News

Martin Nowak

Martin Nowak, director of Harvard University’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, will give a lecture on “God and Evolution,” Monday, March 18 at 4:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library, Smith Hall at the College of the Holy Cross. The lecture, presented by the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at Holy Cross, is free and open to the public.

Nowak, who is a professor of both biology and mathematics at Harvard, works on the mathematical description of evolutionary processes including the evolution of cooperation and human language, the dynamics of virus infections, and human cancer. Among Nowak’s major discoveries are: the mechanism of HIV disease progression, the first mathematical approach for studying the evolution of human language, the first quantification of the in vivo kinetics of a human cancer, and the five rules for the evolution of cooperation. At the moment, he is working on “prelife,” which is a formal approach to study the origin of evolution.

Nowak does not believe that evolution disproves the existence of God, and asserts that science is no replacement for religion.

“Evolution does not constitute a problem for Christian theology,” he said. “God uses evolution to unfold the living world around us.”

He suggests a cooperative relationship between science and religion to advance the search for truth and the stability of intelligent life.

Nowak  has published over 300 papers in scientific journals and is the author of “Virus Dynamics” (Oxford University Press, 2000), “Evolutionary Dynamics” (Harvard University Press, 2206) and “SuperCooperators” (Simon & Schuster, 2011) and the forthcoming “Evolution, Games and God: The Principle of Cooperation” (Harvard University Press, 2013).

Nowak’s talk is one of the Deitchman Family Lectures on Religion and Modernity. To learn more about McFarland Center events and to find lectures online, visit www.holycross.edu/mcfarlandcenter.

About the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:

Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College’s commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope.  The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.

Ingber

Rabbi Abie Ingber, executive director of the Center for Interfaith Community Engagment at Xavier University, will give a lecture titled “From Tolerance to Celebration: Confessions of a Jewish Bridge Builder” on Thursday, March 14 at 4:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library, Smith Hall, at the College of the Holy Cross. The lecture, supported by the Kraft-Hiatt Fund for Jewish Christian Understanding, is free and open to the public.

Recognized for his work advancing Catholic-Jewish dialogue, Ingber will share with the Holy Cross community possibilities for interfaith collaboration and celebration across all religions.

At Xavier University, a fellow Jesuit institution, Ingber is directing the school’s participation in the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, which calls on colleges and universities across the nation to commit to a year of interfaith cooperation and community service. He has taken more than 40 pre-med students to serve among the poor in Jamaica and Guatemala and to pray with the patients afterward. He has held an annual remembrance for Kristallnacht, the violent wave of Nazi attacks that became a turning point in the persecution of Jews.  When a pastor in Florida threatened to burn the Koran, Ingber encouraged students of all faiths to read the Koran aloud in the center of their campus. He also staged an interfaith “wedding” representing Islam, Hindu, and Catholic faiths, and he invited immigrant restaurant owners to share their food and stories with Xavier students.

“Living in solidarity with others is not just an option in this global, pluralistic society, and especially not as part of a community that worships a God of all people,” Ingber said. “To bless and celebrate the other is a moral, intellectual and spiritual imperative and an essential part of being true to our mission as a university, a Jesuit Catholic university.”

The son of Polish Holocaust survivors who relocated after the war to Canada, Ingber has advocated for immigrants around the world. In 2009, he traveled to Darfur with the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society to experience refugees’ situation and to share his message of hope. In 2010, HIAS work took him to Uganda and Kenya. In 2012, he was an eyewitness in Ethiopia to the repatriation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Prior to his work at Xavier, Ingber served as executive director of the Hillel Jewish Student Center in Cincinnati for over 30 years.

To learn more about this event and find lectures online, visit www.holycross.edu/mcfarlandcenter.

About the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:

Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College’s commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope.  The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.

Bill Roorbach

Bill Roorbach, award-winning writer and former W.H. Jenks Chair in Contemporary Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, will give a reading as part of the Working Writers Series on Wednesday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Levis Browsing Room, Dinand Library, at the College. The event, sponsored by Holy Cross’ Creative Writing Program, is free and open to the public.

Roorbach is the author of eight books of fiction and nonfiction, including “Big Bend” (University of Georgia Press, 2001), “Into Woods” (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003), “Temple Stream” (Random House, 2005), and, most recently, “Life Among Giants” (Algonquin, 2012), which has been met with much critical praise. 

“Life Among Giants,” which features a protagonist of 17 years old—a seven-foot tall quarterback nicknamed Lizard—is a deeply adventurous novel that includes murder, mystery, seduction, revenge, and matters of the heart. Hailed as a “larger-than-life production” by the New York Times, “Life Among Giants” has been celebrated as “endlessly entertaining” by the Washington Post.

Roorbach, who earned his M.F.A. in fiction at Columbia University and a B.A. from Ithaca College, has also taught at the University of Maine at Farmington, Colby College and Ohio State University; and is the recipient of a Flannery O’ Connor Prize and an O. Henry Prize. His work has been published numerous media outlets including Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, Granta, and The New York Times Magazine. Writing full-time, Roorbach is the co-author of the popular blog Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour.

He lives with his wife and daughter in Maine.

Documentary filmmaker Byron Hurt will present his award-winning film “Soul Food Junkies” and participate in a panel discussion about healthy eating and food disparities on Monday, March 18 from 1 – 3 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom at the College of the Holy Cross. A healthy soul food luncheon, created by Boston chef Presceia Cooper and Holy Cross chef Edward Rome, will precede the screening and discussion from 12 – 1 p.m. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $25 per person. Tables of 10 may be purchased for $250. To reserve a seat, contact Robert Jones at rjone@holycross.edu or 508-793-2669 by March 15.

“Soul Food Junkies” explores the history and social significance of soul food to black cultural identity and its effect on African American health, good and bad. Winner of the Urbanworld Film Festival’s “Best Documentary” award and the American Black Film Festival’s “CNN Best Documentary Award,” investigates the dark side of the food industry and the growing food justice movement that has been born in its wake.

Inspired by his father’s unwillingness to give up his high-fat, calorie-laden traditional soul food diet, even in the face of a life-threatening health crisis, Hurt’s film includes candid interviews with soul food cooks, historians, and scholars, as well as doctors, family members, and everyday people to trace the tradition of “southern” food back to West Africa, and challenge society to change the profit-driven fast food and processed-food industry.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Robert Jones, associate director of the Office of Multicultural Education at Holy Cross, on healthy eating and food disparities as they relate to community and public health issues.

A healthy soul food-inspired luncheon of tomato and okra soup; black eyed peas and corn salad; brown rice and turkey sausage jumbalaya; blacked catfish, collard greens, roasted sweet potatoes, corn bread and fruit bread pudding will be served before the screening.

This program is supported by a grant from Fallon Community Health Plan; Holy Cross’ Office of Multicultural Education, Black Student Union, Student Government Association and the Caribbean and African Student Assemblage; the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers; and the Mosaic Cultural Complex.