Faculty Research Report 2020-2023
About
Within this periodical is a listing of works produced by the prestigious faculty who hold extensive experience in their field of study.
Sections
I. Books
II. Journal articles
III. Exhibitions
IV. Talks
V. Book reviews
VI. Service on editoral boards and professional societies
VII. Research seminar
Contributors
Andrew Ouellette, MA
Michael Griffin, Ph.D.
Alesha Seroczynski, Ph.D.
Angel Cortes, Ph.D.
David Lutz, Ph.D.
Clyde Ray, Ph.D.
Shawn Storer, M.Div.
Emily Ransom, Ph.D.
Chris Scheirer, Ph.D.
Adrian Reimers, Ph.D.
John Thompson, M.F.A.
Angelo Ray Martinez, M.F.A.
Br. Robert McFadden, CSC, Ph.D.
Melonie Mulkey, M.F.A.
Stephen Barany, M.F.A.
Theresa MacArt, Ph.D.
Thomas Spencer, Ph.D.
Cosette Fox, Ph.D.
Ann Bingham, Ph.D.
Shaya Helbig, MA
Matthew Cloud, MS, BME
Deborah Arangno, Ph.D.
Aris Alexandrou, Ph.D.
John Biddle, Ph.D.
Elaine Mokrzan, Ph.D.
I. Books
The Holy Ways Of The Cross
By Henri-Marie Boudon. ed. Hugh Gillespie, SMM and Andrew L. Ouellette, MA (Providence:Cluny, 2022).
The Holy Ways of the Cross combines the manifold fruits of theology, mysticism, and pastoral care in guiding its readers along “the Royal Highway of the Cross,” through trials both exterior and interior, toward unity with God. Complimented by new, illuminating Introductions from Andrew L. Ouellette and Rev. Hugh Gillespie, S.M.M., The Holy Ways of the Cross proffers spiritual food and drink for souls following in the footsteps of their crucified Lord.
The Life Hidden In Jesus
Henri-Marie Boudon. ed. Hugh Gillespie, SMM and Andrew L. Ouellette, MA Providence: Cluny, 2023. Release date: March 2023
The Politics Of Penance: Proposing An Ethic For Social Repair
By Michael Griffin, Ph.D., with foreword by Daniel Philpott, 2016""Bless me Father, for I have sinned,"" says the penitent to open the dialogue in Catholic confessionals across the globe and throughout the ages. Along with the priest's words, ""For your penance . . ."" this encounter is an icon of Catholic life. But does the script, and the practices it signifies, have any relevance beyond the confessional? In The Politics of Penance, Michael Griffin responds yes. He explores great figures of the Christian tradition--the early Irish monks, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Pope St. John Paul II--to offer surprising insights for social repair. The result is a new ethic, which Griffin applies to contemporary crises in criminal justice, truth and reconciliation, and the treatment of soldiers returning from war. ""In Politics of Penance, far from foisting a facile application of age-old terms to current problems, Griffin develops a robust method whose penetrating grasp of the 'dynamics of penitential actions' enables him to make real contributions to contemporary problems. Politics is a work of reconciliation between fractured parties: action theory and social justice; liturgy and ethics; retribution and rehabilitation . . . This expertly yet accessibly written book will reward scholars and general audiences alike."" --Bill Mattison, Associate Professor of Theology, The Catholic University of America ""Drawing from Celtic monasticism, Thomas Aquinas, and John Paul II, Griffin shows how Catholic penitential theology and practice can inform the present-day tasks of 'social repair' ranging from reforming the criminal justice system, to working with truth and reconciliation commissions, to accompanying returning soldiers from Iraq. This is spirited, insightful, hopeful reading--and crucial reading for anyone interested in understanding how the church's healing wisdom regarding penance remains both ever ancient and ever new."" --Michael Baxter, Department of Religious Studies, Regis University ""The Politics of Penance is a well-written and highly informative book. Griffin not only carefully retrieves the theological and historical tradition of the Catholic practice of penance, he masterfully displays its rich possibilities for repairing our broken political and judicial systems. A must-read for theologians, political theorists as well as public policy advocates."" --Emmanuel Katongole, Associate Professor, Theology and Peace Studies, The Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame Michael Griffin, PhD, is Associate Professor of Theology at Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, Indiana. He is the coeditor of In the Company of the Poor: Conversations with Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez (2013).
The Complete Works Of St. Robert Southwell, SJ
Editing, Emily Ransom, Ph.D. (HCC), Peter Davidson (Oxford), and Sunnah Brietz Monta (Notre Dame). Oxford University Press, five volumes. [Forthcoming, under contract]
St. Robert Southwell is the last of the major poets of the English Renaissance not to have received the full scholarly treatment of an edition of his complete works. Oxford University Press has contracted me to edit it in collaboration with two leading scholars of Catholic recusant literature. For the first volume, I have already completed editions of Mary Magdalens Funerall Teares and De Beata Magdalena, and will complete my final edition of his Exercitia et Devotiones once I can gain access to a manuscript at the Folger Shakespeare Library, currently closed for remodeling.
The Good Is Love: The Body And Human Acts In Humana Vitae and John Paul II
By Adrian Reimers, Ph.D., St. Augustine Press, June 2020John Paul II in his personalist approach to moral questions reaffirmed that as sin offends that which is good, if we truly know what human love is––and that it is good––we would thereby see how certain acts can never be acceptable insofar as they in all cases wound this love. Yet in moral debates surrounding love, sex and contraception Adrian Reimers observes that we are not using this approach and these debates are not advancing the cause of real love.
Reimers draws upon the encyclical Humanae Vitae and John Paul II’s catechesis known as the theology of the body to respond to the stalled development of moral theology on the issues most crucial to human love and intimacy. “It is time, we are told, for a ‘paradigm shift’ in the Catholic Church’s moral teaching, such shift representing a more pastoral and less dogmatic approach to moral issues,” writes Reimers. His claim that “a paradigm shift in moral theology and philosophy may be valuable––perhaps vital––to scholars who think and write about these sciences and to teachers who communicate moral truth” is not an exhortation to redefine moral truths. Rather, he argues that an approach to contraception, for example, that relies exclusively on natural law is a hackneyed one and often “tedious.”
John Paul II’s series of catechetical addresses known as the theology of the body was originally composed in the 1970s after Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae. Albeit derived from the writing of an archbishop and not yet pope, Reimers identifies John Paul II’s perspectives on love, sex and contraception as an essential force behind this so-called paradigm shift in continuity with the profound and unchanging truths set forth in Humanae Vitae. As Reimers states, “Moral truths do not change, even if our ways to understand them improve.”
How, then, is our sense of the goodness or badness of contraception meant to be helped by such a development of thought? Ethics grounded philosophically tends to lean toward legalism in the context of moral actions, says Reimers, as it emphasizes conformity to God’s law understood only as rules, and largely overlooks “the relationship between moral behavior and the human person’s ultimate end of beatitude with God.” The important principle of the necessarily two-fold description that natural law gives to sex––namely, as unitive and procreative––must not be the definative end of the discussion regarding the moral nature of contraception. In an age where technology has given human beings new power it seems there must be new rules as well, and the conquest of procreative acts changes the human perception of the limitations once associated with harmful acts. Herein lies the importance of John Paul II’s catechesis––the goodness or badness of acts is not just concerned with end of a particular act. As Reimers
writes, “If we are to understand the complex relationships among love, marriage, and their sexual expression, we must situate these within the context of the end of the human being.”
A position on contraception and human sexuality cannot be comprehensive without a concept of love properly understood. Human acts must bring us closer to sanctity, not to comfort or possession. Holiness is the perfection of love, and its pursuit aims at ultimate beatitude. This end, the truest love human can know, is the end which ultimately condemns contraception once and for all, as “contracepted sex is contrary to holiness.” Reimers unpacks this sometimes difficult truth in eight chapters, which begin with love and conclude with faithfulness to moral norms and a spirituality of marriage.
The arguments surrounding contraception and “good sex” seem to have set the grounds for coherently choosing a side rather than to have succeeded in presenting certain human acts as definitively immoral. As Reimers notes, a natural law position on contraception often fails to employ its greatest ally: the reality of authentic human love and “victory” of the individual in one’s sanctity as achieved through that love. This work will reorient the objectives and claims of the moral debate, as well as influence the popular notion of what love is and what it cannot be. It is an aid to scholars, students and study groups, humanists, and those who seek to deepen the sense of love’s highest physical expression.
Freedom In Quarantine
Leonardo Polo, Daniel Bernardus, preface by Adrian Reimers,Adrian Reimers, Ph.D., South Bend, Indiana: Leonardo Polo Institute of Philosophy Press, 2020, 1-4.
Synopsis: This preface is intended to introduce the English-speaking reader to the original and rich philosophy of Leonardo Polo, whose work is becoming increasingly popular among young scholars in Spain and Latin America. Polo’s thought is rooted in ancient philosophy, especially Aristotle, but with a contemporary twist as he focuses on the notion of the person. His philosophy is expressly and deliberately Christian, as he insists that a proper philosophy must transcend the limits that modern thinkers have place on the mind and heart of human beings.
Calculus: The Notebook, 2nd edition
D.C. Arangno, Ph.D., Kendall-Hunt, 2020
The study of Calculus enables us to solve problems and articulate abstract concepts far beyond the theoretical reach of Algebra. The power of Calculus derives from the ingenuity and simplicity of its notation. This mathematical language allows the mathematician the freedom and immense versatility to accurately describe physical problems and the tools to solve them. This book consists of lectures on all the topics of a 3-course series on Calculus: Calculus I, II, and III. It can be used as a textbook, or as a supplement to other texts. Both students and instructors will find it helpful in elucidating the ideas and methods of Calculus.
The Comely Widow: The Crimes Of Serial Killer Belle Gunness
By John E. Thompson, M.F.A. (2021), Amazon.The Comely Widow details the life and notorious crimes of Belle Gunness, A Nor-
wegian immigrant and serial murderer that used the propect of sharing her large farm in La Porte, Indiana as bait in luring perhaps dozens of suspecting suitors with lonely heart sadvertsments throughout the midwest. Her eign of terror spanned from the 1880s through 1908 plaguing the Chicago and Northen Indiana area. Drawn in the style of early newspaper comics to reflect the era of her crimes and includes extensive footnotes detailing the research into Gunness' crimes as well as the comic artists and strips that the work is based on.
Book chapter: Becoming Vulnerable With The Vulnerable: A Pedagogy Of Hope For Incarcerated Students Of The Liberal Arts
By Alesha Seroczynski, Ph.DIn Pedagogy Of Vulnerability, E. Brantmeier & M. McKenna (Eds.), 2020, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Press.
