care ALS, P.O. Box 1052, West Falmouth, Mass. 02574 [ccals.org/ donate] or ALS United Connecticut, 4 Oxford Road, Suite E4, Milford, Conn. 06460 [alsunitedct.org/donate]. —University Communications
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BC Global
With a new director on board, BC’s Irish Institute is set for a revival
BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
At the end of her wide-ranging “fireside chat” with Irish Ambassador to the United States Geraldine Byrne Nason last week in Burns Library, Boston College Irish Institute Director Mary Murphy invited her guest to offer a message to the U.S.
Noting that the December 2 event was a commemoration of 100 years of IrishAmerican diplomatic relations, Byrne Nason gave thanks to the U.S. for its support of Ireland as an independent nation (“I wouldn’t even have this job if not for you,” she quipped). But since part of her talk with Murphy concerned President-elect Donald Trump’s long-stated negative views of international alliances, Byrne Nason felt compelled to add something else.
“I would say this: Don’t let our hands go now. We need you as a voice of reason in international matters. It’s in your interests, not just Ireland’s.”
With its nod to Irish-American history as well as a glance forward, the MurphyByrne Nason conversation provided an appropriate setting for the official re-launch of the Irish Institute. Founded in 1998, the institute drew widespread praise for its programs and initiatives promoting reconciliation between Ireland and Northern Ireland through increased mutual understanding and cross-border partnerships. Over time, the institute broadened its geographical scope to include other regions, but retained an Irish focus in the midst of various political and economic developments.
The Irish Institute had lain dormant since the death in 2022 of Robert Mauro, its director for 11 years. But this past summer saw the arrival of Murphy, who had been head of the Department of Government and Politics at University College Cork, to reimagine the institute and its role in bolstering BC’s engagement with the economic, social, political, and cultural landscape of all Ireland.
A Welcome Return
policy challenges and priorities—including climate change, migration, and security issues—that pose tests for Ireland and many other countries. Because Ireland exists within the European Union, “that framework is critical for understanding Irish policies and interests,” said Murphy.
“This is very relevant in considering the situation in Ukraine—and the possible destabilization of the European continent— and the U.S.-NATO relationship. Historically, Ireland has defined itself as ‘neutral,’ but now there is some suggestion that Ireland needs to think more strategically.”
In this context, she said, hosting the Irish ambassador to Ireland’s oldest ally was an opportunity to affirm the countries’ longstanding friendship while noting the complexities of 21st-century international relations.
“Her ‘don’t let go of our hands’ remark was quite powerful. It also was interesting to hear her talk about it being okay for the U.S. and Ireland to disagree about issues such as Gaza, but still maintain a close, working relationship. She articulated the need for dialogue and networking during the next administration, which will not be as connected to Ireland as the Biden administration has been. The Irish Institute will speak to these and other themes through our programming and activities, whether hosted on campus or elsewhere.”
In fact, she noted, as a prelude to the fireside chat with Byrne Nason, the institute held a forum last month in Connolly House to discuss the 2024 presidential election results and their possible implica-
“The presence of the Irish Institute clearly adds to the depth and breadth of BC’s dedication to Ireland.”
—Mary Murphy
are reminders of the institute’s value as a meeting place for different perspectives that illuminate Ireland’s past, present, and future—a prime factor in the University’s decision to relaunch it.
“Since its founding in the 1990s, the Irish Institute has brought together leading figures in civil society in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United States. The institute has fostered meaningful partnerships across diverse communities in supporting peacemaking and capacity building.”
At the same time, Quigley added, there was strong support for bringing in a director who could contribute to the University’s academic mission. Murphy’s classroom experience, along with her expertise on the complex relationship between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Europe, especially in the post-Brexit era—her co-authored book A Troubled Constitutional Future: Northern Ireland After Brexit won the University Association for Contemporary European Studies Best Book Prize in 2023—made her the ideal candidate to lead the institute.
“[Political Science Chair] Jerry Easter and his colleagues attracted a strong pool of candidates, and Mary Murphy stood out
as the right choice for the department and for Boston College. Mary has articulated a compelling vision for the Irish Institute’s future, and her leadership promises to help the University engage with ongoing change in Ireland and Europe more broadly.”
Institute plans for the spring include a forum on British-Irish relations in the 21st century with Irish and British consuls among the panelists, and a larger one-day event on transatlantic peace building. The institute will build on its record of interdisciplinary partnerships within BC, said Murphy, such as through envisioned collaborations with the Political Science and History departments and the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, among others.
Murphy also has made outreach to the outside community a priority: This fall, she moderated a discussion, hosted by the Irish consul of Boston, between the mayors of Derry and Donegal, and contributed to a discussion on the future of Ireland at the Irish Cultural Centre of Greater Boston.
In addition, she believes the institute could be useful for more private, policyfocused events: “Just put some people around a table in a room and talk, and see what we come up with.”
Reflecting recently on her first semester at BC, Murphy—who also joined the Political Science faculty as a professor—was upbeat on the institute’s future and equally enthusiastic about her part in it.
“The focus of the Irish Institute has always been supporting the peace process established through the Good Friday Agreement, and that will continue to be our mission,” said Murphy. “Supporting peace and reconciliation is a multigenerational task, and an important part of that involves promoting understanding and awareness of the issues and challenges facing the island of Ireland.”
She noted the emergence of new public-
tions for Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the U.S. “We see an event like this as another aspect of the institute: helping the BC community, as well as the larger Bostonarea and Irish American communities, to deepen their understanding of contemporary Ireland.”
“I knew about BC’s connection with Ireland, but being here I have been impressed by its strong Irish heritage and focus, from stained-glass windows to the Irish names on campus buildings to the evident interest among students, faculty, and staff in all aspects of Irish history, politics, and culture,” said Murphy, who will lead a teaching seminar, Peace and Politics in Ireland, in the spring. “The presence of the Irish Institute clearly adds to the depth and breadth of BC’s dedication to Ireland.”
For Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, the two events this semester
Irish Institute Director Mary Murphy, left, held a “fireside chat” on December 2 with Geraldine Byrne Nason, Irish ambassador to the United States.
photo by lee pellegrini
photo by caitlin cunningham
The Theatre Department and Robsham Theater Arts Center staged a production of the musical comedy “Pippin” November 20-22 and 24.
photo by lee pellegrini
Snapshot “Pippin”