In his book, The Structures of Virtue and Vice (Georgetown University Press, 2021), School of Theology and Ministry Associate Professor of Moral Theology Daniel J. Daly uses the lens of virtue and vice to reimagine a Catholic ethics that can better scrutinize the social forces that both affect moral character and contribute to well-being or suffering. In doing so, he creates a Catholic ethical framework for responding virtuously to the problems caused by global social systems, from poverty to climate change. Drawing on the works of Thomas Aquinas and other sources, Daly defines the virtuous structures that facilitate a love of God, self, neighbor, and creation, and the vicious structures that cultivate hatred, intemperance, and indifference to suffering. Daly, who earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Theological Ethics from Boston College, teaches courses on health care ethics, Christian ethics, virtue ethics, and end-of-life ethics at STM. Last fall, he gave a talk for the STM Continuing Education program on “Catholic End of Life Ethics and the COVID Crisis.”
The social forces that shape moral character
Posted in Alumni Authors, Boston College Authors
Tagged ethics, School of Theology and Ministry
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“Encounters: Inspiration & Conversion”
“Encounters: Inspiration & Conversion” is an exhibition that looks at encountering Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary in landscapes or settings beyond the usual Biblical locations, through Ignatian imaginative prayer. The two-part display consists of framed collages and books with covers designed by Barbara Adams Hebard, conservator at the John J. Burns Library. The books displayed in “Encounters” are inspired by the workshops that Hebard conducted for Professor of History Virginia Reinburg’s classes or reflect Boston College themes. The collages on display are inspired in part by Hebard’s experiences in a number of Ignatian-related programming at BC’s Center for Ignatian Spirituality, Church in the 21st Century Center, and Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. “Encounters: Inspiration & Conversion” is on display in the gallery, room 203, in Carney Hall, now through the end of March. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. The exhibition is sponsored by the Boston College Arts Council and the Boston College Libraries. Visit the exhibit virtually, thanks to the creativity of Yifan Wang ’22.
Memory, history, race, and the American landscape
Educator and Earth historian Lauret Savoy will give a presentation on her book Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape on March 17 at 7 p.m. The virtual Lowell Humanities Series event will include a moderated discussion and audience Q&A. Trace won the 2016 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation and the 2017 ASLE Creative Writing Award. It was also a finalist for the PEN American Open Book Award and Phillis Wheatley Book Award, as well as shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and the Orion Book Award. About Trace from the publisher: “A provocative and powerful mosaic that ranges across a continent and across time…Trace grapples with a searing national history to reveal the often unvoiced presence of the past. In distinctive and illuminating prose that is attentive to the rhythms of language and landscapes, [Savoy] weaves together human stories of migration, silence, and displacement… [and] delves through fragmented histories–natural, personal, cultural–to find shadowy outlines of other stories of place in America.” Savoy is Mount Holyoke College’s David B. Truman Professor of Environmental Studies and Geology. Presented by the Lowell Humanities Series and co-sponsored by the History Department and Environmental Studies Program. Pre-registration is required; details and a link can be found at bc.edu/lowell.
Posted in Guest Authors, Lowell Humanities Series
Tagged cultural history, environment, identity, landscape
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My ski vacation
Boston College Professor of Russian, English, and Jewish Studies Maxim D. Shrayer recently penned an essay for the American Jewish online magazine Tablet about his experience on a ski vacation to Italy. Shrayer is an author, editor, and translator whose publications include Of Politics and Pandemics: Songs of a Russian Immigrant, Leaving Russia: A Jewish Story, Yom Kippur in Amsterdam, and Voices of Jewish-Russian Literature, among other titles. Read Shrayer’s Tablet essay.
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Discourse Analysis Beyond the Speech Event
Stanton Wortham, Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and co-author Angela Reyes (Hunter College and City University of New York) have released a second edition of Discourse Analysis Beyond the Speech Event (Routledge, 2020). The first edition of Discourse Analysis Beyond the Speech Event was awarded the 2016 Edward Sapir Book Prize from the Society for Linguistic Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association. Wortham and Reyes contend that discourse analysis needs to move beyond fixed speech events and consider the development of discourses over time. The authors lay out a set of tools and techniques on how to conduct discourse analysis of linked events, allowing researchers to understand not only individual events but also the patterns that emerge across them. Wortham talks about the new edition of his book in this video from the Lynch School. Wortham is a linguistic anthropologist and educational ethnographer who is the author/editor of nine books, including Migration Narratives: Diverging Stories in Schools, Churches, and Civic Institutions.
