News

WORCESTER, Mass. – Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Bancroft Prize-winning historian Paul Starr will give a lecture titled “Moralities in Conflict: How Health Care Became So Hard a Problem for America” on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. in the Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The lecture, which is co-sponsored by the College’s Health Professions Program and the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, is free and open to the public.

In the lecture, Starr will consider why Americans have for a long time fought so bitterly over health care, while other wealthy western democracies have not been sharply divided on the issue. Starr will also address the ethical implications of delaying reform or not carrying it out.

Starr is professor of sociology and public affairs, and Stuart Professor of Communications and Public Affairs, at Princeton University. He is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, a liberal magazine about politics, policy and ideas.

Starr has written extensively on American society, politics, and both domestic and foreign policy. He received the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction and Bancroft Prize in American History for The Social Transformation of American Medicine (Basic Books, 1982). His 2004 title, The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communications (Basic Books) won a Goldsmith Book Prize.

The Logic of Health-Care Reform, a short book by Starr in 1992 (and revised and reissued in 1994), laid out the case for a system of universal health insurance and managed competition. During 1993, Starr served as a senior advisor at the White House in the formulation of the Clinton health plan.

To learn more about this program and other Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture events, and to listen to audio recordings of lectures online, visit holycross.edu/crec.

WORCESTER, Mass. – International economist and best-selling author Dambisa Moyo will speak on Monday, Feb.14 at 4 p.m. in the Seelos Theater at the College of the Holy Cross.  Her lecture will be based on her controversial book, Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa.  The talk is free and open to the public.  Seating may be limited.

A macroeconomist from Zambia, Moyo is an outspoken critic of international development aid that is given to Africa.  Her writings on related issues regularly appear in publications like The Financial Times, the Economist Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.  Her latest book, How the West was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly and Stark Choices Ahead, was released in Europe last month, and will be available in the U.S. on Feb. 15.

After the publication of Dead Aid in 2009, Moyo was named by Time Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” and by Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine as “one of the most powerful women of this generation.”  She has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, and as an economist on the global macroeconomics team at Goldman Sachs.

Moyo received a Ph.D. in economics from Oxford University and a masters’ degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.  She also holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and an M.B.A. in finance from American University.

While at Holy Cross, Moyo will also hold a seminar for students in the Global Society cluster of Montserrat, the College’s living-learning program for first-year students.  Her visit to campus is sponsored by Montserrat’s Global Society cluster, the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, and Africana Studies.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Patricia L. Bizzell, Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J., Chair in the Humanities and professor of English, will present this year’s Richard Rodino Lecture on the Aims of the Liberal Arts on Tuesday, Feb.15 at 4 p.m. in Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The talk, titled “‘Take with you words:’ The Intellectual Work of Rhetoric in Liberal Education,” is free and open to the public.

The title of Bizzell’s talk, ‘Take with you words,’ derives from Hosea 14:3: “Take with you words, and return to the Lord,” which relates to her work on rhetoric.  In her talk, Bizzell will address how rhetoric denies the separation of rationality and emotions.  Rather it creates space for reasonable individuals to discuss matters about which they disagree.  Bizzell will be arguing how rhetoric is crucial in the classroom.  “The rhetorical exchanges of teacher and student may also cultivate the moral formation of both parties,” she says. “Such is the function of rhetoric in liberal education.”

A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 1978, Bizzell holds degrees from Wellesley College and Rutgers University.  She is a nationally-recognized authority on the teaching of composition, and has lectured and conducted workshops across the country.  An expert on American literature, rhetoric and rhetorical theory, as well as composition and composition theory, she received the 2008 Exemplar Award by the Conference on College Composition and Communication and served as president of the Rhetoric Society of America from 2006-2008.

In addition to numerous articles and essays on composition theory, Bizzell is the author of Academic Discourse and Critical Consciousness (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993) and co-author, with Bruce Herzberg, of The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001), which received the National Council of Teachers of English Outstanding Book Award in 1992.

At Holy Cross, Bizzell has served as the director of the Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Program, chair of the English Department, director of the College Honors Program, and as Speaker of the Faculty.  She was a 2008 recipient of the Arthur J. O’Leary Faculty Recognition Award, an honoraria delivered annually to four faculty members who make a special contribution to Holy Cross through their teaching, scholarship, and service.  She is a resident of Worcester, Mass.

The annual Rodino Lecture series is devoted to the memory of Richard Rodino, formerly of the English department at Holy Cross.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Contemporary writer John Edgar Wideman will give a reading on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross.  A distinguished author of over 20 works of fiction and non-fiction, Wideman will read a selection from his recent works.  The event, sponsored by the College’s Creative Writing Program and the Jenks Chair of Contemporary Letters, is free and open to the public.

