2012 Annual Religious Studies Lecture at USJ features Michael J. Baxter, Ph.D. on October 4
The University of Saint Joseph’s Religious Studies Department will sponsor a free lecture featuring Michael J. Baxter, Ph.D. who will present “Here We Have No Abiding City: An Election Year Admonition for both Liberal and Conservative Catholics” on Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. in the Crystal Room located in Mercy Hall on the University’s West Hartford campus at 1678 Asylum Avenue. For more information, contact Benjamin Peters, Ph.D., assistant professor of Religious Studies, at 860.231.5299 or bpeters@usj.edu.
Who should Catholics vote for? Where does the Church stand? These are the questions that flood newspapers, radio, and blogs during an election year. In this lecture, Dr. Michael Baxter, visiting associate professor of Catholic Studies at DePaul University, argues that these questions should themselves be challenged and critically examined. He will advance a probing critique of the way that partisan politics have overtaken the life and mission of the Catholic Church in this country. Additionally, Dr. Baxter will offer an alternative of political community - one that is more traditional and radical than the conventional politics we encounter, and must endure, during national elections; one that reclaims our identities as Christians, Catholics, and resident aliens of the earthly city and modern empire we call "the United States of America."
Michael J. Baxter holds a Ph.D. in Theological Ethics from Duke University, a M.Div. from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. from Allegheny College. He was a longtime member of the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and now teaches in the Department of Catholic Studies at DePaul University in Chicago. A co-founder of Catholic Worker houses in Phoenix, Ariz. and South Bend, Ind., Dr. Baxter also served as the national secretary of the Catholic Peace Fellowship.