Book chapter: One Foot In, One Foot Out: Senior Theses And Remote Internships In The Prison Space
By McDevitt, J., Seroczynski, A.D., Ph.D.
In Education Behind The Wall: Why And How We Teach College In Prison, M. Gellman (Ed.) 2022, Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press.
II. Journal articles
Marian Coredemption And Mediation In The Collection Of Marian Masses: Special Seasons
By Andrew L. Ouellette, MA, Department of Humanities
Journal article: Mariological Society Of America. Delivered May 19th, 2022.
Abstract: Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi. As this ancient adage reminds us of the interconnectedness of prayer, belief, and life, so too does it serve as a barometer to the Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary as it is lived out in her liturgical celebrations. Following the directive of the Second Vatican Council that “the liturgical cult of the Blessed Virgin be generously fostered” (Lumen Gentium, 67), the Congregation for Divine Worship published, with the approval of Pope Saint John Paul II, published the Collectio Missarum de beata Maria Virgine on August 15, 1986. Continuing with the liturgical reform that followed the promulgation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Masses that make up this Collectio shed greater light on Mary’s role in the economy of salvation through the use of specific Marian titles, the typological significance of Mary as “the Chosen Daughter of Israel”, and in the euchological texts for the various feasts.
This paper attempts to highlight those prayers and readings within the Collectio that emphasize Mary’s divine and ecclesial maternity with an emphasis on her maternal role(s) as Coredemptrix and Mediatrix. By focusing especially (but not exclusively) on the readings and prayers for Masses such as Mary and the Annunciation, Mary at the Foot of the Cross (I and II), and Mary as Fountain of Light and Life, it is shown that these Masses of the current Roman liturgy emphasis a balance of Christotypical and ecclesiological Mariology that in no way devalues a theology of coredemption and mediation. Through the prayers and readings of the Collectio, our liturgical veneration of Mary in her pivotal role in the work of redemption and in the distribution of grace can serve as a vehicle of motivation for the members of the Church on earth to, likewise, participate in the divine economy as coredeemers and mediators. In addition to a survey of the prayers and readings of the liturgies within the Collectio, this paper also examines the history of the various feasts and titles of Mary within the Collectio, utilizing a hermeneutic of continuity that allows the liturgies of the past to inform the public worship of today.
Henry Adam’s Protean Views Of American Empire, 1890-1905
By Angel Cortes, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Journal of Gilded Age & Progressive Era 21 (2022): 168-181.
Abstract: In the history of the Gilded Age and its geopolitics, Henry Adams has a reputation for being an imperialist. While not universally subscribed to by historians, this characterization has waxed sufficiently as to eclipse Adams’s more complex, even contradictory, record on the American Empire. The evidence I will marshal will not prove that Adams was actually an anti-imperialist, but it will reveal the protean nature of Adams’s views of the American Empire. To get a grip on this relatively unexamined aspect of Adams’s thought, I will analyze his correspondence during the last decade of the nineteenth century in which he criticized the extension of American power across the Pacific, particularly in regard to its political economy, religion, and civilization. With the onset of the American Filipino War, Adams raged at the news of American atrocities. This paper shows that Adams’s outrage was part of an incipient civilizational ideology, one that neither materialized into an attachment to the anti-imperialist cause nor accepted the vaunted superiority of the West. Even though Adams possessed no principle to guide his thinking on the empire, his pessimistic evaluation of the extension of American power is enough to reconsider his reputation as an imperialist.
The Institution Of The Family And The Virtuous Society
By David Lutz, Ph.D., Department of Humanities
Journal article: Journal of Dharma: Dharmaram Journal of Religions and Philosophies (India), Vol. 45, No. 3 (July-September 2020), 357-74.
Abstract: Ethical societies are composed of virtuous communities, supported by the social whole according to the principle of subsidiarity, and virtuous persons, ruled by just laws. The most important community in any society is the family; the foundation of the family is marriage. In traditional societies, although the institution of the family takes on various forms, it has ethical obligations and promotes the common good of society. Within liberal societies, marriage is transformed into a relationship between contracting individuals, who are free to choose the rules for their marriages. Because the liberal model of marriage is based on emotions, which frequently change, marriages are less stable and their ability to promote the good of society is diminished. Therefore, we should safeguard or recover the understanding and reality of the family as a social institution with ethical obligations. Members of liberal societies are not obligated to accept the liberal redefinition of marriage. Catholics can understand the cultivation of ethical societies as one way of responding to the universal call to holiness
Leadership, Management, And The Common Good
By David Lutz, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Örtenblad, A. (eds) Professionalizing Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Abstract: The one essential property of a true profession is that, when practiced properly, it promotes the common good. Other attributes of occupations that have traditionally been regarded as professions are accidental properties. Because it possesses the one essential property, the occupation of leadership and management is a true profession theoretically. It is not generally taught and practiced as a true profession, however, because it is not generally understood to be a true profession. It is imperative that we understand, teach, and practice leadership and management as a true profession, so that leaders and managers can actualize their full potential to promote the common good. This is especially true at a time when some of the traditional professions are increasingly considered to be branches of business.
Integrating The Liberal And Practical Arts
By David Lutz, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Catholic Social Science Review 23:75-92.
Abstract: Catholic colleges and universities should integrate liberal and practical education. John Henry Newman and Josef Pieper attempt, unsuccessfully, to distinguish the liberal and practical arts in terms of being ends in themselves versus having ends beyond themselves. Jacques Maritain, instead, advocates making all education liberal. The purpose of liberal education is to enable students to understand reality, so they can pursue happiness correctly. The purpose of practical education is to teach students how to earn a living virtuously. These purposes should not be separated. Students need courses that integrate a liberal arts discipline and a practical arts discipline within a single course.
Two Anthropological Errors According To Karol Wojtyla
By Adrian Reimers, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Philosophy and Canon Law, Silesian University, Katowice, Poland, 2021
Abstract: Throughout his philosophical writings and, indeed, into his papacy, Karol Wojtyła addresses and warns against two common errors in modern philosophy. The first is the reduction of our concept of reality to materialistic premises. In Love and Responsibility, he distinguishes the “biological order”, which is the order studied according to the canons of biological sciences, from the “order of being,” which is the order of reality knowable to metaphysics. This confusion leads to misunderstanding in ethics. The second error is complementary to the first and consists in what Wojtyła calls the “hypostatization of consciousness,” which is the reduction of personal experience entirely to the contents of consciousness. The historical roots of this error trace back to Descartes and his identification of himself as a “thinking thing,” whose body is simply an extended 3-dimensional solid in space and time. Both errors arise from a neglect or even a rejection of metaphysics, without which it is impossible to give an adequate account of the human being.
A Hidden Life Hides Too Much Of Franz Jägerstätter's Life
By Shawn T. Storer, M.Div., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Church Life Journal, University of Notre Dame McGrath Institue for Church Life, web published on February 18, 2020 (jointly published in print in The Catholic Worker)
Abstract: Article about the life and witness of the Catholic martyr and conscientious objector to the Nazis Blessed Franz Jägerstätter with an analysis of Terrence Malick's depiction of him in the film A Hidden Life.
Portrait Of The Writer As A Young Man: Thomas Merton’s Early Publications, 1931-1941
By Thomas T. Spencer, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: The Merton Seasonal: A Quarterly Review. Vol. 46. No. 2 (Summer, 2021). 3-11
The Merton Seasonal - Volume 46 - Thomas Merton Center
Abstract: Thomas Merton is one of the most well-known spiritual writers of the twentieth century. In the 1930’s, prior to entering the Trappist Abbey at Gethsemani, Merton published essays, poems, cartoons, book reviews, short stories, commentaries, and letters to the editor in school and university publications, as well as national magazines and newspapers. These early writings are significant for collectively they show a young man evolving and maturing as a writer, writing for different audiences, and seeking to discover the direction his writing would take. These early years as a writer were transformative in helping him later become a successful and prolific spiritual writer.
They Were Mine And I Theirs: The Shared Vision Of Humanity Of Thomas Merton And Richard Wright
By Thomas T. Spencer, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: The Merton Seasonal: A Quarterly Review. Vol 47. No. 1 (Spring, 2022), 14-18. The Merton Seasonal - Volume 47 - Thomas Merton Center
Abstract: Richard Wright, one of the foremost African American writers and novelists of the 1930’s and 1940’s, and Thomas Merton had much in common. They possessed a love for the vocation of writing and a commitment to promote through their writings the need for greater racial equality and justice. More significantly, they also shared a mystical, ideal vision of the unity of all people. Merton articulates this first in his famous recounting of an experience in downtown Louisville, as well as other writings, while Wright manifest it through his fiction, most notably a fictional character in his novel The Man Who Lived Underground. Although the two men never met or corresponded, Merton’s spiritual writings and Wright’s novels are remarkably similar in promoting the notion of the unity of all humankind. A look at each author’s works affirms they possessed a “shared vision of humanity.” Their writings remain relevant reading for today’s divided world.
Beneficial Effects Of Growth Mindset Of Intelligence And Growth Mindset Of Personality On Academic Achievement In School-Aged Children
By Cosette Fox, Ph.D. and Maria Barrera, Department of Social SciencesJournal article: Pedagogical Contexts 2020, No. 2(15), ISSN 2300-6471 pp. 25–40,
Abstract: Multiple research studies revealed the benefits of adopting a growth mindset of intelligence for students of all ages. However, few studies have investigated the advantage of having a growth mindset of personality or having grit on academic performance. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of grit and implicit theories of intelligence and personality on academic performance in fifth through eighth-grade students. Our hypothesis is that a relatively higher level of grit as well as a growth mindset would result in better academic success. Students were tested in their respective classrooms using questionnaires for grit, mindset of intelligence and mindset of personality. Quarter grades and standardized scores were obtained for all students on topics such as English, reading, language, math and science. Growth mindset of intelligence and growth mindset of personality provided a selective advantage academically to students on classroom grades and on standardized testing, particularly in verbal areas such as English, reading and language. Furthermore, mindset of intelligence predicted significant change in standardized math scores. Grit did not affect academic performance. Our results suggest that educational institutions would benefit from mindset interventions promoting a growth mindset of intelligence and personality in students.
