Boisi Center Resource Highlights
Religion and the Liberal Aims of Higher Education
In November 2012, educational and religious leaders convened at Boston College for a sesquicentennial conference to discuss the dynamics of religion in liberal education. Click here for audio, video, photographs, and transcripts from the conference.
Poverty and American National Priorities
The Boisi Center hosted a panel on poverty in America on February 26, 2013. Panelists included Eric Gregory (Princeton University), Susan Crawford Sullivan (The College of the Holy Cross), and William Julius Wilson (Harvard University). Visit event page to find resources.
10th Annual Prophetic Voices Lecture
In November 2010, James Keenan, S.J. delivered the lecture “The University in the 21st Century: Thinking about Ethics, Persons, and Discourse." Watch the video. Keenan's May 2011 article in Louvian Studies titled "(The Lack of) Professional Ethics in the Academy" further explores the role of ethics in the academy with the hope of holding university staff, faculty, and students accountable to one another.
Are Mormons the New Catholics and Jews?
On March 13th, Alan Wolfe moderated the Inaugural Dean’s Colloquium on Religion and Public Culture. Panelists Kristine Haglund, editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and Stephen Prothero, Boston University professor of religion, discussed the role Mitt Romney's faith plays in the 2012 elections. Watch the video of the event here.
Boisi Center Featured in Boston College Magazine
The Boisi Center Symposium on Religion and Politics was featured in the winter 2012 Boston College Magazine. In this yearlong symposium, students discussed the extent to which God-talk is a reqiurement in American politics. Click here to read the article.
Community Organizing in the Global City
Listen to the audio and read the interview from a March 2012 lunch colloquium on Catholic Social Teaching and Community Organizing in East London. Vincent Rougeau is Dean and Professor of Law at Boston College Law School.
11th Annual Prophetic Voices Lecture
View photos and read the interview from the March 2012 Prophetic Voices lecture entitled "Religious Exclusivism and Pluralism as a Political Project." Miroslav Volf, Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School, delivered the talk.
Islam and Democracy in Turkey
On March 16, 2012, the Boisi Center co-hosted a major conference entitled "Islam and Democracy: A Closer Look at the Turkish Model." Listen to the audio, watch video, and read handouts from the event.
Audio and Photos from Power, History and Meaning: A Discussion with Christian Polke
Listen to the audio and view photos from a March 2012 lunch colloquium discussion about world religions and political affairs with Christian Polke of the University of Hamburg.
Religion and the U.S. Military
Jonathan Ebel (University of Illinois) and Fr. Richard Erikson (U.S. Air Force) discussed what it means to fight for God and country. Watch the video, read an interview with Ebel and read the remarks by Erik Owens and Ebel.
Islamic Minarets and Liberal Democracy
Listen to the audio and view photos from a December 2011 talk with The Boisi Center's 2011 visiting scholar Gregor Scherzinger from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Scherzinger's talk was entitled How God Commands Religious Liberty: Islamic Minarets and Liberal Democracy.
Social Ethics and Practice in Puritan New England
Listen to the audio from David Hall's October 2011 talk and the followup Q&A session with the audience. David Hall is the Bartlett Research Professor of New England Church History at Harvard Divinity School.
Free Will, Sin and the Totalitarian Experience
In fall 2011, the Boisi Center hosted Tzvetan Todorov, a French-Bulgarian philosopher, theorist and literary critic. Read an interview with Todorov or listen to audio of his talk: "Pelagius and Augustine: A Contemporary Take on an Ancient Controversy."
How Poets and Novelists Came to Comfort the Faithful and Strengthen the Doubters.
In November 2011, Alan Jacobs delivered a talk entitled "Writers Save: How Poets and Novelists Came to Comfort the Faithful and Strengthen the Doubters." Read the interview with Jacobs on the influence of literature on American faith. Jacobs is Professor of English at Wheaton College.
Iran and the Arab Spring
Listen to the audio and view photos from a September 2011 discussion with Scott Peterson, Istanbul bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor and a photographer for Getty Images. Peterson delivered a talk entitled "Iran and the Arab Spring: Tehran's Love-Hate Relationship with People Power."
Religion in America
Listen to the audio from Religion in America: A Political History. Denis Lacorne, senior fellow and professor at CERI Sciences-Po in France, spoke at the Boisi Center in October 2011 on the two competing religious narratives of American history.
The Life and Work of William Stuntz
Read the transcript of an interview with David Skeel, a friend and colleague of the late William Stuntz, a prolific scholar in the field of criminal justice. David Skeel is Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Combatting Political Evil
In fall 2011, the Boisi Center hosted a panel featuring Alan Wolfe, Martha Minow and James Traub. Read an interview with Alan Wolfe, watch the video and view photos from the event.
Interrogation Policy after Bin Laden
Watch the Video of the September 2011 panel on Interrogration Policy After Osama Bin Ladin. Panelists included Glenn Carle (CIA veteran), Sanford Levinson (University of Texas Law School) and Fr. Kenneth Himes (Boston College).
International Lives of the American Civil War
Read the Recap of Dean Quigley's spring 2011 lunch colloqium on the role the inwardly-directed American Civil War played in internationalizing American history. David Quigley is the Dean of the College and the Graduate of Arts and Sciences and Professor of History at Boston College.
Women and the State of Feminism in America
Watch the Video of the spring 2011 panel discussion on "Wanting It All: Women and the State of Feminism in America." Panelists included Lisa Sowle Cahill (Boston College), Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (Harvard University) and Cynthia Young (Boston College).
Civil Society in Ancient and Modern Thought
Listen to the audio from Professor Gillihan's April 2011 talk on "Voluntary Associations and Political Stability in Ancient and Modern Thought." Yonder Gillihan is Assistant Professor of Theology at Boston College.
New Imaging Technologies at the End of Life
Read a recap and listen to the audio from Andrea Vicini's March 2011 talk entitled "New Imaging Technologies at the End of Life: Promises and Ethical Challenges." Andrea Vicini is Associate Professor of Moral Theology at Boston College.
Women's Rights under Shariah Law
Listen to a spring 2011 interview with Hauwa Ibrahim on the practical and theoretical challenges to protecting women’s rights under Shariah Law in Northern Nigeria. Ibrahim is Visiting Lecturer on Women's Studies and Islamic Law at Harvard Divinity School and is a fellow at both the Human Rights Program and the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard University.
Climate Change and Christian Ethics
Read a recap of a February 2011 discussion of what a Christian ethic must accomplish in order to adequately address climate change. Willis Jenkins is Professor of Social Ethics at Yale Divinity School.
The Limits of International Human Rights
Listen to the audio of Hiroshi Nakazato's February 2011 lunch discussion about the limits of international human rights law in the U.S. Constitution. Nakazato is an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the International Studies Program at Boston College.
Robert George Comments on His Visit to Boston College
In the blog, Mirror of Justice, Robert P. George comments on his visit to Boston College in spring 2010. Read the comments here.