College to Celebrate Life and Work of Late Prof. Joanna Ziegler

Harold Roth, professor of East Asian studies and director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University, will give a talk titled “Contemplative Studies and the Liberal Arts,” on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. in the Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The event, which is free and open to the public, is the inaugural “Seeing, Thinking, and Living,” lecture which honors the late visual arts professor Joanna “Jody” Ziegler.

Ziegler, was a faculty member at Holy Cross from 1982 until 2010, when she passed away from illness.   Well-known for her commitment to students and for mentoring them as their graduate studies and careers progressed, she was the recipient of the College’s Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award, and the Arthur J. O’Leary Faculty Recognition Award, which is given to senior faculty members who make a special contribution to the College through their teaching, scholarship and service.

“Jody Ziegler’s commitment to her students and colleagues during her 29 years at the College, will live on in the minds and hearts of many,” shares Gary DeAngelis, associate director of the Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies (CISS) and organizer of the lecture. “This annual event is one small way to continue her presence at the College.”

She was the College’s first Edward A. O’Rorke Professor in the Liberal Arts, received multiple grants to support her work on ethics and contemplative practice, and was a leader in introducing reflective habits into art history classes and the wider curriculum. A specialist in late medieval and early modern religious art and architecture, she lectured throughout the United States and Europe.

Roth is a specialist in early Chinese religious thought, Taoism, the history of East Asian religions, the comparative study of mysticism and a pioneer in the developing field of contemplative studies. His publications include five books and more than three dozen articles on the early history and religious thought of the Taoist tradition and on the textual history and textual criticism of classical Chinese works, and on contemplative studies.

He is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, The National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation For International Scholarly Exchange. He also was awarded a Wriston Fellowship for Teaching Excellence from Brown University.

The event is sponsored by CISS, the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, and the visual arts department.