LECTURES

Fall 2022

Monday, September 19th | Reception 6:45 p.m | Lecture 7:15 p.m. | CSC Classroom

LESSONS FROM HIPPO: READING AUGUSTINE'S CITY OF GOD IN A TIME OF CRISIS

Professor Michael Allen, Reformed Theological Seminary

Join us as we welcome Dr. Michael Allen, professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, for a reception and evening lecture on the contemporary  significance of St. Augustine's City of God. 

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Description: The glorious city of Rome was invaded in August 410, leading to a new sense of vulnerability and an unsettled posture toward the future. Augustine wrote The City of God to respond to non-Christians regarding widely-circulating criticisms ofChristianity and also to school Christians about how to bear up in the tumults of turbulent times. We do well to learn from both of those aims as we think about apologetics and about discipleship in similarly turbulent times of crisis.

Thursday, October 13th at 7:00 p.m.| CSC Classroom

RETHINKING SEX: A PROVOCATION

Christine Emba, Washinton Post 

Reaching back to the wisdom of thinkers like Thomas Aquinas and Andrea Dworkin, and drawing from sociological studies, interviews with college students, and poignant examples from her own life, Emba calls for a more humane philosophy, one that starts with consent but accounts for the very real emotional, mental, social, and political implications of sex—even, she argues, if it means saying no to certain sexual practices or challenging societal expectations altogether.

Christine Emba is a columnist for The Washington Post writing about ideas and society. Prior, she was the Hilton Kramer Fellow in Criticism at the New Criterion and a deputy editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, focusing on technology and innovation.

Thursday, November 3rd at 7:00 p.m.| CSC Classroom

RE-VISITING DIGITAL EFFICACY: REDEEMING PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN AN AGE OF EXPEDIENCE

Dr. Stephanie Bennett, Palm Beach Atlantic University

Civility is not about being “nice.” It involves clearer, deeper understanding of who we are and how we envision our world. Since the emergence of Web 2.0 the interactivity of the Internet has connected us more quickly and broadly to our neighbors than at any other time in the history of civilization, yet our communication practices have suffered increasingly. Social Media create an environment that allow for new opportunities to be neighborly but have also opened the door to the worst in human behavior. While there is no easy fix for our broken and polarized public sphere, there is a grounding, a wealth of best practices, and hope for humanity in this digital age.

Dr. Bennett is Professor of Communication and Media Ecology at Palm Beach Atlantic University in South Florida, where for nearly 20 years she has been teaching, writing, and mentoring undergraduate students. There she also directs Wordship, an initiative that seeks to set the pace for healing a polarized public.

Thursday, November 10th at 7:00 p.m.| CSC Classroom

A ROMAN CHRISTIAN LAUGHS AT DEATH: GAMES AT PLAY ON A SARCOPHAGUS

Linda Fuchs

What do the designs of a famous 3rd-century Roman sarcophagus tell us about Christian attitudes toward death? The “Jonah sarcophagus” features biblical texts, early Christian writings, plus Roman essays on astronomy and on how humor works in language. Of the rhetorician Quintilian’s 35 ways to build verbal humor, 12 appear on the sarcophagus. The designs also suggest­­­ games such as rebus, crossword, or even ‘peek-a-boo’ to perceive the shape and names of “invisible” constellations when “invisibility” was understood to be an attribute of the pre-incarnate Logos. Constellation names then circle back to verbal wordplay. All of which leads us to ask, Why create such elaborate games in connection with death? Who could laugh at death? 

Linda Fuchs is a research art historian focusing on early Christian art. Her academic background comes through Wheaton College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, the University of Chicago, and Cornell University.