USF's
Social Justice 2002 series begins with
"So Who Cares About Social Justice? A Response"
"So Who Cares About Social Justice? A Response" will be the first presentation in the University of St. Francis Social Justice 2002 series. The public is invited to this free lecture at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25 at the university in Joliet.
In
its second year, the social justice series is
presented by the university in cooperation with
its sponsor, the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary
Immaculate. The series features experts in the
area of social justice from a Catholic perspective
who address issues that are today faced by responsible,
thoughtful citizens of the world. The Social Justice
2001 series is in keeping with the university's
mission to promote learning and provide a forum
for the exploration of truths through the enrichment
of academic and life experiences, according to
Sister Sharon Frederick, O.S.F., series coordinator.
Justice and peace scholar, Kathleen Maas Weigert, Ph.D., will present "So Who Cares About Social Justice? A Response." She is the first director of Georgetown University's new Center for Social Justice. Her career has been dedicated to experiential and service learning education, nonviolence and education for justice and peace.
Weigert
has co-edited and co-written several books, including
Teaching for Justice: Concepts and Models for
Service-Learning in Peace Studies (American Association
of Higher Education, 1999) and The Search for
Common Ground: What Unites and Divides Catholic
Americans (Our Sunday Visitor, 1997). She is the
recipient of Notre Dame University's 2000 Reinhold
Niebuhr Award, presented to one "whose life
and writings promote or exemplify the area of
social justice in modern life."
The
series will continue on March 13, 2003 when Catholic
priest and peace activist, the Rev. John Dear,
SJ., presents "Disarming the Heart, Disarming
the World: Practicing Nonviolence in a Violent
World" Rev. John Dear, SJ. The author of
17 books on peace and justice, Dear is a longtime
practitioner and teacher of nonviolence. He is
a former executive director of the Fellowship
of Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace
organization in the United States. He has worked
in homeless shelters, soup kitchens and community
centers throughout the country; traveled in war
zones throughout the world; lived in El Salvador,
Guatemala and Northern Ireland; been arrested
more than 75 times in acts of civil disobedience
and spent nearly a year in prison for a Plowshares
disarmament action. Dear has written hundreds
of articles and given more than 1,000 lectures
on nonviolence. His books include Living Peace,
recently published by Doubleday.
Reservations
are suggested for the lectures, which are in the
Moser Performing Arts Center. For information
or reservations, call 815 740-5049.
The University of St. Francis, at 500 Wilcox St. in Joliet, offers more than 60 areas of undergraduate study in arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and professional arts as well as 10 graduate programs. The university serves more than 4,300 students nationwide, including 1,300 at its main campus in Joliet.