The Effect Of Sucrose And Stress On Male Participants’ Memory
By Cosette Fox, Ph.D. and Maria Barrera, Department of Social SciencesJournal article: Michigan Academician XLVII (2021), 162–172
Abstract: Glucose has been shown to have a memory facilitating effect. The goal of this study is to test if sucrose, a carbohydrate consumed on a daily basis, would also enhance memory in male college students. Subjects were given either a sucrose (50 g) or a placebo drink (50.6 mg of saccharine). Subjects filled the Stress Indicator Questionnaire that measures five stress indicators: physical, sleep, behavioral, emotional, and personal habits. A slideshow of 52 IAPS pictures were then shown to the subjects followed by immediate and delayed recall tests and a recognition test. Even though we found no direct effect of sucrose on memory, the results showed that high fasting blood glucose level is associated with lower recognition memory. Furthermore, high sleep stress enhanced memory for immediate recall. On the other hand, high behavioral stress was detrimental for delayed recall and recognition. The differential effects of the different indicators of stress on memory is discussed in relation to changes in cortisol levels that may result in modulation of blood glucose levels which in turn can affect memory. The results of this study shed light on the effect of different types of stress and fasting glucose levels on memory.
Growth Mindset And Responses To Acute Stress.
By Fischer, E., Fox, C., Ph.D. & Yoon, L., Department of Social SciencesArticle: Manuscript submitted for publication. Cognition and Emotion Journal
Let's Read A Story!: Collaborative Meaning Making, Student Engagement, And Vocabulary Building Through The Use Of Interactive Read-Alouds
By S. Helbig, MA and S.V. Piazza, Department of Social SciencesJournal article: Michigan Reading Journal, 53(1), 6.
Abstract:The interactive read-aloud has long been a practice during early literacy instruction in schools and in homes. Reading aloud to children provides a platform for teachers or caregivers to model meaning-making interactions with text. Students are able to collaboratively engage in conversations to create a collective understanding of texts. Interactions during a read-aloud can foster engagement, create meaning, and promote vocabulary acquisition. This article examines current research that supports the use of interactive read alouds to engage learners in meaning-making processes and translates research and theory into practical recommendations for effective interactive read-alouds.
Freidrich Froebel (1782-1852)
By Shaya Helbig, MA and Laura Teichert, Department of Social SciencesArticle: In The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers, Geier, B.A. (eds). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Abstract: Friedrich Froebel was a German pedagogue working at the dawn of the nineteenth century and best known as the architect of kindergarten, in both design and name. Trained by Johann Pestalozzi and influenced by Jean Jacques Rousseau, Froebel helped to lay the foundation for modern education with his educational tome, Education of Man (1826). His writings have influenced how childhood is viewed and valued as he emphasized the unique needs and capabilities of young children. He advocated for a child-centered approach to learning and that play was fundamental in supporting children’s learning and development. He introduced the gifts (block play) and occupations (hands-on activities and songs), which were designed to support children’s autonomous learning, and remain key activities in contemporary early childhood education. At a time when women could not vote, Froebel advocated for women by championing their intellect and for their right to work outside the home as teachers of young children. He created training centers and supported women’s role in education as necessary. This led to women becoming agents of change for their gender, which ultimately led to female access to capital, informal and formal female networks, and a measure of authority. Ultimately, Friedrich Froebel is a chief architect of modern early childhood education and, almost 200 years later, his contributions remain present in early childhood classrooms.
Preschool Children’s Perspectives On What Writing Is
By Shaya Helbig, MA, and Laura Teichert, Department of Social SciencesArticle: The Third International Conference on Literacy, Culture, and Language Education, Indiana University School of Education October 15, 2022
Abstract: This exploratory case study investigated preschool children’s understanding of the purpose of writing. Multiple focus group interviews were held with four, four-year-old children in a midwestern US charter school. Currently, curriculum and policy emphasize writing as cognitive skills associated with handwriting and spelling. Emergent writing is defined as code-dependent (Common Core, 2010). References to the message (i.e., purpose) are done so in relation to encoding skills (MAISA, 2016). Socially constructed perspectives of emergent writing focus on the co-construction of meaning and expression
through writing (Wells Rowe, 2019). Research from this paradigm has described two-yearold children assigning meaning and articulating what their marks represent (Wells Rowe, 2008). The following research questions guided the study: How do these children assign purpose to writing? How do these children define writing? Data sources included focus group transcripts, video recordings, and participants’ artifacts. Data was analyzed using open codes to develop themes (Frost, 2011). Findings showed children eagerly engaged in drawing activities but lacked an awareness of the purpose of writing. They described writing as putting their name on a page or something a grown-up does. One child, however, understood the notion of message or purpose when attributed to drawing. She drew a dinosaur “to scare” the researcher. More commonly, children described writing in opposition to another skill. Writing was “not tracing—” a skill commonly encountered by these children as they completed handwriting worksheets. When shown photographs of people doing different writing or drawing activities, children could identify different objects in the photos, like “house” or “letters,” but were unable to identify the house as drawing and the letters as writing. Although the participants were young and may well develop an awareness of purpose, we wonder if the over-emphasis on measurable, discrete skills marginalizes children’s budding awareness to the reasons people write.
The West Is Rejecting Christianity And Sliding Relentlessly Toward Communism
By Deborah Arangno, Ph.D., Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesOp Ed: LifeSiteNews.com, June 2022
Abstract: Socialism is the politics of envy, an ideology founded on an essential contempt for humanity, therefore by nature it is hostile to the Judeo-Christianity identity of the West. Yet it has become heretical to question the foundational dogmas of Socialism, lest we appear scientifically ignorant, backward, or religiously fanatical.
On Pathological Science: Darwinian Evolution And The Devaluing Of Man
By Deborah Arangno, Ph.D., Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesOp Ed: LifeSiteNews.com, May 2021
Abstract: Questions regarding such theories as the origins of the universe, the emergence of life on earth, the meaning of human existence, and the concept of personhood are more pivotal to contemporary intellectual thought than ever before. These questions, which form the undergirding platform for the most existential controversies of our time, and the inevitable answers to these questions, wield momentous implications and consequences for science, technology, and society as a whole, profoundly impacting civilization and humanity itself.
In 1953, Nobel laureate Irving Langmuir coined the expression “Pathological Science” as the “science of things that aren’t so”. Nowhere is this more applicable theory than Darwin’s theory of evolution. Today, in academia and throughout all public discourse, Darwin’s theory is presented as fact, something clearly and definitively known by scientific authority – it is never questioned, never referred to as a hypothesis. From elementary school through college, students are indoctrinated by the dogma’s tenets, they are required to memorize its particulars and to recite its details on exams and in oral presentations without scrutiny
or critical analysis.
Darwin claims that an accumulation of slight differences through natural selection and mutation can produce the enormous differences among living things. But where is the evidence of such a claim? There are no facts to support Darwin’s claim. There is not even one example of a 'missing link.'
Mathematical Structures Applied To Metaethical Dialectics
By D.C. Arangno, Ph.D. and L.M. Arangno, Department of Natural and Quantitative Sciences
Journal article: Philosophia, 50 (4):1563-1577, Springer 2022
Abstract: This paper seeks to utilize mathematical methods to formally define and analyze the metaethical theory that is ethical reductionism. In contemporary metaethics, realist-antirealist debates center on the ontology of moral properties. Our research reflects an innovative methodology using methods from Graph Theory to clarify a debated position of Meta-Ethics, previously encumbered by intrinsic vagueness and ambiguity. We employ rigorous mathematical formalism to symbolize, parse, and thus disambiguate, particular philosophical questions regarding ethical ontological materialism of the reductionist variety. In this paper, we seek to revisit the once vexed question regarding the multiple-realizability of moral properties by employing the mathematical machinery of hypergraphs and category theory. The utilization of Mathematical formalism offers explanatory flexibility specifically to the hypothesis that there are potentially an infinite number of unrelated subvening facts which may constitute supervening moral properties. We by no means have attempted to settle the argument on the side of naturalism, but have only identified an obstacle to rigorous argumentation, and pioneered a method to eliminate it. We hope our research will be of interest to both the Analytic Philosophy and the Applied Mathematics communities, and will help facilitate discussions of metaethics, particularly pertaining to ethical naturalism. We believe there is much research yet to be done.
Mathematical Realism: From Intuition To Esoterica
By Deborah Arangno, Ph.D., Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesArticle: Academia Letters, Academia.edu, Article 925
Abstract: There continues to be a vibrant debate whether Mathematics exists as a body of knowledge only within the Human mind, a fabrication or invention of the Human intellect without any extrinsic reality, or whether it exists as some abstract truth to be discovered. This paper will argue that on the one hand the information gleaned from the process of science, namely knowledge, is intrinsically approximative, given the protean nature of the material character upon which this knowledge is based, whereas mathematics is that rational order undergirding the very material world we experience, in fact the structure of reality itself, to which we are privy due to a ratiocinative capacity of the Human intellect. When we study mathematics, we begin to understand the intrinsic relationship between facts and wisdom.
Nontypeable Haemophilus Influenzae Newly Released (Nrel) From Biofilms By Antibody-Mediated Dispersal Versus Antibody-Mediated Disruption Are Phenotypically Distinct
By Elaine Mokrzan, Ph.D., et. al, Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesJournal article: Biofilm. 2020 Nov 18;2:100039.
Abstract: Biofilms contribute significantly to the chronicity and recurrence of bacterial diseases due to the fact that biofilm-resident bacteria are highly recalcitrant to killing by host immune effectors and antibiotics. Thus, antibody-mediated release of bacteria from biofilm residence into the surrounding milieu supports a powerful strategy to resolve otherwise difficult-to-treat biofilm-associated diseases. In our prior work, we revealed that antibodies directed against two unique determinants of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) [e.g. the Type IV pilus (T4P) or a bacterial DNABII DNA-binding protein, a species-independent target that provides structural integrity to bacterial biofilms] release biofilm-resident bacteria via discrete mechanisms. Herein, we now show that the phenotype of the resultant newly released (or NRel) NTHI is dependent upon the specific mechanism of release. We used flow cytometry, proteomic profiles, and targeted transcriptomics to demonstrate that the two NRel populations were significantly different not only from planktonically grown NTHI, but importantly, from each other despite genetic identity. Moreover, each NRel population had a distinct, significantly increased susceptibility to killing by either a sulfonamide or -lactam antibiotic compared to planktonic NTHI, an observation consistent with their individual proteomes and further supported by relative differences in targeted gene expression. The distinct phenotypes of NTHI released from biofilms by antibodies directed against specific epitopes of T4P or DNABII binding proteins provide new opportunities to develop targeted therapeutic strategies for biofilm eradication and disease resolution.
Nontypeable Haemophilus Influenzae Responds To Virus-Infected Cells With A Significant Increase In Type Iv Pilus Expression
By Elaine Mokrzan, Ph.D., et. al, Department of Natural and Quantitative Sciences
Journal article: mSphere. 2020 5(3): e00384-20.
