The Garaventa Center celebrates its move to the Corrado Reading Room (330 Franz) by inviting all faculty and staff to join them for “Thirst Fridays” this autumn. Stop by any time from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Friday, October 25 and Friday, December 6 to enjoy wine, sparkling waters, snacks, and sparkling, convivial conversation with people from all over campus. For more information, contact Garaventa Center co-director Karen Eifler at 8014 or eifler@up.edu.
Garaventa Center
Jud Newborn, Zahm Lecture
Renowned author and cultural anthropologist Jud Newborn will deliver the Zahm Lecture, the keynote address for the University of Portland’s academic year, on Thursday, October 10, at 7:30 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium. Newborn’s presentation, “Speaking Truth to Power,” is about heroes in the fight for human rights in the present day, and highlights the 70th anniversary of the student-led White Rose anti-Nazi resistance movement. His multimedia presentations, which include images, music, and dramatic readings, have been lauded by publications such as Lifestyles Magazine as having “dramatic power and a deeply felt passion that leaves his audiences both moved and exhilarated.” The lecture is free and open to the public.
The White Rose was the name of a group of students whose activities made up one of the few effective protest movements against Nazi Germany by German citizens. Newborn has written for both The New York Times and Jerusalem Post and helped build New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage, serving as its founding historian and curator. He currently serves as Special Projects Curator for the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY.
The Zahm Lecture was established in 1999 to honor Rev. John Zahm, C.S.C., who, in his position as superior of the Holy Cross in America when the University was founded in 1901, contributed counsel, money, and Holy Cross men to the University. Previous Zahm lecturers include former Newsweek religion editor Ken Woodward, and science writer and Stonehill College professor emeritus of physics Chet Raymo. For more information contact Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center, at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
New Garaventa Center Website
Faculty, staff, and students are welcome to visit the Garaventa Center’s website at http://wordpress.up.edu/garaventa/, according to Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center. A number of podcasts are available, including the weekly Fractio Verbi podcast. Visitors can link directly to the readings and obtain a written transcript of the spoken reflection. There is also an occasional podcast series called Theodeon, in which Karen Eifler and Fr. Charlie Gordon discuss themes of grace and transcendence they find thanks to their popular Bringing Eyes of Faith to Film series, which applies sacramental worldview to movies now showing in theaters. For more information contact Powell at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
Clarence Thomas, Red Mass
The University of Portland and the Garaventa Center will host U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and the annual Red Mass on Thursday, September 19. Thomas will appear at 4 p.m. in the Chiles Center for “A Conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas,” and will answer questions from political science professors Gary Malecha and William Curtis.
The University’s Red Mass will follow at 5:30 p.m. in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. Presiding at the Mass will be Portland archbishop Alexander Sample. Both events are free and open to the public. There will be general seating, and tickets are not required. Attendees are asked to arrive early to allow time to clear security, and large bags or backpacks will not be allowed. Following the public events, a private dinner for the law community will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Bauccio Commons. Tickets to the dinner and lecture are $100 per person or $1,000 for a table of ten. RSVPs for the dinner are requested by September 10, and can be made by calling Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center, at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
New Garaventa Center Location
The Garaventa Center is now located in the Corrado Room on the third floor of Franz Hall, according to program coordinator Jamie Powell. The larger space will be used for pre-event receptions, smaller talks or workshops, and to invite faculty and staff to “Thirst Fridays” each semester, meant to serve as joyful and festive events with a goal of encouraging camaraderie across departments and schools on campus. The Garaventa Center will build on relationships it has established on campus over the last eight years that engage students, faculty and staff in conversations in the Catholic intellectual tradition while forming new working relationships that continue to foster study, reflection and an ongoing exchange about faith and culture. For more information contact Powell at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
Thomas Groome Lecture
Thomas Groome, from the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College, will deliver a lecture, “Catholic Schools: From and For Faith,” on Thursday, June 20, at 7 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium, according to Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center. His talk is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Groome’s books include What Makes Us Catholic, Will There Be Faith?, and Educating for Life. Professor Groome is also the primary author of various religion textbook series from W.H. Sadlier, most recently the Coming to Faith series. For information about the conference that follows, please contact Powell at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
New Garaventa Center Directors
The provost’s office has announced the appointment of Karen Eifler and Rev. Charles Gordon, C.S.C., as co-directors of the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture, effective July 1, 2013.
Eifler is well known across campus and involved in many activities that speak to the very essence of the Center. She has been a board member and leader in Collegium, a national organization that explores issues similar to those explored by the Garaventa Center. Eifler and Norah Martin, College of Arts and Sciences, have led the Friday afternoon Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group for many years. Eifler is a respected and recognized teacher, author, and colleague. Her vast experience, inexhaustible creativity, deft organizational skills, and unquenchable thirst for knowledge and understanding will be assets in leading the Center forward.
Fr. Gordon is well-known for his public lectures in the region and his scholarly discussion groups. His students also find his classroom lessons stimulating and provocative. Cambridge educated and an expert in American culture from the sublime to the ridiculous as well as a widely respected Holy Cross priest, he will add his capacious set of attributes to advancing the Center.
Jamie Powell will continue in her role as program coordinator for the Garaventa Center. For more information contact Powell at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
Impact Of Catholic Education
All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend “The Impact of Catholic Education in America,” a conference to be held June 20-22, 2013 on the University of Portland campus, according to Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center. The conference, coordinated and cosponsored with the School of Education and the PACE program, brings together teachers, school administrators, pastors, and scholars to deepen the conversation around the serious issues facing Catholic schools today, as well as the impact these schools have had on the flourishing of the Catholic faith throughout the nation.
Members of the UP community—including undergraduate students—may attend any or all sessions free of charge but are asked to register at http://www.up.edu/garaventa/. Faculty who have local archdiocesan teachers, administrators, or pastors as students are asked to let them know that registration is $100 for the Friday sessions, which include topics of particular interest to them. There are also a limited number of $50 scholarships available. For more information contact Powell at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
Bringing Eyes Of Faith To Film
The Garaventa Center will present the spring semester’s final installment of the Bringing Eyes of Faith To Film Series with a screening of “The Avengers” on Wednesday, April 24, at 7:15 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 319. The movie and presentation are free and open to all. Series hosts Fr. Charlie Gordon, C.S.C., of the University’s theology department, and Karen Eifler, of the University’s School of Education, will present brief comments illuminating themes of grace, transcendence, and redemption found in unexpected places like popular movies. Thematic snacks are provided as part of the experience. For more information contact the Garaventa Center at (503) 943-7702 or powell@up.edu.
Impact Of Catholic Education
All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend “The Impact of Catholic Education in America,” a conference to be held June 20-22, 2013 on the University of Portland campus, according to Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center. The purpose of the conference is to bring together teachers, school administrators, pastors, and scholars to deepen the conversation around issues facing Catholic schools today and the impact these schools have had on the flourishing of the Catholic faith throughout the nation.
Members of the UP community—including undergraduate students—may attend any or all sessions free of charge but are asked to register at http://www.up.edu/garaventa/. Faculty who have local archdiocesan teachers, administrators, or pastors as students are asked to let them know that registration is $100 for the Friday sessions, which include topics of particular interest to them (technology in the classroom, school standards and benchmarks, legal topics, effective school boards, transferring the mission to lay leadership, etc). There are also a limited number of $50 scholarships available to this group.
For more information contact Powell at 7702 or powell@up.edu.