Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage (CCIH)

This year, the Joan and Bill Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage (CCIH) has undertaken a series of new initiatives to further the mission of the Center, which seeks to help faculty and students recognize and integrate Roman Catholic thought into all academic disciplines in the university. These initiatives take the form of two new lecture series and two new international projects.

The Cardinal Newman Lecture Series. This new lecture series is named after the great 19th century English prelate, John Henry Cardinal Newman, and intends to offer Catholic scholars ways to understand the datum of religious faith in light of the contemporary issues facing modern life, just as Newman himself did almost 150 years ago. The inaugural lecture in this series was given in February 2013 by Dr. James Garbarino (right) of Loyola’s Department of Psychology.

Catholicism and the Arts Series. This new lecture series is designed to promote cultural productions, both classical and contemporary, that illuminate the rich tradition of art in the Catholic heritage. The inaugural lecturer for Catholicism and the Arts was world-renowned soprano, Delia Surratt (left), who gave a lecture on March 13 and a performance on March 14, 2013.

Restored Jesuits and the American Experience. This project, which will culminate in a conference in October 2014 marking the bicentennial of the Restoration of the Society of Jesus, aims at locating works – of both Jesuits and their colleagues from women’s religious orders – within the specific experiential context of building the American nation. Different from the European experience, the American Jesuit experience is largely marked by the story of church-state conflict in an age of nationalism. This project will offer insight into, and analysis of, this experience from some of the field’s leading scholars. Blog: http://blogs.lib.luc.edu/jesuitrestoration2014/

Chicago Catholic Immigrants Project. This multi-year project will focus on the historical, cultural, and religious roles that Roman Catholicism played in sustaining ethnic identity for the many immigrant populations that have come to Chicago in the 20th century. In collaboration with Catholic artists and religious leaders, scholars from the fields of ethnic studies, urban and cultural history, literature and language, theology, and the sociology of religion will examine the role of Catholicism in the integration of Catholic immigrants into American society. Blog: http://blogs.lib.luc.edu/ccic/

CCIH would also like to acknowledge the work of our newest staff member – Dr. Michael Murphy (right). An instructor in the Department of Theology, and the Director of the Catholic Studies Minor (CSM), Dr. Murphy recently gave a lecture on Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale at CCIH – an event that was very well attended by LUC faculty and students. Dr. Murphy looks forward to expanding the Catholic Studies Minor and developing new programing in response to student needs and interests.

For more information on all CCIH events, please visit www.luc.edu/ccih.