Wonderfully Made @LUC

In a time where discrimination and violence against LGBTQIA+ individuals are on a rise, and where the source of much of this discrimination stems from religious belief, educational institutions, particularly those of Jesuit heritage, have a mandate to promote equity, inclusion, and social justice.

The purpose of Wonderfully Made @ LUC is to engage the LUC community on the issue of LGBTQ+ inclusion from the perspective of faith traditions and in a contemporary context of socio-cultural change, increasing legal issues at the state level across the country, and heightened political discourse around human rights. The screenings and subsequent panels and presentations of this event support our work towards teaching and learning in providing LUC educators opportunities to engage with their colleagues in the continual development of their pedagogical skills. The presentations and panels focus on themes of intersectionality, interdisciplinary perspectives on gender and sexuality, crafting inclusive pedagogical spaces, and contemporary challenges impacting LGBTQ+ communities, among others, highlighting the need for a critical analysis of how Jesuit and other religious institutions make space for and support LGBTQ+ individuals. These presentations as well as the talkbacks with the director and the producer of the film, also provide applicable ways of crafting belonging, enacting pedagogical equity, and advocating for the LGBTQ+ members of our educational community.

Wonderfully Made @ LUC overwhelmingly supports our Jesuit values of reflection and discernment: reflecting upon and critically analyzing how Jesuit institutions like ours have and have not historically made space for and supported the LGBTQ+ members of their communities, so that we might discern the best paths toward being true contemplatives in action by crafting belonging, enacting pedagogical equity, and advocating for the LGBTQ+ members of our educational community. This event, even further, promotes our institutional mission and the values of our Ignatian heritage towards magis (or a progressive excellence), a true cura personalis (or care for the whole unique person), and our orientation towards accompaniment and walking/working/laboring with our community of practitioners and learners towards a more transformational, equitable, and just world.

• LUC Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy
• LUC Institute of Pastoral Studies
• LUC Dept. of Theology
• LUC Dept. of Women's Studies and Gender Studies
• LUC Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures
• LUC Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
• LUC School of Social Work
• LUC Writing Program
• LUC School of Law
• LUC Center for Black Student Excellence
• LUC Mission Integration
• Pride in the Pews
• Howard Brown Health

Screenings: (90 mins + 30 min talkback w/ Filmmakers)

• 10:00am Film Screening (Damen Cinema)
• 1:30pm (Damen Cinema)
• 6:00pm (Sister Jean Multipurpose Room - Open to the public)

Ecumenical Prayer Service: 5:00pm, Open to the public

• Holy Rosary Chapel - Saint Joseph's Hall, Lake Shore Campus (1120 W Loyola Ave)

Panels & Presentations: Sister Jean Multi-Purpose Room, Damen Student Center

(see panel & presentation details in the drop-down below)

• 10:30am to 11:45am
• 12:00pm to 1:15pm
• 1:30pm to 2:45pm
• 3:00pm to 4:15pm

Art Gallery: Open 12:00pm - 8:00pm

• Damen Student Center, 2nd Floor

10:30am to 11:45am:

• Sacred Scriptures and LGBTQ+ Persons (Location: Sr. Jean MPR South)
  • Dr. Devorah Schoenfeld, Dept. of Theology, Scholar of Scripture and Jewish-Christian Relations
  • Dr. Marcia Hermansen, Dept. of Theology, Director of Islamic World Studies
  • Dr. Olivia Stewart Lester, Dept. of Theology, Scholar of New Testament

11:00am to 12:00pm:

• Queering Christianity Past and Present (With LUC, Theology PhD Students) (Location: Sr. Jean MPR North)
  • Evan Marsolek
  • Megan Wines
  • Zaccary Haney

12:00pm to 1:15pm:

• Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality (Location: Sr. Jean MPR South)
  • Dr. Héctor García Chávez, LUC Women's Studies & Gender Studies and Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures
  • Dr. Betsy Hemenway, Director, Women's Studies & Gender Studies
  • Dr. Susana Cavallo, Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures
  • Dr. Hille Haker, Dept. of Theology, Richard McCormick S.J. Endowed Chair of Catholic Moral Theology
• Crafting Belonging, Creating Inclusive Spaces (Location: Sr. Jean MPR North)
  • Justin D. Wright, Anti-Oppressive Pedagogies Specialist, LUC Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy
  • Lauren Schwer, LUC Director of Ignatian Spirituality
  • Dr. Dana K. Harmon, Clinical Associate Professor, LUC School of Social Work
  • Morgan Ransom, Coordinator, Center for Black Student Excellence
  • Orion Elrod, Graduate Intern - QUEST/Q-Initiatives, Center for Diversity & Inclusion

1:30pm to 2:45pm:

• Understanding the Legal Challenges Impacting LGBTQ+ Communities (Location: Sr. Jean MPR South)
  • Dr. Sacha Coupet, Professor of Law, LUC Law School
  • Rev. Jennifer Harris Dault, Public Advocate for LGBTQ+ Persons
• Religion's Profound Impact on Health and Heart: Acknowledging Trauma and Aspiring to Life-Giving, Spiritual Inclusivity (organized by LUC’s School of Health Sciences and Public Health) (Location: Sr. Jean MPR North)
  • Rev. Don Abram, M.Div., Pride in the Pews
  • Devona Alleyne, LPC, M.Div./MAPC, Institute of Pastoral Studies
  • Cecilia Hardacker, MSN, RN, CNL, Director of Education, Howard Brown Health
  • Donovan D. Meachem, Sophomore, Quinlan School of Business, LUC
  • Facilitators: Cynthia P. Stewart, M.Div., PhD & Kim Rusk, EdD, MSHS, BSN, RN, Parkinson SHSPH, LUC

3:00pm to 4:15pm:

• Why Queer Catholic Theology? (Location: Sr. Jean MPR South) 
  • Dr. Aana Vigen, LUC Dept. of Theology
  • Dr. Craig Ford, Theology and Religious Studies, St. Norbert College (Wisconsin)
  • Dr. Adam Beyt, Theology and Religious Studies, St. Norbert College (Wisconsin)
  • Dr. Miguel Diaz, LUC John Courtney Murray, S.J University Chair in Public Service
• Remembering Original Holiness: Coming Out as a Gay Catholic (Location: Sr. Jean MPR North)
  • Kevin Pease, LUC Institute of Pastoral Studies, Director of the IPS Scripture School

• LUC Libraries
• LUC LGBTQ CLC Group (Campus Ministry)
• LUC Center for Experiential Learning (CELTS)
• LUC Institute of Pastoral Studies
• Center On Halsted
• Pride in the Pews
• Howard Brown Health
• AGLOChicago
• Dignity/Chicago
• Urban Village Church
• The Inclusive Collective
• Church of the Atonement
• Keshet
• Erie Family Health