Wideman was the first author to win the International PEN/Faulkner Award twice, first in 1984 for Sent for You Yesterday, the third novel in a trilogy set in the historic African American community of Homewood, Wideman’s childhood neighborhood, in Pittsburgh.  He won the award again in 1990 for Philadelphia Fire, based on the Philadelphia police department’s bombing of a house where a group of black activists lived.

Wideman’s many honors also include a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, the O. Henry Award, the American Book Award for Fiction, the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction, and the Lannan Literary Fellowship for Fiction.  Wideman’s memoir Brothers and Keepers (1984)—a project undertaken in cooperation with his brother Robby, who is serving life in prison—was a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award.

His most recent books are Fanon (2008), a novel inspired by Frantz Fanon, the revolutionary philosopher, and Briefs (2010), a volume of “microstories.”

He has written articles on Malcolm X, Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, Michel Jordan, Emmett Till, Thelonius Monk, and women’s professional basketball that have appeared in The New Yorker, Vogue, Esquire, Emerge, and The New York Times Magazine.

Wideman is the Asa Messer professor and professor of Africana Studies and English at Brown University.  He also currently serves on the editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.

WORCESTER, Mass. – One-time NFL draftee and now Fontbonne University President Dennis C. Golden, a 1963 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, will give the annual Thomas More Lecture at the College on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library, Smith Hall.

The Thomas More Lecture on Faith, Work and Civic Life honors a graduate of Holy Cross who exemplifies the College’s dedication to the integration of faith and learning. The alumnus or alumna is invited to speak about his or her own profession, vocation, and the ethical opportunities and challenges faced there. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Golden traded a promising future in professional football for a career in higher education administration — and has no regrets. He was a Division I scholarship student-athlete at Holy Cross, a Marine Corps captain and member of the Quantico 1963 Armed Forces Championship football team, and a draftee of the NFL Dallas Cowboys. He also played a pre-season for the New England Patriots. However, instead of pursuing a career in the NFL, he opted to continue his education and a career in academic administration.

Golden received his master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Assumption College and a doctorate in education at Boston College.  He was an assistant dean at Holy Cross, vice president and dean of student services at Framingham State College, vice president for student life at Duquesne University, and vice president for student affairs at University of Louisville, Ky. He was appointed president of Fontbonne, a Catholic university in St. Louis, in 1995.

Not able to give up football entirely, Golden coached college ball at Holy Cross and Framingham State for 13 years.

Golden has earned distinction as a university administrator. In his tenure at Fontbonne, he has increased enrollment to an all-time high, achieved university status, and reached out to underserved populations. Beyond Fontbonne, he has been a consultant and a member of numerous college and university accreditation teams. Golden is a nationally-recognized authority on pluralism and diversity, and recently received Missouri’s Martin Luther King, Jr. State Celebration Commission’s Distinguished Education/Community Service Award.

To learn more about this program and other Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture events, visit holycross.edu/crec.

The College of the Holy Cross has launched a new online resource expressly designed for Worcester residents who live near the Holy Cross campus.

“For Our Neighbors” is a one-stop web destination for news, information, and public events at Holy Cross, as well as important messages and updates especially for residents of College Hill, South Worcester, and Quinsigamond Village.  The website includes names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of key individuals and departments at Holy Cross who can be of direct assistance when neighbors have questions, concerns, complaints, or need to reach someone on campus in an emergency.

Beyond contact information and timely messages, the website features details on public campus events, services, and programs – ranging from ways neighbors can make connections with student volunteers to opportunities for them to partner with the College on long-term community projects.

The site includes the text of the Holy Cross-Community Compact, the document signed by Worcester’s City Manager and the Holy Cross President in November 2010.  The compact spells out the partnership between the City and the College in terms of off-campus behavior and responsibilities.

The Alternate College Theatre (ACT) at the College of the Holy Cross will present the Tony Award-winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone, Feb. 10 – 12 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 12 – 13 at 2 p.m. in Fenwick Theatre (second floor, O’Kane Hall). Rights to perform The Drowsy Chaperone were only recently released, making this a rare opportunity.  Tickets are $7 for members of the Holy Cross community and $10 for the general public. They can be reserved by calling the ACT box office at (508)-793-3536.  

Directed by Justine Cameron ’11, the musical is set against the background of the glitz and glamour of 1920s and 30s Broadway.  A lonely theater fan, known only as the Man in Chair, invites his guests—the audience—to listen to a recording of his favorite musical: The Drowsy Chaperone. As the record plays, the musical comes to life, transforming his dingy apartment into a spectacular New York estate. Characters range from a starlet who gives up showbiz for love to pun-loving gangsters disguised as pastry chefs to Drowsy —a perpetually “thirsty” grande dame who offers advice through show-stopping songs.  The Drowsy Chaperone has a book by Bob Martin and Don McKeller with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison.  

