Fordham University has hosted numerous lectures in the past few weeks.
In "The Sense of Beauty and the Talk of God," Dr. Alejandro Garcia-Rivera argued that "talk" of God finds its most profound depth in the sense of beauty. He defined this sense of beauty as a spiritual sense of the beautiful that has not been recognized by philosophical aesthetics or art criticism. It is the basis for what has been called theological aesthetics. Dr. Garcia-Rivera illustrated this theological aesthetics with two examples: a holy card of St. Martin de Porres and the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Udell, Fordham's curator of artworks, lectured on "Highlights of the Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art" on Wednesday, March 5 at 3:00 p.m. in Flom Auditorium. The lecture was co-sponsored by the Classics Department and the University Library. Among the highlights she discussed were a black-figure Athenian hydra from the late sixth century B.C., a marble head of the Roman emperor Hadrian probably from Syria and a bronze head of the emperor Caracalla from Asia Minor.
Several Fordham professors and students spoke at the "Do You See Color?" forum. Dr. Mark Naison, a professor of African American studies and history who calls himself a "hip-hop scholar," began by talking about how difficult it is for many white people to discuss their experiences with race. He asked the white students in the audience to "interrogate [their] own whiteness," and to "deal with [their] racial identities." He urged white students to join their fellow black students in dealing with race in order for them all to become one unit. Dr. Jacqueline Johnson also spoke, discussing how race in our society is "a structural construct as much as it is ideological." The students who spoke addressed various issues such as white privilege and the separation within the black community. After the brief lectures, everyone in attendance broke up into small groups of about seven people, and discussed their own experiences with racism.
In order to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of New York, the archdiocese, along with The Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies, sponsored the Bicentennial Lecture Series, a series of lectures that will be held at the Fordham campuses. The first of these talks was a lecture on the history of the archdiocese relating to its Irish immigrant members. Dr. John McCarthy, a professor emeritus of history and the former director of the Center of Irish Studies, gave an informative lecture in which he discussed, among other things, whether or not the Catholic Church in New York was too Irish, and whether or not the Irish in New York were too Catholic. McCarthy discussed many prominent Irish figures in the history of the archdiocese, but he did not neglect to stress the importance and holiness of the Irish immigrant parishioners whose names have now faded from memory. The next lecture in the series will be titled "The Women Religious and the Shaping of New York Catholicism," by Dr. Bernadette McCauley, associate professor of history at Hunter College. It will take place on Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. in Duane Library.
Reporting by Dr. Kezel, Dr. Penella and Caitlin McElroy.
2008 Woodie Awards
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