Deborah MacKinnon

2020 Mazzocco Lecture: “American Hate: Survivors Speak Out,” Feb. 6

January 31, 2020

The annual Mazzocco Lecture on Distributive Justice will take place on Thursday, February 6, at 5 p.m., in the Brian Doyle Lecture Hall (DB 004). This year’s lecture, “American Hate: Survivors Speak Out,” will be delivered by Arjun Sethi, a human rights lawyer, author, and law professor based in Washington, DC. He works closely with Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Sikh communities and advocates for racial justice, equity, and social change at the local and national levels. He holds faculty appointments at Georgetown University Law Center and Vanderbilt University Law School, and presently co-chairs the American Bar Association’s National Committee on Homeland Security, Terrorism, and Treatment of Enemy Combatants.

The Mazzocco Lecture is an annual address made possible by a gift to the University to honor the memory of William James Mazzocco ’37. This event is sponsored by the Department of Political Science and Global Affairs. For ADA accommodations or further information contact Deborah MacKinnon at x7274 or mackinno@up.edu.

Theology Thursday Lecture by Simon Aihiokhai, April 6

March 24, 2017

The next Theology Thursday lecture will feature Simon Aihiokhai, theology, as he presents “New Perspectives for Interfaith Dialogue in the 21st Century” on Thursday, April 6, at 7:15 p.m., in Franz Hall 120. The event is free and open to all.

Arguing for the place of religious truths in the era of globalization, this talk explores how African indigenous religions appropriate a pragmatic approach discerning the relevance of religious truths that inspire the flourishing of communal life.

Aihiokhai is a Nigerian-American theologian, currently a visiting assistant professor of systematic theology at the University of Portland. His research and publication engage religion and identity in Islam, Christianity, and African religions. His articles have appeared in Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Black Catholic Theological Symposium Journal, International Journal of African Catholicism, and in several edited books. Aihiokhai continues to be an active interlocutor in the ongoing Christian-Muslim dialogue in Nigeria and the Roman Catholic/African religions dialogue. He worked as a missionary among many cultures in Nigeria for ten years and continues to reflect on the rich experience he gained from his encounters with people of the Muslim and African religious faiths.

For ADA accommodations or event information contact Deborah MacKinnon, theology, at mackinno@up.edu or x7274.

Theology Thursday Lecture, March 31

March 24, 2016

mcmanus copy The next Theology Thursday lecture will be presented by senior theology major Jessica Brown and Sr. Kathleen McManus, OP, theology, on Thursday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m., in the Terrace Room. The lecture is free and open to all.

Brown and McManus will present “The Global Suffering of Women: An Ethical Imperative for the Church.” While the Catholic Church exercises incomparable influence for good throughout the world, they posit, the Church’s inherent patriarchal structure functions to reinforce oppressive social and cultural attitudes, thus contributing to the suffering of women.

The lecture came about with support of the Dundon-Berchtold Institute, which provided the research grant that has allowed Brown and McManus to collaborate on their project during this past academic year.

For ADA accommodations or event information contact Deborah MacKinnon, theology, at 7274 or mackinno@up.edu.