Spring 2024 Interdisciplinary Panel Series: CIT and the Contemporary World

"As a Catholic university, Seton Hall exists to participate in the ongoing interaction of faith and reason in the collaborative and cumulative pursuit of truth… [that] is the Catholic Intellectual Tradition… Because God is the Creator of heaven and earth who takes on human nature in Jesus Christ, all human endeavors, discourses, practices and forms of life lie within the concern of Catholic intellectual life, as do all forms of cultural expression from the natural and human sciences to music and poetry, from political and economic theory to architecture and healthcare."
- From the Seton Hall description of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce a new interdisciplinary panel series, "CIT and the Contemporary World." In support of the University’s ongoing engagement with the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Seton Hall will host three panel presentations in which faculty engage in an interdisciplinary dialogue connected with the CIT about an important issue facing society today. This panel series was conceived to encourage wide participation from undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools with the hope of hosting one panel presentation on each of Seton Hall’s three campuses during the Spring 2024 semester.

Topics might include, for example:

• Artificial intelligence
• The environmental crisis
• Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and past health crises
• Rights and responsibilities of freedom of speech
• Justice for those on the margins of society (e.g., immigrants and ethnic and racial minorities)
• Means of resolving violent conflicts

Each panel will include panelists from two or three different disciplines (ideally different schools), who will bring their disciplinary expertise to bear on the chosen issue. Panels may engage the Catholic Intellectual Tradition by either including the perspective of a panelist with expertise in some aspect of the CIT or substantively engaging the CIT in relation to the disciplinary perspectives of the panelists. Regardless of disciplinary background, all panelists are encouraged to consult papal encyclicals and other ecclesial documents, theological texts, and other works (possibly including artwork, film, music, etc.) by significant Catholic thinkers and figures.

Process:

• Submit a proposal, no later than February 26, of no more than one page identifying the proposed topic and the 2-3 panelists. Proposals should clearly explain how the proposed panel will (1) incorporate the disciplinary perspectives of the panelists and (2) engage the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. Email proposals to the CIT Committee Co-chairs, Justin Anderson, Ph.D. ([email protected]) and Father Brian Muzas ([email protected]).
• In the selection process, preference will be given to proposals that include panelists from different schools, clearly incorporate different disciplinary perspectives in cogent dialogue, and engage the CIT in a substantive and knowledgeable way.
• Proposals will be reviewed by members of the University’s standing Committee on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.
• Applicants will receive a response by March 8.

Each panelist will receive a stipend of $500.

Categories: Campus Life, Education, Faith and Service