- 303 Haggar College Center
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 284-4579 - Director of Media Relations
Gwen O'Brien
gobrien@saintmarys.edu
Best-selling Author Thomas Cahill to give 2010 Christian Culture Lecture
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Best-selling Author Thomas Cahill to give 2010 Christian Culture Lecture
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary’s College
Notre Dame, Ind.
(574) 284-4579
August 24, 2010 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—The Department of Humanistic Studies at Saint Mary’s College is proud to announce that Thomas Cahill, best-selling author of “How the Irish Saved Civilization,” will give its 2010 Christian Culture Lecture. His talk, “The End of Christian Divisions: Achieving Reunion Through Truth-telling,” is at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 22 in O’Laughlin Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Those interested may reserve a ticket at www.moreaucenter.com or by calling (574) 284-4626.
“We are delighted to host Thomas Cahill at Saint Mary’s College,” said John Shinners, the Bruno P. Schlesinger Chair of Humanistic Studies. "He has a real gift for bringing history to life, so we look forward to his talk. It will discuss how the age-old divisions of Christianity—Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox—could achieve reunion by setting aside their differences.”
The annual Christian Culture Lecture asks a preeminent figure in the humanities to explore some aspect of the Christian dimension of Western culture. Cahill has written extensively on this subject, most notably in the first five books of his seven-volume series, The Hinges of History®, which chronicle formative moments in Western civilization. In these works, Cahill tells the stories of individuals who had pivotal impacts on Western culture and the evolution of the Western sensibility. The titles of the volumes already published are:
o The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels
o Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter
o Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus
o How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe
o Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe
Cahill’s most recent book is A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green.
About the Christian Culture Lecture: Saint Mary’s College Professor Bruno Schlesinger introduced Christian Culture as a major at the College in 1956 and founded the Christian Culture Lecture in 1957. The major was later renamed Humanistic Studies. At its inception the lecture series was largely funded through a grant from the Lilly Foundation. By 1981, the series had become increasingly difficult to administer and it fell silent for 25 years. In 2006, the annual lecture was reinstated thanks to the generosity of Susan Fitzgerald Rice ’61, Ed.D., who was a Christian Culture major at Saint Mary’s, and her husband Donald B. Rice, Ph.D.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” in the U.S. News & World Report 2011 College Guide. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
