Canisius College

"Conversations in Christ and Culture" is an ongoing lecture workshop and conference series within the Buffalo/Niagara Region. It is designed to foster conversations about important issues involving the relationship between christianity and culture. It will promote cooperation and understanding across religious, gender and ethnic lines.

All lectures are free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Canisius College Center for the Global Study of Religion and the Ecumenical Community of Western New York.

2007 - 2008 Events

George Weigel
Senior Fellow, Ethics & Public Policy Center, Washington DC
The Achievement of John Paul the Great

Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007 • 7:30 PM
Montante Cultural Center Main Street, Canisius College

George Weigel, a Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC, is a Roman Catholic theologian and one of America's leading commentators on issues of religion and public life. Weigel is the author and editor of some eighteen books, including Catholicism and the Renewal of American Democracy (Paulist, 1989), The Courage To Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church (Basic Books, 2002), and Letters to a Young Catholic (Basic, 2004). He has appeared on numerous television and radio discussion programs, and is a consultant on Vatican affairs for NBC News. His weekly column, "The Catholic Difference," is syndicated to sixty newspapers around the United States. In 1999, Weigel published what is now considered the major study of the life and thought of Pope John Paul II, entitled Witness to Hope. A documentary film based on the book was released in the fall of 2001 and has won numerous prizes. Sponsored by the Canisius Center for Global Study of Religion and the Permanent Chair of Polish Culture.



Dianna Ortiz
Director of Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition From Torture to Truth

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008 • 7:30 PM
Montante Cultural Center Main Street, Canisius College

Dianna Ortiz is an Ursuline nun, the author of Blindfold's Eyes: My Journey from Torture to Truth, and the Director of Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC). In 1989 while serving as a missionary in the highlands of Guatemala, Ortiz was abducted and brutally raped by armed men. One of the men overseeing the torture appeared to be American. Ortiz's ordeal did not end with her escape. Her torment continued as she sought answers from the U.S. government about the identity of her torturers. Ortiz's raw honesty and capacity to articulate the agony she suffered compelled the United States to declassify long-secret files on Guatemala, and shed light on some of the darkest moments of Guatemalan history and American foreign policy. Ortiz will share her wrenching personal experience of abduction and torture in Guatemala, her search for healing, and her struggle to expose and eradicate torture practices around the world. Sponsored by the Canisius Center for Global Study of Religion and Temple Beth Zion.



Life in a Jar
An Interactive Theatrical Presentation
Saturday, March 29, 2008 • 7:30 PM Montante Center Sunday, March 30, 2008 • 1:30 PM Holocaust Resource Center Temple Beth Am • 4660 Sheridan Dr. • Williamsville In 1999 in Uniontown, Kansas four high school students accepted the challenge from their teacher to submit a project for National History Day. Inspired by a short reference in a magazine that read "Irena Sendler saved 2,5000 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust in 1942-43"—they began their research, which uncovered a truly remarkable story about a buried jar where Irena kept the names of all the children she rescued. The Kansas students were so moved by Irena's story that they turned it into an interactive theatrical presentation that has since been performed around the world and featured in USA Today, Ladies Home Journal and on CNN. After winning the History Day Award in 2000, these young people have performed Life in a Jar hundreds of times across the United States and in Europe, spreading its extraordinary message. These performances are jointly sponsored by Canisius Center for the Global Study of Religion, the Permanent Chair of Polish Culture, and the Holocaust Resource Center.



Dr. Shawn Copeland
Boston College Constructing a Black Catholic Theology for the 21st Century The Peter Canisius Distinguished Lecture Thursday, April 17, 2008 • 7:30 PM Student Center, Regis Room Canisius College Dr. Shawn Copeland is an Associate Professor of Theology at Boston College. A Roman Catholic layperson with a Ph.D. from Boston College, Copeland specializes in systematic theology, with particular attention to theological anthropology, liberation and political theologies, and African- American religious experience and culture. Copeland is the author of thirty articles in books and professional journals, including "Disturbing Aesthetics of Race," Journal of Catholic Social Thought (2006); "Body, Race, and Being: Theological Anthropology in the Context of Performing and Subverting Eucharist," Constructive Theology: A Contemporary Approach to Classical Themes (2005); "Doing Black Catholic Theology: Rhythm, Structure, and Aesthetics," Chicago Studies (2003). Copeland is the past convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium (BCTS) and a former president (2003-2004) of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA). She is an honorary member of Alpha Sigma Nu and the recipient of Barry University's Yves Congar Award for Excellence in Theology (2000) as well as honorary degrees from Holy Names College (2002) and Emmanuel College (1989).
Past speakers include

Religious Studies & Theology