Fall 2022 Perspectives Faculty Updates
Paul Schutz
Paul Schutz and Julie Hanlon Rubio’s report Beyond Bad Apples, about sexual abuse and clericalism, was published in August.
Eugene Schlesinger
Gene Schlesinger presented "Per Crucem Ad Deum: Mysticism, Charity, and Catholic Renewal in Henri de Lubac" at the conference, "Catholicity as Gift and Task: The 50th Anniversary of Communio" at St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, NY (September 30–0ctober 2, 2022). The paper was essentially the thesis of his forthcoming Salvation in Henri de Lubac: Divine Grace, Human Nature, and the Mystery of the Cross (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023). In addition, he has been appointed to the Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations. He will be in this post through the next two triennia between General Conventions of The Episcopal Church.
Cathleen Chopra-McGowan
Cathleen Chopra-McGowan delivered a talk at Stanford University's Structured Learning Experience program titled "Covenants and the Hebrew Bible." The talk was for the SLE's first year Great Books-style program, and Cathleen had a great time introducing the Hebrew Bible with its complicated ideas of covenant, sacrifice, and divine competitiveness. In addition, was a guest on a podcast, Almost Good Catholics, where she spoke about the Bible in its Near Eastern context, the things that it shares (and indeed, directly borrows) with its neighbors, and the features that set it apart. It was made all the more memorable by the earthquake right in the middle, which saw Cathleen running across the screen to take cover, with Uma under one arm and our dog Charlotte under the other!
Daniel Morgan
Daniel Morgan delivered a paper at the Annual Conference on South Asia at UW-Madison entitled "An (Im)perfect Man: The Trials and Tribulations of Nur Allah Budhanwi" considering the various intellectual, spiritual and financial pressures on a Muslim legal scholar and Naqshbandi Sufi in 18th-century India.
David DeCosse
David DeCosse published an a piece titled "Church teaching on the dignity of women changed my mind about criminalizing abortion" in the August 4 edition of the National Catholic Reporter. David DeCosse Explores Catholicism, Conscience in Books and Lectures. Through the generosity of Mike and Phyllis Shea, David DeCosse has spearheaded a project focused on a contextual understanding of the theology of conscience and Catholicism. This project has resulted in three books, each of which features articles and essays written by important figures in the fields of theology and Catholic thinking. The books, focusing on education, health care, and cultural appropriations of conscience, have been released over the last several years.In addition to these books, DeCosse hosted a presentation entitled Conscience and Catholicism: A Moral Tradition in Renewal that discussed the impact of Pope Francis' tenure and cases concerning LGBTQ+ rights within the Catholic church.
Haruka Umetsu Cho
Haruka Umetsu Cho has been chosen to participate in the Wabash Center’s 2023 Hybrid Teaching and Learning Workshop for Early Career Faculty of Asian Descent. The workshop runs from March through October of 2023. Haruka also had an article published: “Engaging the World as ‘Onna’ and Religious Minority: Second Wave Feminism and Christian Social Activism in Japan during the 1970s,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 38, no. 1 (2022): 185-203.
James Bennett
James Bennett presented at paper at the first meeting of the 2022-2023 Symposium on Religion in the North American West, which took place Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at SMU's satellite campus in Taos, New Mexico. His paper was titled "The West Coast Origins of the Modern Anticult Movement." He also served as a respondent for one of the sessions. The Symposium is sponsored by the The Williams P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. The cohort will meet twice and produce an edited volume based its work.
Kevin Chaves
Kevin Chaves delivered a paper titled “The Poetic Horizon: Metaphor and Manifestation in Ricoeur’s Theory of Religious Language” at the Annual Society for Ricoeur Studies at CSU Dominguez Hills, which explores the role of the “horizon” as a philosophical metaphor in Paul Ricoeur’s theory of language, examining the metaphor’s unique ability to gather together various thematic elements of absence, presence, tension, and transcendence that Ricoeur draws on in his analysis of religious speech.
Sally Vance-Trembath
Sally Vance-Trembath completed the SCU Center for Sustainability’s summer online professional development course on how to integrate sustainability across the curriculum. She successfully integrated sustainability into hersection of TESP 2 - Magicians, Athletes and God: Theology in an Ignatian Key. We appreciate how you’ve incorporated sustainability into your course in creative and thoughtful ways, while continuing to fulfill the learning objectives for your department.
Teresia Hinga
Teresia Hinga has accepted an invitation by Francis Clooney, president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, to be a part of the CTSA Centennial Celebration Committee chaired by Chrsitine Hinze of Fordham University. She is also a member of the CTSA peacebuilding Interest group chaired by Eli Mcaacrthy of Georgetown university. In addition, she has submitted an articlen on the Circle of Concerned African Woman Theologians for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Feminist Thelogy.