Abstract: Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) colonizes the human nasopharynx, but when the host immune response is dysregulated by upper respiratory tract (URT) virus infection, NTHI can gain access to more distal airway sites and cause disease. The NTHI type IV pilus (T4P) facilitates adherence, benign colonization, and infection, and its majority subunit PilA is in clinical trials as a vaccinogen. To further validate the strategy of immunization with PilA against multiple NTHI-induced diseases, it is important to demonstrate T4P expression under microenvironmental conditions that predispose to NTHI infection of the airway. Because URT infection commonly facilitates NTHI-induced diseases, we examined the influence of ongoing virus infection of respiratory tract epithelial cells on NTHI T4P expression in vitro Polarized primary human airway epithelial cells (HAEs) were sequentially inoculated with one of three common URT viruses, followed by NTHI. Use of a reporter construct revealed that NTHI upregulated pilA promoter activity when cultured with HAEs infected with adenovirus (AV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), or rhinovirus (RV) versus that in mock-infected HAEs. Consistent with these results, pilA expression and relative PilA/pilin abundance, as assessed by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunoblot, respectively, were also significantly increased when NTHI was cultured with virus-infected HAEs. Collectively, our data strongly suggest that under conditions of URT virus infection, PilA vaccinogen induction of T4P-directed antibodies is likely to be highly effective against
multiple NTHI-induced diseases by interfering with T4P-mediated adherence. We hypothesize that this outcome could thereby limit or prevent the increased load of NTHI in the nasopharynx that characteristically precedes these coinfections. IMPORTANCE Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is the predominant bacterial causative agent of many chronic and recurrent diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tracts. NTHI-induced chronic rhinosinusitis, otitis media, and exacerbations of cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often develop during or just after an upper respiratory tract viral infection. We have developed a vaccine candidate immunogen for NTHI-induced diseases that targets the majority subunit (PilA) of the type IV twitching pilus (T4P), which NTHI uses to adhere to respiratory tract epithelial cells and that also plays a role in disease. Here, we showed that NTHI cocultured with virus-infected respiratory tract epithelial cells express significantly more of the vaccine-targeted T4P than NTHI that encounters mock-infected (healthy) cells. These results strongly suggest that a vaccine strategy that targets the NTHI T4P will be effective under the most common predisposing condition: when the human host has a respiratory tract virus infection.
In Vivo Selection Of Highly Metastatic Human Ovarian Cancer Sublines Reveals Role For Amigo2 In Intra-Peritoneal Metastatic Regulation
By Y. Liu, J. Yang, Aris Alexandrou, Ph.D. et. al, Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesJournal article: Cancer Letters. S0304-3825(21)00048-3, 2021 (PMID: 33524500)
Circadian Protein, Period2, Regulates Low Dose Adaptive Radioprotection Via Per2/Pgsk3b/B-Catenin/Per2 Loop
By Aris Alexandrou, Ph.D., Y. Duan, S. Xu, et. al, Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesJournal article: iScience, Science Direct, Vol 25, Issue 12, 2022
Abstract: Radiosensitivity of mammalian cells varies in the circadian period and adaptive radioprotection can be induced by pre-exposure to low-level radiation (LDR). It is unclear, however, if clock proteins participate in signaling LDR radioprotection. Herein, we demonstrate that radiosensitivity is increased in mice with the deficient Period 2 gene (Per2def) due to impaired DNA repair and mitochondrial function in progenitor bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells and monocytes. Per2 induction and radioprotection are also identified in LDR-treated Per2wt mouse cells and in human skin (HK18) and breast (MCF10A) epithelial cells. LDR-boosted PER2 interacts with pGSK3 (S9) which activates -catenin and the LEF/TCF mediated gene transcription including Per2 and genes involved in DNA repair and mitochondrial functions. This study demonstrates that PER2 plays an active role in LDR adaptive radioprotection via PER2/pGSK3 / -catenin/Per2 loop, a potential target for protecting normal cells from radiation injury.
Reversal Symmetries For Cyclic Paths Away From Thermodynamic Equilibrium
By J. W. Biddle, Ph.D. and J. Gunawardena, Department of Natural and Quantitative Sciences
Journal article: Phys. Rev. E 101, 062125 (2020).
Abstract: If a system is at thermodynamic equilibrium, an observer cannot tell whether a film of it is being played forward or in reverse: any transition will occur with the same frequency in the forward as in the reverse direction. However, if expenditure of energy changes the rate of even a single transition to yield a nonequilibrium steady state, such time-reversal symmetry undergoes a widespread breakdown, far beyond the point at which the energy is expended. An explosion of interdependency also arises, with steady-state probabilities of system states depending in a complicated manner on the rate of every transition in the system. Nevertheless, in the midst of this global nonequilibrium complexity, we find that cyclic paths have reversibility properties that remain local, and which can exhibit symmetry, no matter how far the system is from thermodynamic equilibrium. Specifically, given any cycle of reversible transitions, the ratio of the frequencies with which the cycle occurs in one direction versus the other is determined, in the longtime limit, only by the thermodynamic force on the cycle itself, without requiring knowledge of transition rates elsewhere in the system. In particular, if there is no net energy expenditure on the cycle, then, over long times, the cycle occurrence frequencies are the same in either direction.
Allosteric Conformational Ensembles Have Unlimited Capacity For Integrating Information.
By J. W. Biddle, Ph.D., R. Martinez-Corral, et. Al, Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesJournal article: eLife 10, e65498 (2021)
Abstract: Integration of binding information by macromolecular entities is fundamental to cellular functionality. Recent work has shown that such integration cannot be explained by pairwise cooperativities, in which binding is modulated by binding at another site. Higher-order cooperativities (HOCs), in which binding is collectively modulated by multiple other binding events, appear to be necessary but an appropriate mechanism has been lacking. We show here that HOCs arise through allostery, in which effective cooperativity emerges indirectly from an ensemble of dynamically interchanging conformations. Conformational ensembles play important roles in many cellular processes but their integrative capabilities remain poorly understood. We show that sufficiently complex ensembles can implement any form of information integration achievable without energy expenditure, including all patterns of HOCs. Our results provide a rigorous biophysical foundation for analysing the integration of binding information through allostery. We discuss the implications for eukaryotic gene regulation, where complex conformational dynamics accompanies widespread information integration.
Thermodynamic Bounds On Ultrasensitivity In Covalent Switching
By Jeremy A. Owen*, Pranay Talla*, John W. Biddle, Ph.D., and Jeremy Gunawardena, Department of Natural and Quantitative Sciences
Journal article: Submitted to the Biophysical Journal (manuscript under revision).
Abstract: Switch-like motifs are among the basic building blocks of biochemical networks. A common motif that can serve as an ultrasensitive switch consists of two enzymes acting antagonistically on a substrate, one making and the other removing a covalent modification. To work as a switch, such covalent modification cycles must be held out of thermodynamic equilibrium by continuous expenditure of energy. However, a quantitative understanding of this energy requirement is lacking. Here, we exploit the linear framework for timescale separation to estab-
lish tight bounds on the performance of any covalent-modification switch, in terms of the chemical potential difference driving the cycle. The bounds apply to arbitrary enzyme mechanisms, not just Michaelis-Menten, with arbitrary kinetic rates and thereby reect fundamental physical constraints on covalent switching.
Faculty-Advisor Relationship Impact On Student Pathways To It Careers/Education
By Matthew Cloud, MS, BME, Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesJournal article: Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 37(4), 79-79, 2021.
Abstract: How do faculty and academic advisor relationships affect students in their decision-making process for careers and education choices in IT? We will explore findings from interviews of faculty and advisors for 8 Computer Science/ Information Technology programs at 18 campuses across Indiana in the Ivy Tech Community College on why students follow the paths they do, as well as the challenges and successes of advising within a community college.
Python, Devnet And The Cloud
By Cloud, Matthew, MS, BMEJournal article: Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges 35.5 (2019): 116-116.
Abstract: Learn how to get started with Python and the CISCO DevNet workshops for your classroom and why they are important. Understand how to work with AWS Cloud 9, DevNet, Python IDLE design environments and how they play into the future of networking and cybersecurity. Develop demo Python programs on API integration with chatbots and see how it can work with Big Data in real time.
Complaint As Reconciliation In The Literary Mission Of Robert Southwell
By Emily Ransom, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Precarious Identities: Studies in the Work of Fulke Grevel and Robert Southwell, 172–204. Edited by Vassiliki Markidou and Afroditi-Maria Panaghis. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2020.
Abstract: This essay explores St. Robert Southwell’s use of the popular English literary mode of complaint mode in his devotional poetry as strategy for reaching Protestant readers. In doing so, it corrects several misconceptions about Southwell that confine his target audience to persecuted Catholics and that connect his literary methodology to continental Europe, while also highlighting more broadly the neglected importance of English complaint poetry during the Renaissance period. Ultimately it shows the way Southwell capitalizes on the characteristic agony and suspense of the complaint mode as a self-conscious strategy to reach his Protestant readers during a period of intense religious turmoil.
St. Ignatius In The Affective School Of Ludolph Of Saxony
By Emily Ransom, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits 53.3 (Fall, 2021): 1–39.
Abstract: This article, published in the premier journal of Jesuit studies, is the most comprehensive study to date of the pervading influence of the medieval Carthusian Ludolph of Saxony’s Vita Christi on the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Because of a misplaced value of originality, Jesuit scholars have mostly neglected the obvious importance of the work that inspired the conversion of their founder. This article not only demonstrates that Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises are in fact of a systemization of the affective devotional method he encountered in the Vita, but uses those insights to shed new light into some controversies surrounding the interpretation of the Exercises, specifically in the role of the Contemplation to Attain Love and the purpose of the Fourth Week.
Passions And The Passion: Robert Southwell’s Mary Magdalene
By Emily Ransom, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Studies in Philology 121.1 (Winter, 2024) (accepted, forthcoming).
Abstract: This article explores the Jesuit martyr and poet St. Robert Southwell’s innovated approach to human emotions through the character of Mary Magdalene. While uniquely combining the topics of continental baroque poetry of the Catholic Reformation with the literary tastes of his English Protestant contemporaries, Southwell radically pushes against the neo-Stoic approaches to human passion in the consolation literature on both sides of the confessional lines. This article is the most comprehensive study ever written on Mary Magdalens Funerall Teares, Southwell’s most popular prose work that was published in eleven editions during the early modern period, in England and abroad.
