McFarland Center’s April Events Span Ancient Rome to Contemporary Consumerism

The Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross presents lectures this month that recount Jewish rescue by a French priest during the Holocaust, walk through triumphant Roman architecture, reveal the true cost of consumerism, and consider the conflicted legacy of a revered modern philosopher — who also happened to be a Nazi. These events are free and open to the general public. They are also recorded and available for viewing online at holycross.edu/mcfarlandcenter.

The McFarland Center’s events for April include:

Wednesday, April 15, 2015; at 4:30 p.m., Rehm Library Père Marie-Benoît and Jewish Rescue  — Historian and author Susan Zuccotti details, from her recent biography, how a "French Priest Together with Jewish Friends Saved Thousands during the Holocaust.” Zuccotti is author of a number of award-winning books on the Holocaust, including "The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue and Survival," "The Holocaust, the French and the Jews," and "Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy." She has taught Holocaust and general Western European history at Columbia, Barnard College, and Trinity College. Supported by the Kraft-Hiatt Fund for Jewish-Christian Understanding.

Monday, April 20, 2015; 4:30 p.m., Rehm Library The Roman Triumph in its Urban Context: Building Memories and Identities in Republican Rome — The triumph, an elaborate procession celebrating Rome's military victories, was one of ancient Rome's most important institutions, a ritual at once religious and political, military and spectacular. In this lecture, Maggie Popkin, assistant professor of Roman art at Case Western Reserve University, illustrates how the architectural monuments built along the triumphal route shaped Romans' experience of the triumphs and view of their city's place in a rapidly expanding Mediterranean context.

Thursday, April 23, 2015; 4:30 p.m., Rehm Library Consumerism, the Culture of Indifference, and the Work of Solidarity — Vincent Miller is the Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture at the University of Dayton and author of "Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture." In this lecture, he explains how the full consequences of our consumption are hidden from us, and suggests how we might change these shallow economic relationships to relationships of responsibility and solidarity. One of the Deitchman Family Lectures on Religion and Modernity.

Friday, April 24, 2015; SPECIAL TIME! 3:30 p.m., Rehm Library Reading Heidegger after the Black Notebooks: Methodological Considerations on Philosophy, History, and Politics — Peter Gordon, Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard College Professor and faculty affiliate for the Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures and Department of Philosophy at Harvard University, discusses the conflicted legacy of German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Heidegger was one of the most influential thinkers of the modern era. He was also a convinced Nazi. With the recent publication of his reflections in so-called "black notebooks," is it possible to separate the philosopher from his anti-Semitism? Co-sponsored with the Department of Philosophy.