ACT is a student-run organization at Holy Cross. In each production, students manage every aspect from directing and acting to lighting and set design.

Paul Baumann, editor of Commonweal Magazine, will give a lecture titled “Religious Identity in a Pluralistic Age: Liberal, Conservative, or Just Catholic?” on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The lecture, sponsored by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture and the College Honors Program, is free and open to the public.

Founded in 1924, Commonweal is an independent journal of opinion edited and managed by lay Catholics. It tackles issues in politics, global events, ethics and culture. Baumann joined Commonweal in 1990 and became editor in 2003.

Baumann will talk about how Catholics often are torn between the obvious benefits of contemporary secular culture and the countercultural truths of Catholicism. At Commonweal, Baumann’s editorials have spanned both sides of the spectrum. He has written editorials in allegiance to his faith that have alienated certain liberal groups, and he has also written critical pieces that put him at odds with the Church.

“Who doesn’t feel profound ambivalence about both the culture and the church?” asked Baumann. “On the whole, however, I do not think the tension between church and culture is a bad thing. Frankly, I think it is a good and necessary thing.” 

Baumann has written for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and other publications. Before joining Commonweal, he worked as a newspaper editorial writer, reporter, and movie reviewer at the Day, a Connecticut newspaper.

To learn more about this program and other Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture events, visit www.holycross.edu/crec.

About The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:
Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the 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.

Steven Solomon, author of Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization (HarperCollins, 2010), and Kierán Suckling ‘88, founder and executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, will speak at the College of the Holy Cross in February as part of the yearlong series, In Our Lifetimes: Environmental Change and Stewardship.

The series, sponsored by the College’s Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, presents environmental remediation and stewardship as challenges for the present, not future generations.

“The degradation of our planet will affect our students in meaningful ways during their lifetimes,” said Thomas M. Landy, director of the Center. “We want our students to think about how the choices we make today will play out even in the next 30-40 years.”

Journalist Steven Solomon will give a lecture titled “When the Well Runs Dry: Finding Solutions for the Freshwater Crisis” on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 4:30 p.m. Solomon, who has written for The New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Economist, Forbes, and Esquire and has appeared on many news radio and TV shows, asserts that freshwater scarcity is one of the 21st century’s decisive, looming challenges and is driving new political, economic and environmental realities across the globe.

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 4:30 p.m., two members of the Presidential Task Force on the Environment at Holy Cross, John Cannon, associate director of physical plant, and Katherine Kiel, associate professor of economics, will talk about the efforts of the College and the actions of students that have the greatest positive and negative impacts on sustainability on campus. The Presidential Task Force drafted the College’s carbon neutral plan and is charged with promoting practices on campus that benefit the environment.

Kierán Suckling, a 1988 graduate of Holy Cross, returns to campus Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. to give a lecture titled “The Biodiversity Crisis: Why Driving Species Extinct Makes Us Less Human.” Executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, Suckling created and maintains the country’s most comprehensive endangered species database. He acts as liaison between the Center and other environmental groups, negotiates with government agencies, and writes and lectures; he has authored scientific articles and critical essays on biodiversity issues.

All lectures will take place in Rehm Library, Smith Hall at the College of the Holy Cross. To learn more about the series, and to listen to past lectures online, visit www.holycross.edu/crec.

About The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:
Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the 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.

Rev. Lloyd Baugh, S.J., a visiting international Jesuit scholar at the College of the Holy Cross this semester, will give a lecture on the interpretations of the Gospel in Jesus films, Thursday, Feb. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in Rehm Library at Holy Cross. The lecture, presented by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, is free and open to the public.

In his talk, titled “Jesus De-constructed and Re-constructed: Political, Cultural and Personal Subtexts in the Gospel Films,” Fr. Baugh examines Jesus films from the earliest silent movies to Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ to show how filmmakers’ own interests influence their interpretations of Jesus and the Gospel. Baugh will talk about controversial Jesus films — Son of Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and Passion — and the subtexts at work in them. He will screen a number of film clips to illustrate his points.

A native of Quebec, Fr. Baugh is a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has taught numerous courses including theological reflection on cinema, theology and communication, and history of cinema. The author of Imaging the Divine: Jesus and Christ Figures in Film (1997) and Imaging Jesus in Film: Sources and Influences, Limits and Possibilities (2007), he has also written many articles in English and Italian. 

To learn more about this program and other Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture events, visit www.holycross.edu/crec.

About The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:
Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the 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.