Finding Bede In The Lindisfarne Gospels: Aldred The Scribe And 'Beda Ðe Broema Boecere'
By Chris Scheirer, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: forthcoming in Journal of English and Germanic Philology
Abstract: Aldred, scribe and priest of the community of St. Cuthbert at Chesterle-Street, is well known for his provision of a full interlinear English gloss into the magnificent book known as the "Lindisfarne" Gospels. His gloss is an invaluable source for the study of the history of Old English, and has rightly attracted much interest from scholars seeking to understand its grammatical and linguistic features. However, in addition to the interlinear gloss, Aldred also added into the book a number of longer marginal annotations which expand on or respond to the Scripture text in interesting ways. These marginal annotations have received comparatively little attention; in particular, with the exception of W. J. P. Boyd's important 1975 study, the sources upon which Aldred drew for his glossing activity is a subject whose parameters remain poorly defined. One thing, however, is clear — that Aldred honored Bede as a voice of authority, and cited him explicitly in his marginal gloss to John 19.38. Yet where precisely among Bede's works Aldred drew this reference is a question that has hitherto eluded identification. Presently, no serious suggestion has been offered. I argue here that the source may be confidently identified as Bede's poem De die iudicii. This identification, I further suggest, can be connected to Aldred’s poetic activity elsewhere in the book, notably in his colophon at the end of St. John's gospel, and enlarges our ability
to see him as a scribe/scholar deeply sensitive to the ability of poetry to express divine revelation and one who stands as a type of poet in his own right.
Carmina Spoliata: Late-Antique Inscriptional Verse In The Poetry Of Bede
By Chris Scheirer, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesConference paper: forthcoming in conference proceedings to be published by ARC Humanities Press
Pietas: A Case For Ethical Patriotism In Aquinas
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Journal of Politics 84.1 (January 2022): 541-553
Abstract:Contemporary models of patriotism struggle to reconcile robust political partiality with universal norms of justice. This article defends an alternative account of ethical patriotism based on Thomas Aquinas’s virtue of pietas, or dutiful respect towards country and fellow citizens. Aquinas’s sensitivity to the sociopolitical context of human development leads him to defend patriotism as an associative obligation. Yet he avoids the moral particularism or skepticism characteristic of most defenses of strong patriotism by presenting norms of justice as preconditions of common life, upon which the long-term stability of positive law depends. Consequently, the virtue of pietas takes an aspirational form; it aims not to preserve a flawed status quo, but to preserve political features that give distinctive shape to a political community while simultaneously pressing the regime to reground positive laws on a foundation of natural right.
Aquinas’s Theology Of Politics
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesArticle: Public Discourse (Oct. 19, 2022).
Abstract: William McCormick, SJ, has written a new and welcome interpretation of Thomas Aquinas as a political thinker. His reading of Aquinas suggests that the political common good, as an intermediary between human and divine things, is a subject for ongoing inquiry, sensitive to the exigencies of a fallen world. McCormick holds that the “pedagogy of politics” unfolds teleologically as a community—in and through common deliberation and action—comes to greater knowledge of itself and its own ends.
Not For Ourselves Alone
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesArticle: Virtue 7 (Winter 2021): 3.
Abstract: This piece was solicited by the journal editor for a special issue on the cardinal virtues. The brief essay reflects on the virtue of justice, and the way in which its other-directed nature cuts against contemporary individualist impulses. From the moment of our birth we are embedded in networks of relationships with others to whom we naturally owe duties and debts. I conclude with some reflections on how classical schools can contribute to formation in the virtue of justice.
The Life Of The Church Fathers: The Illative Sense And Personal Influence In Newman’s University
By Br. Robert McFadden, CSC, Ph.D., Department of Humanities
Journal article: A Word in Season, the Journal of the St. John Henry Newman Association of America
Abstract: In this paper, I examine how the Church Fathers influenced Newman’s understanding of personal influence, and the role it played in developing the illative sense of students at a university. From his reading of the Greek Fathers such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen, Newman came to a deeper appreciation of the Incarnation and was able to develop his theory of personal influence. In his analysis of the life of St. Augustine, Newman came to see that the love of God provides the students the capabilities of judging matters both in terms of mind and heart. By means of these two insights, Newman tried to educate the whole person. Thus, I argue that Newman sought to show how faculty must personally influence their students by means of the love of Christ so that they can train their illative sense and form communities of love.
III. Exhibitions
Angelo Ray Martinez, M.F.A., Department of Humanities
2023
» 3rd Biennial HCC Faculty & Staff Exhibition, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
2022
» The Art of Faith, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
» Around the Bend, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
» Becoming SBMA: Stories from our Collection, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
2021
» Open World: Video Games and Contemporary Art, Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Oklahoma City, OK
» Biennial 31, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
» New Visions (virtual exhibition), Vantage Art Projects, Vancouver, Canada
» Celebrating the St. Joe, Buchanan Art Center, Buchanan, MI
» HCC Faculty & Staff Exhibition, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
2020
Open World: Video Games and Contemporary Art, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
Angelo Ray Martinez, M.F.A.,: permanent collection
» South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN – Five works purchased for the museum’s Permanent Collection in Spring 2022
Angelo Ray Martinez, M.F.A.,: curatorial work
2023
» 3rd Biennial HCC Faculty & Staff Exhibition, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
2022
» The Art of Faith, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
» Spring 2022 Senior Exhibition, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
» 2nd Biennial HCC Juried Student Exhibition, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
2021
» Three in One: New Work by Teresa Phipps, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
» Spring 2021 Senior Exhibition, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
» 2nd Biennial HCC Faculty & Staff Exhibition, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
2020
» Shelter-in-place, St. Joseph Gallery, Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN
Stephen Barany, M.F.A., Department of Humanities
» Eyes Bigger Than Your Stomach, October 2022, guest lecturer and critic for the 2022 MFA Walkthroughs at the University of Notre Dame.
» Lord, That I Might See, July 2022, lecture and drawing workshop for
graduate students in the Echo Master's Program at the University of Notre Dame.
» Alphabet Mobile, June 2022, solo exhibition in the atrium of the Mendoza College of Business for the 2022 Church Communications Ecology Program Summer Conference at the University of Notre Dame.
» Chronicles of Transformation: A Spiritual Journey with C. S. Lewis, August 2022, Ignatius Press, contributed seven black and white illustrations of The Chronicles of Narnia.
» We Walk by Feel and Not by Sight, December 2021, self-published zine, accepted into the TL;DR Zine Archive at the D.B. Dowd Modern Graphic History Library at Washington University in St. Louis.
» The Church and Technology: Romano Guardini and Marshall McLuhan in Dialogue, June 2021, stage design and direction for Peter Berkman's oneman play performed in the theater of the Eck Visitors' Center for the 2021 Church Communications Ecology Program Summer Conference at the University of Notre Dame.
Melonie Mulkey, M.F.A., Department of Humanities
2023
» innermost, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana (Two-person show) *stipend award
» The National: Best Contemporary Photography, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, (Group Exhibition)
» “Annunciation” artwork was added to the permanent photography collection of the Ft Wayne museum of Art
» 3rd Biennial HCC Faculty & Staff Exhibition, St. Joseph Gallery at Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN (Group Exhibition)
2022
» innermost, A I AH I D Gallery, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana (Two-person show)
» On The Inside, Angelica Kauffman Gallery, River Forest, Illinois (Solo Show)
» Around the Bend, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana (Group Exhibition)
2021
» The Dreamer, Millepiani Gallery, Rome Italy (Group Exhibition)
» 2nd Biennial HCC Faculty & Staff Exhibition, St. Joseph Gallery at Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN (Group Exhibition)
IV. Talks
Conscience In The Thought Of Karol Wojtyła - Pope John Paul II
By Adrian Reimers, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: A Response to the Pontifical Academy for Life’s Publication Etica
Teologica della Vita, December 2022, Rome
Abstract: Examining Pope St John Paul II’s understanding of conscience I was able to draw upon his pre-papal philosophical writings, especially Person and Act. And his papal encyclical Veritatis Splendor (1993) was especially important for the light it shed on conscience. There were three main points to the talk.
First is that, as Thomas Aquinas said, conscience is not a faculty by is simply the application of knowledge to an act. Therefore the activity of conscience is to determine what is the truth about the good in a particular case. I don’t need to check on my deepest feelings to determine whether I should embezzle fund from my employer or engage in an adulterous affair. Instead I must look at the truth of the matter.
The second point is that the knowledge that conscience depends on is not simply a set of propositions (the 7th and 6th commandments, for instance) but is the entire nexus of truths and understanding in my mind. Ordinarily one doesn’t run down a list of do’s and don’t’s. We know what is right and wrong. This knowledge constitutes an ethos that we have learned from others and worked out on our own. This is tricky, because I may have learned some bad values. (E.g. the son of a slaveholder will probably have a distorted conception of human dignity). So, although we are influenced and even formed by the ethos if our society, we cannot accept it as infallibly correct. Indeed, we need to be critical of our own culture in which consumerism and pleasure are determining values. We need to be aware and critical of the moral values of our cultural ethos.
The third point was a look at Winnipeg Statement by the Canadian bishops right after Humanae Vitae, in which the bishops acknowledged (wrongly) that Catholics could “in good conscience” disobey Pope Paul VI. I examined this with an eye to seeing what resources a “hypothetical Canadian couple” might avail themselves of. Essentially, they would have to find an authority higher than that of the Church. In reality, they will avail themselves of the ethos of Canadian (and American) culture, which values reasonable pleasures, the avoidance of hassle and inconvenience, and so on.
I closed by citing JP II’s encyclical on the Holy Spirit, which teaches that we can rely on the Holy Spirit to illuminate our consciences.
Cybergnosticism And Integral Human Development
By David Lutz, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: Conference on Integral Human Development in the Digital Age, Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv, Ukraine, 26-28 February 2020.
Abstract: Cybergnosticism, a new form of the ancient religion and heresy of Gnosticism, is the hope that we will someday be able to achieve immortality by copying our minds to more durable hardware than the frail, feeble bodies with which we were born. This is a mistake, based on an incorrect understanding of what it means to be a human being.
Ubuntu, Liberal Individualism, And Justice
By David Lutz, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: Interdisciplinary Conference: “Ubuntu – A Comparative Study of an African Concept of Justice,” Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts & University of Colorado Boulder, 27-28 August 2021 (virtual).
Abstract: The reason Ubuntu is an appropriate philosophical foundation for human institutions and societies, not only in Africa but also in the rest of the world, is that it is consistent with human nature. Although some Western philosophers have rejected the belief that human nature exists, it is the reason there is only one human race. It is because all human beings share in a common nature that slavery and racial discrimination are unethical. Liberal individualism is inconsistent with human nature. The essence of Ubuntu is that what is good for the individual human is good for the human community, and what is good for the community is good for the individual. Only philosophical traditions consistent with human nature can stand the test of time. Since African cultures have endured for centuries, they are consistent with human nature. Ubuntu is consistent with Asian and European traditions that have stood the test of time. Liberal individualism cannot stand that test, which is the reason Western European and North American cultures are disintegrating. Ubuntu can serve as a guide, not only for Africa, but also for the rest of the world.
