3/29/04-- Boston College Law School’s St. Thomas More Society will be holding their annual spring symposium on April 3rd, 2004, from 9:00am-4:00pm. This year’s event is entitled “The Catholic Law School and Modernity: Reforming Our Identity and Mission.”

“For students, faculty and administrators at every educational institution, identity and mission are fundamental components of what we do,” said David J. Galalis, Co-President of the St. Thomas More Society. “It is what attracts us to our institutions, directs our work while we are there, and binds us to these places once we have left. Through my experiences at Boston College Law School, I know that defining identity and mission within a Catholic law school is of particular difficulty, and at times, a source of needless contention and division. Such is also the case at other Catholic law schools across the nation. In keeping, then, with the Boston College practice of providing national forums for discussion of many of the country’s most divisive and controversial subjects, our symposium has been designed to highlight, front and center, the ubiquitous debates and dialogues concerning what it means to be a ‘Catholic law school.’

Six preeminent scholars on the subject will present a wide range of interactive lectures that adopt a variety of perspectives on four general questions: (1) does there exist an increasingly hostile secular-humanism within the entire legal academy; (2) what are the distinctive features that make a law school “Catholic”; (3) how can a law school be “more Catholic” while respecting and fostering religious plurality; and (4) what are the unique contributions that Catholic law schools can make to the modern world that cannot be made by their secular counterparts?

The event is intended to foster a much needed open and critical dialogue among the students, faculty, and administration of BC Law. There will be a free breakfast, lunch and reception. Please RSVP to galalis@bc.edu.