Religion and the Liberal Aims of Higher Education

A two-day conference to honor Boston College's sesquicentennial
Thursday, November 8, 2012, 5:00-6:45pm
Friday, November 9, 2012, 9:00am-5:00pm

Abstract: What sets religious colleges and universities apart from their secular peers when both are committed to offering a liberal education? This conference brings together fifteen distinguished scholars and writers, including six current or former university presidents, to examine the varied complexions of liberal education and the unique contributions and challenges that religion brings to the endeavor. (Read more)

Thursday, November 8

5:00 - 5:10 Welcome and Opening Remarks
Erik Owens, Associate Director, Boisi Center for Religion and
American Public Life, Boston College

5:10 - 6:15pm Opening Keynote
Nathan Hatch, President, Wake Forest University

6:15 - 6:45pm Public Reception

Friday, November 9

8:30 - 9:00am Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 9:15am Welcome and Opening Remarks
Henry Braun, Boisi Professor of Education and Public Policy,
Boston College

9:15 - 10:30am   Panel 1: Historical Perspectives
Andrew Delbanco, Mendelson Family Chair of American Studies
                           and Levi Professor in the Humanities,
                           Columbia University
Cullen Murphy, Editor-at-large, Vanity Fair magazine
                      (moderator)
Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History,
               University of Notre Dame
Julie Reuben, Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School
of Education

10:45am - 12:00pm    Panel 2: The View from the Top
John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame
Mark Massa, S.J., Dean and Professor of Church History, Boston
                        College School of Theology and Ministry
                        (moderator)
Jane McAuliffe, President, Bryn Mawr College
Philip G. Ryken, President, Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL)

12:15 - 1:30pm     Lunch and Keynote Address
Richard Morrill, President, Teagle Foundation; former President,
                       University of Richmond, Salem College and
                       Centre College

1:45 - 3:00pm    Panel 3: Dynamic Tensions
Susan Jacoby, author and independent scholar
Mark Oppenheimer, Columnist, New York Times; lecturer in
                             English, Yale University (moderator)
Eboo Patel, Founder and President, Interfaith Youth Core
Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of
                               Philosophical Theology, Yale University;
                               Senior Fellow, Institute for Advanced
                               Studies in Culture, University of Virginia