SMU hosts Lilly Graduate Fellows conference

On Aug. 8-11, the First Cohort of Lilly Graduate Fellows met at Saint Mary’s for their second conference, “The Word as Icon: Augustine, Dostoevsky, and the St. John’s Bible.” Among other activities, which included fellowship, the group attended worship services at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church; Dr. Angela Christman of Loyola University-Maryland and Dr. Paul Contino of Pepperdine University addressed the group and led a discussion on “Augustine’s Confessions”; and “The Brothers Karamozov,” and Dr. Barbara Sutton, associate dean for Formation at St. John’s University School of Theology, led a spiritual exercise (Visio Divina) using the St. John’s Bible.

Dr. Mary Catherine Fox, professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, addressed the group on the Lasallian charism and its history at SMU.

The following thank you was sent to the national network of universities in the Lilly Network: “We want to thank Saint Mary’s University, and the conference organizer, Dr. Jane Kelley Rodeheffer, mentor for the First Cohort of Fellows, and professor of philosophy, as well as Dr. Thomas Mans, vice president for Academic Affairs, for being such wonderful hosts and for introducing the cohort to the Lasallian tradition in higher education.”

The First Cohort of Fellows will meet again this year with mentors Dr. Rodeheffer and Dr. Michael Beaty, chair of the Philosophy Department at Baylor University, in a distance colloquium that will focus on the topic of “The Vocation of the Christian Scholar.”