The Catholic Just War Tradition And Russia’s War Against Ukraine
By David Lutz, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: International Conference on “Religion and War: Modern Challenges,” Department of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine, 31 October 2022 (virtual).
Abstract: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unjust and Ukraine’s defense is just. Although Pope Francis has written that “we can no longer think of war as a solution” and has said that “wars are always unjust,” he has also recognized the right of Ukrainians to defend their country by military means. The tragic war between Russia and Ukraine is an opportunity to reconsider the relevance of the just war tradition to contemporary realities.
On Classical And Progressive Education
By David Lutz, Ph.D., Department of Humanities
Talk: Second Congress of Classical Education, Ministry of Education and Science, Warsaw, Poland, 16 November 2022.
Abstract: A debate between defenders of classical education, led by Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler, and proponents of progressive education, led by pragmatist philosopher John Dewey, took place in the United States in the twentieth century. Dewey argued that educators should replace the philosophical tradition of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas with knowledge rooted in a philosophy of experience and the methods of the empirical sciences. Despite the efforts of Hutchins, Adler, and others, progressive education prevailed, resulting in an educational system characterized by pragmatism and positivism. One reason progressive education was successful is that the tradition of classical education originated in aristocratic societies, with a distinction between the liberal and servile arts, while progressive education appeared to be more appropriate for a democratic society. What we need today is integration of liberal and professional education, so that all students, including students of business and other profes-
sions, can be classically educated and understand what it means to live a virtuous life while working for a living. Neo-Thomist philosopher Jacques Maritain can assist us in thinking about how to achieve this integrated education.
Social Emotional Learning: The Journey Of Niles Community Schools
By Ann Bigham, Ph.D., Department of Social SciencesTalk: MEMSPA 2021
A Wild Goose Chase: Differentiating Learning For All Educators
By Ann Bigham, Ph.D., Department of Social SciencesTalk: MiCoOp Summer Conference 2021
A Case For Change: How Assessment Data Can Improve Instuctional Responses
By Ann Bigham, Ph.D., Department of Social SciencesTalk: Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2021
What Do We Want All Kids To Know And Be Able To Do?
By Ann Bigham, Ph.D., Department of Social SciencesTalk: Andrews University Teaching and Learning Conference 2021
“They Were Savagely, Intellectually Curious”: Evaluating Rigor And Equity In A College-In-Prison Program
By:
Paturalski, L. & Seroczynski, A. D., Ph.D., Moreau College Initiative
Talk: Paper presented at the 47th annual Association for Moral Education, October, 2021, virtual.
Evaluating Rigor And Equity In College-In-Prison Programs
By: Paturalski, L. & Seroczynski, A. D., Ph.D., Moreau College Initiative
Talk: Paper presented at the American Association of Colleges & Universities, Washington, D.C., January 2022
“A Habit Is As Dangerous As Anything”: Incarcerated Student Perspectives On The Transformative Power Of A Liberal Arts Education
By Serocyznski, A. D., Ph.D. & Paturalski, L., Moreau College InitiativeTalk: Paper presented at the 48th annual Association for Moral Education, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2022.
Carmina Spoliata: Late-Antique Inscriptional Verse In The Poetry Of Bede
By Chris Scheirer, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: CLASP Anglo-Latin Colloquium, The Anglo-Latin Poetic Tradition: Sources, Transmission, and Reception, 2022 (Zoom conference)
Abstract: Ample evidence exists for the strong influence that Rome’s monumental poetry had upon the imaginations of early Anglo-Saxon pilgrims. Yet for all this, very little attention has been given to understanding how this Roman epigraphic verse, once it arrived in England near the end of the 7th century, contributed meaningfully to the development of a native Anglo-Saxon literary culture. This paper seeks to further our understanding of this development by examining Bede’s knowledge of Roman epigraphic poetry and the use to which he put it in his own poetic compositions.
"Hell And Hiroshima:" Vassily Grossman, John Hersey And The 'Not So Good' War"
By Thomas T. Spencer, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: Campus Wide Presentation. Indiana University, South Bend. October 27, 2022.
Abstract: Soviet author Vassily Grossman and American writer John Hersey were two of the most prolific and influential journalists of World War II. Grossman traveled with the Red Army from Stalingrad to Berlin, while Hersey covered the war in the Pacific as well as Europe. They produced two of the most powerful and influential histories of World War II. Grossman’s “Hell of Treblinka” and Hersey’s Hiroshima remain classic and timely works on the holocaust and the dropping of the atomic bomb. They were among the first to detail the horrific impact of those two events. They later published many novels set in WWII. Their writings detail much about what we know about World War II, and two of the more impactful and world changing events that demonstrate it was the “Not So Good War.”
Take And Eat: Re-Imagining Augustinian Friendship In Tolkien’s Fellowship Of The Ring.
By Br. Robert McFadden, CSC, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: De Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Annual Conference, University of Notre Dame, November 2021.
Abstract: Although many employ the word human dignity, it is difficult to come to a unified understanding of it in a fragmented secular culture. During his lifetime, J.R.R. Tolkien witnessed the difficulties of living without a common notion of human dignity. In order to recover what it meant to be made in the image and likeness of God, Tolkien adapted an Augustinian worldview, and emphasized that friendship is essential to human dignity, because it allowed individuals to answer a central philosophical problem: death. Taking his cue from this Latin Father, Tolkien shows that human beings assert their human dignity, when they see their own friendships in light of the Eucharist through myth-making. Therefore, I will argue that Tolkien learned from Augustine that maintaining human dignity means to overcome one’s fear of death by remaining rooted in the unconditional love of Christian friendships as offered in the Eucharist.
I begin by analyzing Augustine’s understanding of friendship as it is depicted in the Confessions. According to Augustine, a person exercises his human dignity due to his abilities to form friendships in Christ and to understand that God
created human beings as “literary creatures.” Events in a person’s life depends on God, and that the story of a friendship becomes real, if it is understood in light of the story of the Incarnation. By relating the stories of him and his friends, Augustine distinguishes between friendships which give life and those which lead to the death of the soul. In this way, Augustine shows how the story of Christ’s love, particularly as found in the Eucharist, enabled him to see the Church as the community of friends, which could raise one to new life.
With Augustine’s understanding human beings as “literary creatures” and friendship delineated, I turn to Tolkien and Lord of the Rings. Tolkien points out that human beings can reach God through the art of storytelling. Whenever human beings seek to reflect back the light of the Creator through myth-making, they are able to stare death in the face and assert their own dignity as creatures of God. Within the myth of the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien shows that the love of friends enables human beings to conquer their fear of death. Drawing upon Augustine, Tolkien indicates that the Fellowship of the Ring is the embodiment of friendship, because it seeks to unite one another in faith, hope, and love through the quest of destroying Sauron’s Ring of Power. As they undertake their journey, Tolkien emphasizes that the Fellowship’s friendships possess Eucharistic overtones, and thereby create the opportunity to affirm their identities as beings made for unconditional love.
In his life, Tolkien found a willing partner in Augustine for his own critical reflections. He internalized Augustine’s ideas in his works and daily life. This ressourcement demonstrates the value and fruit of the thought of the Church Fathers for the modern world. As a result, I will briefly conclude, by considering how Tolkien’s sanctification of myth and friendship in light of the Eucharist helps us to come to a deeper understanding of human dignity in the present age.
Ave Crux Spes Unica: St. Augustine And The Hope Of The Cross
By Br. Robert McFadden, CSC, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: Edith Stein Project Annual Conference, University of Notre Dame, March 2022.
Abstract: In the Confessions, St. Augustine sets out to show how Christ’s offer of unconditional love on the Cross moved him to join the Church. The Bishop of Hippo emphasizes that the Church, as the body of Christ, brings about the integration of the human person through its witness to this cruciform love. While Augustine offers many events of his life as evidence of this love, he stresses that he found it particularly when he dismissed his common law wife, the mother of his son Adeodatus. In this paper, I argue that this relationship with the common law wife and the subsequent abandonment of her by Augustine compelled him to see his life through the lens of Cross, and recognize his true desire for integration and community through membership in the Church.
I begin by analyzing Augustine’s understanding of the Church in terms of its capacity to recreate humanity through the Holy Spirit. For Augustine, the Holy Spirit is the love which the Father and Son show to one another. When the Holy Spirit is poured into the hearts of individuals, they can begin to practice the love of the Cross within their daily lives. As Augustine makes clear, this love can only be practiced, if a person comes to accept the need for the Church and the hope of God’s unconditional love in the most vulnerable moments of his or her suffering.
With Augustine’s conception of the Church delineated, I move to his relationship with his common law wife. As soon as Augustine sends his common law wife away, he makes clear that he sees her loss in terms of the Cross and creation. Despite the tragedy of his sin and the disintegration of himself, Augustine is still
able to hold on to the love of his wife and recognize his own need for healing. In seeing this love in terms of the Cross and creation, I show how Augustine’s common law wife stirs his imagination so that he sees the Church as the locus of true love and the community by which he can finally accept redemption through the waters of baptism and the blood of Christ.
Throughout his entire life, Augustine loved his common law wife and the mother of his son. He did not come to an understanding of cruciform love of the Church by means of a commentary or long treatise, but arrived at it paradoxically through the suffering of sin and losing a loved one. Augustine’s life and his relationships reveals that despite sin’s apparent power, Christ and his Church trains a new generation to overcome the objectification of the other and find the love of God not just in texts, but in the world he created, and the people around us.
From Death To New Life: St. Augustine And Christian Friendship
By Br. Robert McFadden, CSC, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: Faculty Research Seminar, Holy Cross College- November 2021
Abstract: St. Augustine came not only to understand the importance of friendship, but also that these relationships were key to rise from death to new life in Christ. In this talk, I explore how Augustine saw his conversion to Christianity in terms of friendship, and the way in which he tried to form a community of Christian friends in his first works known as the Cassiciacum dialogues. I discuss the influence of Cicero’s Hortensius, which taught him that friendship is agreement on divine and human matters in love (Laelius.20). In my analysis of the Cassiciacum dialogues, I analyze how Augustine is influenced by Cicero’s project, and tries to create a community of Christian friends by means of philosophical discussion through the love of the Holy Spirit. I conclude by showing that Augustine’s best friend is his mother Monica, because they are able to overcome their fear of death, and rise to new life in Christ through philosophical discussion inspired by the Spirit.