A world both beautiful and brutal
Boston College alumnus Brian Treanor, a professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, has written Melancholic Joy: On Life Worth Living (Bloomsbury, 2021), a wide-ranging and accessible meditation on the human condition and the paradox of evil and good in our lived experience. Drawing on philosophy, literature, and poetry, Treanor concludes that we that we can neither explain away evil or dismiss the stubborn persistence of the good and instead must live in the tension between the two. Treanor contends that attending to the fullness of reality—everyday frustrations and extraordinary horrors as well as beauty and goodness—leads to a “melancholic joy.” Treanor earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from BC and holds the Charles S. Casassa Chair of Social Values at LMU. Read a sample of Melancholic Joy.
A personal account of bipolar disorder
Will Morro was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder at the age of 20 while a student at Boston College. Over 13 years, he endured six hospitalizations in mental health facilities and nine psychiatric evaluations in emergency rooms. His book, Nobody Believes Crazy (Stay Thirsty Press, 2020), delivers a first-person account of living with mental illness. Nobody Believes Crazy has been described as a “gritty, authentic memoir” that describes what it is like to have bipolar disorder—what it feels like, how your brain reacts, and the feeling of being, at times, kidnapped by the illness. A must-read for anyone living with bipolar disorder and their family and friends.
Inside the Bubble with Jared Dudley
In the new book, Inside the NBA Bubble: A Championship Season under Quarantine, Boston College alumnus Jared Dudley shares an insider’s account of life during the NBA lockdown and the journey his Los Angeles Lakers traveled, during a year marked by the pandemic and racial injustice, to win a world championship. Written with journalist Carvell Wallace, Inside the NBA Bubble tells Dudley’s story of the LA Lakers who joined more than 300 players and personnel from 21 teams to play basketball in a vacated Disney World, isolated from most family and friends, for nearly 100 days. It would be a season that challenged and inspired the NBA veteran and former BC Eagle standout.
Fiction Days presents Min Jin Lee
Min Jin Lee, author of the bestseller Pachinko (Grand Central Publishing, 2017), will give a lecture and read from her novel in a virtual event on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Her reading will be followed by a moderated discussion and audience Q&A. Pachinko, a National Book Award finalist, follows four generations of a Korean immigrant family living in 20th century Japan. Pachinko is being adapted into a limited series for Apple TV. Lee also is the author of the novel Free Food for Millionaires. She is a writer-in-residence at Amherst College. Her appearance is presented by the Lowell Humanities Series and co-sponsored by the American Studies Program and the Asian American Studies Program. Pre-register for the webinar here.
White House whistleblower
Miles Taylor, whose 2018 anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times provided insight into the chaos and instability in President Trump’s administration as well as the efforts of some insiders to work against the president’s alleged recklessness, will present “Why Dissent Matters — Lessons on Leadership Culture” at a virtual event on February 18 at 6:00 p.m. Taylor also is the author of the best-selling book A Warning (Hachette Book Group, 2019), an expansion of his accounts of the Trump administration and the consequences of re-electing what he called a “commander in chief unfit for the role.” Taylor revealed himself to be “Anonymous” in late 2020. Taylor was the chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he oversaw day-to-day operations. He was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security and managed engagement with the White House, federal agencies, foreign governments, and industry partners. He also served as deputy chief of staff and counselor to Secretary John Kelly, advancing efforts to protect the United States against nation-state adversaries, criminal plots, terrorists, and cyber threats. Today, Taylor is co-founder of the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform (REPAIR); a senior fellow at the McCrary Center for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security; and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Taylor’s talk is presented by the Carroll School’s Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics and the Political Science Department. Pre-registration is required.
BC Bookmarks 