Dr. Murzaku to Speak on Mother Teresa in Prestigious Lecture Series  

Ines Murzaku, Ph.D., Director of Catholic Studies, has been invited to give a lecture on Mother Teresa in the prestigious William B. Crawley Great Lives Lecture Series at the University of Mary Washington (UMW).

Click here to watch the lecture LIVE online on February 3, 2022, at 7:30 p.m.

The Great Lives Lecture Series began as an academic course, but it quickly gained such great popularity that it became a mainstay of UMW's public programming. Originally named for benefactors the Chappell family of Philadelphia, the series' name was changed in 2016 to honor William B. Crawley, Ph.D., the professor who founded and directs the series, leading the Q&A session after each lecture.

Guest speakers in this series, whose lectures are attended by anywhere from 500 to more than 1,000 audience members, are selected "on the basis of their prominence as biographers, with emphasis on writers who have recently made notable contributions to the field of biography, particularly those who bring a new perspective to traditional topics," as explained on the series' website.

Dr. Murzaku's work on Mother Teresa, groundbreaking in its interdisciplinarity and its explanation of interplay among personal, spiritual, and historical influences upon Mother Teresa's mission and vision, has been well received around the world. She is frequently sought as a commentator on issues pertaining to Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, and her writing on Mother Teresa has been translated into many languages for international audiences. Her most recent book, Mother Teresa: Saint of the Peripheries (Paulist Press, 2021), was highly anticipated and has received acclaim among scholars and among members of the general public seeking to understand how Mother Teresa's spirituality can enrich their own spiritual journey.

In her lecture, Dr. Murzaku will share her perspective on Mother Teresa's greatest legacy: her "revolution of tenderness." As Dr. Murzaku explained: "If there is one thing that Mother Teresa brought to the world, it was the revolution of tenderness she showed to people, giving them the possibility to see beyond themselves. For Mother Teresa, tenderness was not weakness; instead, it was fortitude. Through her life and mission, Mother Teresa showed people the paths of solidarity and humility. Her revolution of tenderness has the potential to change people, enhancing their gratitude and rejuvenating their love of neighbors."

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