Fall Preview: Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism

Benjamin J. Wetzel

(on behalf of the Cushwa Center)

As usual, the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame is hosting a lineup of events this fall that will be of wide interest to scholars of American religion.  All of the events are free and open to the public.

1) Lecture and Panel: “Land O’Lakes and Its Legacy” | Sep. 5
In 1967, Notre Dame President Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C. convened a group of Catholic educators at Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin to discuss the role of academic freedom in the modern Catholic university.  This year, the 50th anniversary of the conference, provides an appropriate occasion to reflect on the landmark report they produced, which came to be known as the Land O’Lakes Statement.  The event will feature a lecture by John T. McGreevy, I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters and professor of history at the University of Notre Dame; and a panel discussion featuring five presidents of Catholic universities.  Details here.

2) Hibernian Lecture: “The Struggle for Ireland’s Soul: Catholics Under the Penal Laws” | Sep. 22
The lecture will be delivered by Ian McBride, Foster Professor of Irish History at Hertford College, University of Oxford.  Details here

3) Seminar in American Religion | Oct. 7
This semester the seminar will discuss Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870 (Knopf, 2017).  In addition to Professor Ulrich, commentators will include Patrick Mason (Claremont Graduate University) and Linda Przybyszewksi (University of Notre Dame).  Details here

4) Cushwa Center Lecture: “Father John Zahm in the Founding of Notre Dame” | Nov. 3
The lecture will be delivered by Father Thomas Blantz, C.S.C., professor of history emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, and will be part of a series of events commemorating the 175th anniversary of the founding of Notre Dame.  Details here

5) Book Panel: “Catholicism and American Borders in the Gothic Literary Imagination” | Nov. 16
This book panel, co-sponsored by Latin American/North American Church Concerns, will feature Farrell O’Gorman, professor of English at Belmont Abbey College and author of Catholicism and American Borders in the Gothic Literary Imagination (University of Notre Dame Press, 2017).  Details here

For those who can’t attend, Cushwa’s YouTube channel now features video of most center events.  Subscribe to see videos for these and other events when they’re posted.

Please direct any questions to [email protected].  We look forward to seeing you at these events!

A Group Blog on American Religious History and Culture