Spring 2018 Humanities Forum

Creating Community: Making Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream a Present-Day Reality

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19
3 P.M., MOORE HALL 124
RECEPTION IN MOORE HALL

Part of PC’s week-long Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation event, this faculty discussion will be moderated by Dr. Mahri Leonard-Fleckman of the PC theology faculty. Scheduled faculty presenters include Dr. Comfort Ateh of the education faculty, Dr. Raymond Sickinger of the history faculty, Rev. Joseph Guido, O.P. of the psychology faculty, and Dr. Kendra Brewster of the public and community service studies faculty.

View the panel discussion.

How to Fix our Skewed Democracy

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2
3 P.M., RUANE 105
RECEPTION IN THE FIONDELLA GREAT ROOM

Rob Richie is the executive director and co-founder of FairVote, a nonpartisan organization that works to advance electoral reforms “that give voters greater choice, a stronger voice, and a representative democracy that works for all Americans.”

An advocate for systemic electoral reform, Richie is frequently asked to comment on ranked-choice voting and other election-related issues.

View Mr. Richie’s talk.​

Should Majorities Rule?
(A public debate facilitated by the PC Debate Society)

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9
3 P.M., TBD

In a diverse society, the interests of the majority might not always converge with the common good, and the will of the majority might not represent that of the whole. How should we address these problems? Is there another way to decide political decisions in a democracy than to have the majority rule?

The Providence College Debate Society, Dr. Colin Guthrie King (philosophy), and Dr. Adam Myers (political science) will debate these questions in an open forum. There will be an opportunity for those in attendance to participate in the debate.

View the debate.

The Science and Spirituality of Mindfulness and Habit Formation

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16
3 P.M., RUANE 105
RECEPTION IN THE FIONDELLA GREAT ROOM

Dr. Judson Brewer is a leader in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery,” combining 20 years of experience with mindfulness training and research. He has published extensively and given a TED Talk on those subjects, and is regularly featured as an expert in related news stories.

View Dr. Brewer’s talk.

As the Deer Longs for Running Water: The Living Tradition of Gregorian Chant

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23
3 P.M., RUANE 105
RECEPTION IN THE FIONDELLA GREAT ROOM

Father Garrick Huang, F.S.S.P. is an acclaimed performer and music producer. He was co-music director and one of the singers on Requiem, a 2017 album by The Fraternity, an international community of 280 young priests with an average age of 35 described as “some of today’s most skilled and committed singers of Gregorian chant.” The album reached #1 on Billboard’s classical music chart last June. He is a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, a community devoted to the ancient form of the Church’s liturgy.

View Father Huang’s talk.

Pope John Paul II’s Shifting Terminology and Thus the Understanding of Humanae Vitae

FRIDAY, MARCH 16
3 P.M., RUANE 105
RECEPTION IN THE FIONDELLA GREAT ROOM

Dr. Janet Smith is a moral theologian who serves as a consultor to the Pontifical Council on the Family and also serves the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity as a member of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission III. She is the author of Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later and of The Right to Privacy and the editor of Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader.

To view Dr. Smith’s talk, click here.

How does the New Evangelization Fit with Catholic Higher Education?

FRIDAY, APRIL 6
3 P.M., RUANE 105
RECEPTION TBA

Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R. Chair of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization at Franciscan University of Steubenville, is a best-selling author and popular speaker who also is the founder and president of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology.

View Dr. Hahn’s talk.

Music in the Age of Enlightenment

FRIDAY, APRIL 13
3 P.M., RYAN CONCERT HALL
RECEPTION TBA

A performance and discussion of 18th century music by J. S. Bach and his sons C. P. E. Bach and J. C. Bach accompanied by Faculty Baroque (Kathryn Roth, Laura Gulley, Alice Robbins, and Catherine Gordon).

View this performance.

A Screening and Discussion: Woman in Gold

THURSDAY, APRIL 19
3 P.M., RUANE 105
RECEPTION IN THE FIONDELLA GREAT ROOM
In cooperation with the Jewish-Catholic Theological Exchange

Dr. Deborah Johnson of the Department of Art & Art History will host a discussion following a screening of the 2015 film Woman in Gold, directed by Simon Curtis and starring Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, and Daniel Bruhl. Based on a true story, the film describes the challenges and triumph of an elderly Jewish refugee living in the U.S. who mounted a legal battle to recover a long-since stolen painting of her aunt from the Austrian government.
View Dr. Johnson’s presentation.

Past Forums

• Spring 2026
• Fall 2025
• Spring 2025
• Fall 2024
• Spring 2024
• Fall 2023
• Spring 2023
• Fall 2022
• Spring 2022
• Spring 2021
• Fall 2021
• Spring 2021
• Fall 2020
• Spring 2020
• Fall 2019
• Spring 2019
• Fall 2018
• Spring 2018
• Fall 2017
• Spring 2017
• Fall 2016
• Spring 2016

Forum Leadership

Iain Bernhoft, Humanities Forum Coordinator

Humanities Forum Committee:

• Patrick Breen, Department of History
• Alison Caplan, Department of Foreign Language Studies
• Dana Dillon, Departments of Theology and Public and Community Service Studies
• Jennifer Illuzzi, Director of the Development of Western Civilization; Department of History
• James Janecek, Department of Art and Art History
• James Keating, Department of Theology and Director of the Humanities Program​
• Patrick Macfarlane​, Department of Philosophy
• Michael Mathes, Department of Economics and Associate Director of the Honors Program
• Erin Schmidt, Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film
• Rev. Jordan Zajac, O.P. ’04, Department of English

Contact