That’s a wrap. February Recap.

Our February events started off with an absolutely wonderful celebration of “Meeting Christ in Faith & Art” exhibition. We heard from Dr. Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu on why the work of theological aesthetics is central at a Catholic University, as well as the importance of art-making as a means to theologize and study Christology.

We then heard from three students about the functions of theological aesthetics and what they encountered and embodied from participating in the class. The first function of theological aesthetics is passing along the tradition. Function number two is wrestling with tradition and number three is evoking experience of wonder and transcendence.

The exhibition is currently on display in William H. Hannon Library until May 4, 2018. The students’ artwork is beautiful, insightful, full of wonder and transcendence. We highly encourage you to take a few minutes and stop by the exhibit to see what piece moves and inspires you! If you are unable to make it, the link here will connect you to a gallery of photos that you can view from the exhibit.

 

Diversity and Difference:

The second event in February was a round table discussion on diversity and difference at LMU. Dr. Robin Crabtree, Dean of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, beautifully moderated the discussion with deep listening and synthesization of all that was shared from other faculty and staff members. The panelists included: Kim Harris, Holli Levitsky, Brenda Quintanilla, Martina Ramirez, and Czarina Ramsay.

Questions that were grappled with and discussed included: how do Catholic universities navigate the interplay between institutional identity and pluralistic demographics, how does LMU’s specific mission and context inform our response to questions of diversity and inclusion, along with what are the experiences of faculty, staff, and students that create a positive or less than positive impact at LMU. More reflections to come from this particular event soon!