Knowing And Loving Christ: Augustine In Anselm’s Proslogion
By Br. Robert McFadden, CSC, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, May 2022.
Abstract: In this paper, I trace the Augustinism of Anselm’s Proslogion, by examining his theological method. Both Anselm and Augustine were devoted and engaged in philosophia, that is to say, the love of Wisdom. Pierre Hadot writes that that a way of life is at the heart of philosophical activity for the ancients and those of the medieval world, because it arises from one’s impulse to respond to existential challenges. By drawing upon Hadot’s conception of philosophy as “a way of life” and “spiritual exercises,” we are able to broaden our understanding of Augustine’s influence on Anselm, and see that influence both includes ideas but the theological method needed to justify those ideas. Within in his own life, Augustine invented the soliloquy and the confessions in order to come to a deeper understating of what it means to have faith and to comprehend the unconditional love of Christ. Similarly, Anselm dramatizes in what a way a Christian undertakes the proslogion. Within this paper, we will show how the proslogion is similar and different from the soliloquy and the confession in order to trace how Anselm was influenced by Augustine’s of theological method of “faith seeking understanding.” I will move towards the conclusion that Anselm blends the strengths of the soliloquy and confession together, and shows that the prayer and rational arguments found within proslogion show how the coherence to the narrative of one’s life
depends solely on God’s mercy enlightening both mind and heart.
Come Holy Spirit: St. Augustine And Christian Friendship
By Br. Robert McFadden, CSC, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesInvited talk: Augustine Institute, Dinner and Formation Night with the Master of Theology Graduate Students.
Abstract: St. Augustine is known as one of the deepest thinkers on friendship in the Catholic Tradition, believing that the best of friends are united together in love through the power of the Holy Spirit. Augustine prayed to God to send his Spirit upon him so that he could find a genuine community of friends within the Church and thereby live out his vocation as a bishop of Hippo in North Africa. In this talk, we shall explore Augustine’s journey of friendship as a gift of the Holy Spirit so that we not only can see the importance of friendship for him, but also understand our own vocation as ministers and evangelists in the Church today.
Reversal Symmetries For Cyclic Paths In Markovian Systems Far From Thermodynamic Equilibrium
By John Biddle, Ph.D., Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesTalk: Informal Statistical Physics Seminar, the Institute for Physical Science and Technology University of Maryland, Feb 13 – 14, 2023
Abstract: If a system is at thermodynamic equilibrium, an observer cannot tell whether a film of it is being played forward or in reverse: any transition between states, and any sequence of transitions between states, will occur with the same frequency in the forward as in the reverse direction. However, if expenditure of energy maintaining the system away from equilibrium changes the rate of even a single transition, such time-reversal symmetry undergoes a widespread breakdown reaching far beyond the point at which the energy is expended. System properties that are locally determined at equilibrium then come to depend in a complicated manner on the rate of every transition in the system. Cyclic paths, however, have reversibility properties that remain locally determined, and which can exhibit reversal symmetry, no matter how far the system is from thermodynamic equilibrium. Specifically, given any cycle of reversible transitions, the ratio of the frequencies with which the cycle occurs in one direction versus the other is determined, in the long-time limit, only by the thermodynamic force on the cycle itself. In particular, if there is no net energy expenditure on the cycle, then the cycle occurrence frequencies are the same in either direction in the longtime limit.
Discovering The Creator Through Science And Mathematics
By Deborah Arangno, Ph.D., Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesTalk: de Nicola Center 2022 Fall Conference, Notre Dame University, Nov 10, 2022
Abstract: “Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:7-10
Albert Einstein eloquently observed that “the most incomprehensible thing about
the universe is that it is comprehensible.”
In this paper I will argue that the universe is comprehensible, that the universe was conceived in such a way as to be intelligible to human reason, and that we are capable through our rational capacity to grow in an understanding of truth which redounds to a discovery of the Creator. Indeed, it is the scientist who attests to this transcendental reality beyond the physical world – by relying on the assumption that there is in fact an order in the universe. Logically speaking, if there were no order, science itself would be rendered moot.
Mathematics in particular relies upon an implicit faith that there must be some intrinsic order and logic to the Universe. Both the scientist and the mathematician are left to wonder at the rationality of the Universe, the symmetry and simplicity of its physical laws, in awe at the complexity and beauty of the real world those laws govern.
Furthermore, I argue that there should never be any disparity between knowledge gleaned by science and mathematics, and Revelation as obtained by Faith. In this wise we acquire wisdom, which itself transcends mere knowledge and the limits of Human reason.
Finally, I will hold that the existence of order in the universe bears witness to Truth, which arguably is absolute and objective; viz., that all reality has God as its first cause, it purpose, and its final end. Hence, it follows that the pursuit of knowledge is our natural desire for a vision of God. And it follows that as humans are spiritual, rational creatures made in the image of God (imago Dei), they capable of knowing and valuing self, others, creation and Creator. In the words of astrophysicist Paul Davies, “The equations of physics have in them incredible simplicity, elegance and beauty. That in itself is sufficient enough to prove to me that there must be a God who is responsible for these laws and also responsible for the universe.”
How Can We As Faculty Make A Positive Impact On Adjunct And FullTime Faculty Loading And Pay To Improve Student Outcomes?
By Matthew Cloud, MS, BME, Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesTalk: CCSC Midwest Conference, Oct. 2022
Escaping Gen Ed Hell
By Matthew Cloud, MS, BME, Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesTalk: Western Academic Support and Training Winter Conference, San Jose, CA, Jan, 2020
Student Decision Making About Programs And Careers: Pathways Into It Careers
By M. Cloud, MS, BME and M. Van Noy, Department of Natural and Quantitative SciencesTalk: National Council for Workforce Education, Oct. 2020
Nontypeable Haemophilus Influenzae (Nthi) Newly Released From Biofilm Residence Exhibit Unique Phenotypes
By Elaine Mokrzan, Ph.D., et. al, Departmentof
Natural and Quantitative SciencesPoster presentation: the 2022 ASM Conference on Biofilms, Nov. 13-17, 2022, Charlotte, NC.
Feeling The Life Of Christ: Ludolph Of Saxony’s Best-Selling Legacy On The Early Modern Press
By Emily Ransom, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: the Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, San Juan, 2023.
Abstract: As part of a panel from the NEH seminar “Printing
and
the
Book
During the Reformation,” this study explores the popularity of the Vita Christi of Ludolph of Saxony from the perspective of book history in order to understand the wide popularity of this medieval text throughout the age of reformations on both sides of the confessional divide. By studying the print history and signs of readership, we see evidence for a wide primarily lay movement of affective devotion within Catholicism that complicates simplistic characterizations of confessionalism, periodization, and the history of the emotions.
The Sacrament Of Suffering In Robert Southwell’s Mary Magdalene
By Emily Ransom, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: the Sixteenth Century Society Conference, Minneapolis, 2022.
Abstract: As part of a series of panels on literature and religion in the sixteenth century, this paper reframes discourses about sacramentality in St. Robert Southwell’s Mary Magdalens Funerall Teares in terms of contemporaneous disputes about the efficacy of tears and Catholic sacramentals. While the Funerall Teares was dedicated to a recusant woman discerning a vocation, Southwell was transforming medieval sermon into English grand style to connect his intended Protestant readers to the sacrament Christ’s body that the Magdalene could only access through her suffering. In Southwell’s transformation from medieval sermon to English literary grand style, he invites Protestant readers affectively into a sacramental view of human suffering with far-reaching influence decades after his death.
Defending Divine Sadness: More, Erasmus, And Ludolph Of Saxony
By Emily Ransom, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: the Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, Dublin, 2022.
Abstract: As part of a panel on Thomas More and Erasmus, I demonstrate that the fourteenth-century Ludolph of Saxony’s Vita Christi, a prominent text for both the devotio moderna of Erasmus’s youth and the Carthusians of More’s adulthood, offered the humanists a devotional and methodological grounding for the defense of superabundant passion.
St. Ignatius In The Affective School Of Ludolph Of Saxony
By Emily Ransom, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: the Sixteenth Century Society Conference, San Diego, 2021.
Abstract: This paper explores Ludolph of Saxony’s Vita Christi, the work that inspired the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, not only as meditative guide but also as literary theory. Specifically, I show how Ludolph’s affective meditations outlined a baptism of the senses that brought the extremities of human passion, especially grief and suffering, into service of the greater glory of God. In Ludolph’s incarnational aesthetic, affective meditation is an experience of intimacy, as Ignatius would articulate in his Contemplation to Attain Love and his third degree of humility. In affective meditation, love desires to share all things with the beloved, even suffering.
Combative Piety In The Margins: Robert Southwell’s De Magdalena
By Emily Ransom, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: the Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, virtual, 2021.
Abstract: This paper explores Southwell’s autograph manuscript translation of De Beata Magdelena, housed at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, as the provocation for his much longer and highly popular Mary Magdalens Funerall Tears. Comparing Southwell’s working draft to both the Latin original and the later Funerall Teares reveals his pioneering embrace of human passion and feminine devotion. This paper explores both the affective devotion of De Magdalena and the significant breaks Southwell makes from the Latin text for his English audience, particularly in giving the Magdalene more voice to express a combative piety valorized by the end of the Funerall Teares.
Classical School As Common Good: On The Merits Of American Educational Pluralism
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesInvited talk: End of Christendom Conference by Abigail Adams Institute, First Things, and the Zephyr Institute (Cambridge, MA). January 31, 2022.
Abstract: I was invited to speak on a panel specifically about the emergent classical school movement in the United States. In my paper, I compared the aspirations of contemporary classical schools to those of the Whig reformers who promoted the “common schools” movement in the early American republic. By distinguishing between two different conceptions of “commonness,” or unity, I draw some lessons about how to preserve classical schools as genuine common goods. I also offer my own typology of contemporary American classical schools and their motivating principles
The Virtue Of Hope
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesLecture: Metro Achievement Center (Chicago, IL). March 2022.
Abstract: A thirty-minute lecture to the young professional volunteers who tutor students at Metro Achievement Center, an after-school program that serves at-risk girls in Grades 4-12. In the lecture I reflected on despair as a characteristic sin
of our cultural moment, and the virtue of hope as the antidote. I define virtuous hope as a well-ordered desire for a future good that is arduous but possible to attain. I discuss the role of humility and magnanimity in bolstering true hope, and I offer some practical tips for how to form students in these virtues.
Deliberative Democracy In A Thomistic Key: Political Prudence And Consilium
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesLecture: Assumption College (Worcester, MA). February 17, 2021.
Abstract: What does it take to deliberate well about the common good? How do we recognize true prudence in our leaders? How can a medieval thinker help us answer questions today? In this invited lecture I reflected on the parallels between Aquinas' theory of prudence and the needs of modern deliberative democracy, and I offered some take-aways on how to grow in prudence as citizen and leaders.
Cardinal Francis George, The American Contribution To Catholic Social Thought, And Our Current Moment
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesInvited Webinar Panel: Lumen Christi Institute (Chicago, IL). April 17, 2020
Abstract: A panel commemorating Cardinal Francis George on the 5th anniversary of his death. In my presentation I focused on his conception of culture, and the mediating role of culture as the sphere where the Church exercises direct influence, whereas its role in politics is indirect.
John Paul II And The Dignity Of Work
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesTalk: Mary College at ASU (Tempe, AZ). January 23, 2020
Abstract: A 30-minute lecture on Pope John Paul II’s social encyclical Laborem exercens to the college students at Mary College, the Catholic studies program adjacent to Arizona State University. I introduce students to the objective and subjective dimensions of work, and the need to prioritize the subject as a person worthy of dignity. I also reflected on the concept of “toil” as the suffering inherent in work as a consequence of the Fall. I conclude with a reflection on the redemptive function of work when united to the suffering of Christ, and I try to offer some practical encouragement for students in their own work.
Invited presentation: ISI American Politics and Government Faculty Summit, February 2023. I will present on a book panel, offering reflections on a book by Kody W. Cooper and Justin Buckley Dyer titled The Classical and Christian Origins of American Politics: Political Theology, Natural Law, and the American Founding.
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesInvited presentation: Symposium on Transforming Culture, Benedictine College, March 2023. I will give a presentation on Pope Pius XII’s encyclical Mystici corporis Christi, on the mystical body of Christ, developing the political implications of the pope’s distinction among mystical, moral, and natural bodies.
By Theresa MacArt, Ph.D., Department of Humanities
Mason, J., Martin, K., Avalos, F., Romans, A. & Fox, C. (2022). Effect of Growth Mindset Intervention on Academic Performance, Academic Stress, and Grit. Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) Conference, Chicago, IL, USA.
“Arise, My Love, My Fair One, And Come Away:” The Use Of Scripture And The Fathers In Munificentissimus Deus
By Andrew L. Ouellette, MA, Department of HumanitiesJournal article: Ecce Mater Tua Vol. 7. January 1st, 2023.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to survey the sources used by Pope Pius XII and to make note of how (and if) his statements in Munificentissimus Deus are in harmony with the tradition of the Church – particularly from the patristic period. This is done in in three parts. First, the references that Pope Pius XII makes to the liturgy, early popes, and certain Eastern fathers is discussed highlighting the Holy Father’s insistence of these factors as serving a historical basis for a longstanding belief of the Church. Second, this paper briefly examines the purpose of typology in biblical exegesis and the use of typology in Munificentissimus Deus. This is done through a survey of certain Marian types mentioned in the papal document such as Ark of the Covenant, Queen-Mother, and Spouse. Third, this paper looks at the use of New Testament passages in Munificentissimus Deus and the appropriateness of these references. Within the sections that treat Old Testament types and the New Testament, the writings of some Fathers of the patristic period that reference these passages of Scripture are examined and compared with their usage in Munificentissimus Deus. Lastly, by way of conclusion, this paper provides certain questions related to ecumenical dialogue that need further reflection as we look move closer and closer to the eightieth anniversary of the dogmatic declaration of Mary’s bodily Assumption into heaven.
V. Book reviews
"Beneath The Varnished Surface: Review Of Signs Of Hope: Thomas Merton's Letters On Peace, Race, And Ecology By Gordon Oyer
By Thomas T. Spencer, Ph.D., Department of Humanities
Book review: The Merton Seasonal: A Quarterly Review. Vol. 47. No. 2 (Summer, 2022). 47-49
The Merton Seasonal - Volume 47 - Thomas Merton Center
Abstract: Merton scholar Gordon Oyer compiled letters from Merton’s many correspondents, some well known and others not, all dealing with issues of peace, race, and ecology. While many of the letters have been included in other published collections, he also includes unpublished letters from the Merton archives and other repositories. The result is a a well written and insightful contribution that furthers our understanding of Merton and his writings. Of particular importance are background sketches of the diverse correspondents that create a larger context with which to view Merton’s interest in these individuals and the topics they discussed.
Jimmy L. Bryan, Ed., Inventing Destiny: Cultural Explorations Of Us Expansion (University Of Kansas, 2019)
By Angel Cortes, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesBook review: Pacific Historical Review 89 (4), pp.621-622 (2020).
Ethan Schrum, The Instrumental University: Education In Service Of The National Agenda After World War Ii (Cornell University Press, 2019)
By Angel Cortes, Ph.D., Department of HumanitiesBook review: Pacific Historical Review 89 (1), pp. 162-163 (2020).
VI. Professional service
Clyde Ray, Ph.D.» Faculty Fellow, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute - The Johns Hopkins University, 2022-2023
» Panel Participant, "Great Philosophical, Political, and Economic Movements," with Professor Edwige Tia and Dr. David Lutz, Holy Cross College, December 2, 2022
» Panel Participant, "The Search for Truth in a Complex World,” Baltimore, Maryland, April 28-29, 2023.
» Served as peer reviewer for Rowman and Littlefield Press and Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas
Emily Ransom, Ph.D.
» Renaissance English Text Society, Secretary. 2022–present
» RETS is a society that exists to recover, preserve, and circulate early modern texts, with preference for texts that have never been printed or have never received second editions. Dr. Ransom is responsible for arranging meetings, taking minutes, running elections, facilitating the submission of sessions to three conferences, and advising the president on vision and direction.
» “Bearing the Wounds: A National Consultation on Restorative Processes in Response to the Church’s Sexual Abuse Crisis.” Professional consultation at the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN, September 15–16, 2022. Co-organizer with Daniel Philpott, Fr. Daniel Griffith, and Fr. Thomas Berg.
» With the other founding members of what would become the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative, Dr. Ransom helped to organize a national consultation with victim-survivors of abuse, victims’ advocates, restorative justice practitioners, scholars, and clergy, including bishops. This consultation was funded by grants from the University of Notre Dame and the University of St Thomas, Minneapolis, and it followed up on the consultation the previous year with both returning and new participants. The goal was to discuss concrete, practical ways that the Church could use the wisdom of restorative justice in its approach to ecclesial abuse for the healing of victims.
» “Formation Workshop on Trauma & the Abuse Crisis.” Formation workshops at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY January 12–13, 2022. With Fr. Thomas Berg, Timothy Lock, and Michael Vandergurgh.
» This series of workshops for seminarians focused on accompaniment of victims of sexual abuse, understanding sexual assault with adults, and developing a mature chaste sexuality. The seminar leaders approached the topic from the perspectives of psychology, theology, law (canon and civil), and personal experience.
» “The Truth Will Make You Free: What Promise do National Truth and Reconciliation Processes Offer for the Catholic Church’s Response to the Sexual Abuse Crisis?” Professional consultation at the University of Notre Dame, IN, September 23–24, 2021. Invited participant.
» https://danielphilpott.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Truth-WillMake-You-Free-Revised-Report.docx.pdf
» Funded by a grant initiative titled “‘Rebuild My Church’: Crisis and Response” through the Office of the President at University of Notre Dame’s Office of the President, this private consultation was organized by Daniel Philpott and Katharina Westerhorstmann. It brought together victim-survivors, clergy, restorative justice practitioners, scholars, and victims’ advocates to discuss whether the lessons from nation-states who implemented restorative justice practice to heal from heinous travesties of justice might have wisdom to offer the Church in dealing with the clerical abuse crisis. The report from the consultation is available online.
» Renaissance Society of America, Representative for Amici Thomae Mori. 2016–present.
» Initially appointed by the International Association for Thomas More Studies and later consolidating that position with the Amici Thomae Mori, Dr. Ransom has served since 2016 in arranging Thomas More panels at the Renaissance Society of America’s annual conference. In recognition of that work, Dr. Ransom was given the honorary title Amica Perpetua Thomae Mori.
Annette Romans
» Developing a School Culture Around Best Practices. September 2022March 2023.
» Facilitation of a Professional Learning Community series to support faculty and staff in the formation of culturally responsive educational practices.
Andrew Ouellette, MA
» Managing Editor, Ecce Mater Tua, Journal of the International Marian Association, 2020-Present
» Assistant Editor, Marian Studies, Journal of the Mariological Society of America, 2022-Present
VII. Research seminar
2020
Aug 27 - Cosette Fox, Ph.D.
“The Benefits of Involving our Students in Research Projects”
Sept 10 - John Biddle, Ph.D.
“Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics in Physical Theory and Biological Practice.”
Sept 25 - Emily Ransom, Ph.D.
“The Perils of Editing the Catholic Underground: St. Robert Southwell, SJ.”
Oct 8 - Michael Giles, Ph.D.
“Saints and Heroes: Augustine on the Love of Glory”
Oct 22 - David Lutz, Ph.D.
“The Dichotomy Between Fact and Opinion”
Nov 12 - Chris Sheirer, Ph.D.
“Bringing the Knife to Manuscript Treasures: Cutting-Edge Research into the Cotton Collection”
2021
October 5. - Adrian Reimers, Ph.D.
“The Philosophical Foundations and Influence of Veritatis Splendor”
October 12 - Matthew Cloud, MS, BME
“Success and barriers in students finding their path to strengthen our nation’s security and STEM fields”
October 26 - David Lutz, Ph.D.
“Ubuntu, Liberal Individualism, and Justice.”
November 9 - Emily Ransom, Ph.D.
“Uncovering the Medieval Roots of St. Ignatius of Loyola”
November 16 - Brother Robert McFadden, C.S.C., Ph.D.
“From Death to New Life: St. Augustine and Christian Friendship.”
November 30 - Deborah Arangno, Ph.D.
“The Traveling Salesman: Hamiltonicity, and Cycle Theory”
December 7 - Angelo Ray Martinez, M.F.A.
“Quest of the Steelhead: Faith and Art “
2022
Oct 7 - Mtthew Cloud, MS, BME, and Dave Lutz, Ph.D.
“Philosophical Anthropology: Technological Developments Through AI”
Oct 28 - Dennis Vandenberg, MS
Great Discoveries in Mathematics (GPS)
Nov 4 - Angel Cortes, Ph.D.
Great Turning Points in History
Dec 2 - Clyde Ray, Ph.D., Edwige Tia, Ph.D. candidate, and Dave Lutz, Ph.D.
Great Philosophical, Political, and Economic Movements
