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CUA Professors Write About 'Professions and the Common Good'

The most recent issue of Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education (Vol. 25, Winter 2006) is composed almost entirely of articles written by Catholic University professors. Subtitled “Professions and the Common Good,” the issue comprises articles by 12 authors, including the following eight CUA professors: James R. Zabora, dean and associate professor, social work; Barbara P. Early, assistant dean and associate professor, social work; Leonard DeFiore, Brother Patrick Ellis Chair and research assistant professor of education; William E. Kelly, professor, civil engineering; V. Bradley Lewis, associate professor, philosophy; Alberto M. Piedra, professor emeritus, economics; Elizabeth D. Smith, associate professor, social work; John V. Yanik, professor, architecture and planning. The publication was inspired by a symposium titled “Professions and the Common Good” held March 11, 2005, at CUA and sponsored by the Columbus School of Law. 

Awards and Honors

Karlynn Brintzenhofeszoc, associate professor, social work, and Louisa Daratsos, a doctoral student at Yeshiva University, received a 2006 mentorship grant from the College of Palliative Care in Glenview, Ill. The grant was awarded to 28 pairs of physicians, nurses and social workers.

Sister Rosemary Donley, S.C., professor, nursing, was selected as a 2006 Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing. The Living Legend designation “recognizes extraordinary Fellows who serve as reminders of the proud history of the nursing profession and as extraordinary role models,” according to the academy’s Web site.

Katherine Jansen, associate professor, history, was one of 60 scholars to receive a 2006-2007 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship. Jansen was honored for her research on peace in late medieval Italy.

Jon Klein, assistant professor, drama, and his wife and fellow playwright, Laura Shamas, won an Aurand Harris Fellowship from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America to help fund their writing of a winter-themed play titled Snowbored. The fellowship also will provide money for travel and research related to the play.

Klein also won a commission from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to develop a new play, Chance and Necessity, for the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York. The Sloan Foundation funds films and plays that promote or explore themes of science. Klein’s play is about Jacques Monod, a Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist who fought in the French Resistance and was a close friend of novelist Albert Camus.

He also received a commission to write a new play for the Seattle Children's Theatre and an additional co-commission from the Kennedy Center Theatre for Youth and the White House Historical Association.

Sister Rose McDermott, S.S.J., associate professor, canon law, was reappointed as a consultor to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in May 2006. Pope John Paul II originally appointed Sister McDermott to the same congregation in 1995 for a five-year period, and reappointed her in 2000 for another period of five years.

Merylann Schuttloffel, associate professor and chair, education, received the Alumnae Citation Award from the Alumnae Office of the College of Saint Teresa. The award will be presented to her Oct. 14 at the celebration of Mass at the College of Saint Teresa's 2006 Reunion.

Andrew Simpson, associate professor, music, was the featured composer on the American Composers Forum Web site (http://www.composersforum.org) during the week of June 19. The Web site describes composer and pianist Simpson as “a musician who creates vivid, colorful music … he seeks new modes of expression and technique while drawing strongly upon the classical tradition.”

Dean James Zabora was selected by the American Psychosocial Oncology Society to receive the 2007 Holland Distinguished Leadership Award at its annual conference in March 2007. The Holland Award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of psychosocial oncology.

On the Road

Maria Sophia Aguirre, associate professor, business and economics, presented a paper titled “The Role of Family Dinners in Economic Development” at a conference on home life, held in London in May.

Aguirre also presented a paper titled “The Family in Economic Development” at the World Family Forum, held at Brigham Young University in July.

Provost John Convey, Elizabeth Ann Seton Professor of Education, delivered the annual Anthony Ruggiero Lecture on Catholic Education at DeSales University’s Center for Salesian Faith and Culture in Allentown, Pa. The title of his Sept. 11 lecture was “Catholic Identity: The Value-Added and Essential Component of Catholic Education.”

John Figura, assistant professor, art, exhibited his paintings at his one-man show titled "The High Life: Painting, Drinking, Rockabilly Music and Other Bad Habits I've Developed" from Sept. 8 to Sept. 30 at the Wohlfarth Gallery in Brookland. The title of the show refers to the humorous content of the paintings, which address various dilemmas encountered by the contemporary painter.

Michael Gorman, assistant professor, philosophy, presented a paper titled “Thomas on the Number of Christ’s Esse: What’s the Problem?” at the Cornell University Summer Colloquium on Medieval Philosophy in June.

Nora Heimann, associate professor, art, delivered a lecture titled “Fashioning Joan of Arc” at the Sept. 9 symposium “Love and War.” The lecture at the Fashion Institute of Technology addressed the history of Joan of Arc’s costume as depicted through the arts.

V. Bradley Lewis taught a course titled Philosophy of Law at the University of Notre Dame in July.

Leopold May, professor emeritus, chemistry, and George Eng, senior research associate, chemistry, gave the lecture/presentation “Synthesis, Structural and Larvacidal Studies of s series of Triorganotin Chrysanthemumates,” along with their University of the District of Columbia colleagues Xueqing Song and Alejandra Zapata, at the 22nd International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry on July 26 in Zaragoza, Spain.

Sister Rose McDermott, S.S.J., associate professor, canon law, joined Sister Sharon Holland, of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, on Aug. 16 to 17 to conduct a workshop for major superiors of religious institutes and societies of apostolic life at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, Ga.  The workshop was titled “The Temporal Goods of Institutes and Members – Witness to Evangelical Poverty: Solidarity with the Poor.”  Monsignor Thomas J. Green, professor, canon law, moderated the workshop and participated in panel discussions.

Adnan Morshed, assistant professor, architecture and planning, presented a lecture titled “Constructing the Modern Spectator: Hugh Ferriss’ Metropolis of Tomorrow” at the International DOCOMOMO Conference, held Sept. 27 to 29 in Ankara, Turkey. DOCOMOMO is a worldwide organization that is dedicated to the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the modern movement.

Rev. Kurt Pritzl, O.P., dean, philosophy, will give a lecture titled “The Place of the Intellect in Aristotle’s Philosophy” at the annual meeting of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, to be held Oct. 29 at Denison University.

Thomas J. Schartl, assistant professor, theology, was invited to speak at a Sept. 18-21 conference, “Religious Language and Christian God-Talk in a Post-Secular Culture,” held in Freising (Munich). His presentation on the contemporary conditions of "Christian God-Talk" was titled "Universale concretum: The Bi-Polar Structure of Christian God-Talk." This meeting of German scholars of dogmatics and fundamental theology is held every two years and addresses the contemporary questions of systematic theology and new challenges to Christian faith.  It is considered the most important meeting of German-speaking systematic theologians and is attended by scholars from around the globe. The papers of the conference are published in the book series "questiones disputatae."

Michael Sheridan, visiting scholar, social work, presented a lecture titled “Summer Session on Contemplative Curriculum Development” at a conference on the integration of contemplative pedagogical approaches in higher education, sponsored by the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. The conference was held Aug. 13 to 18 at Smith College.

Rev. James Wiseman, O.S.B., associate professor, theology and religious studies, will present a paper titled “Contemplation and Social Transformation: Reflections on Some Recent Events” during a conference titled “Mystical Experience and Social Responsibility in the Global Village” to be held Oct. 16-18. The conference will be held at Jesuit-run Sogang University in Seoul, Korea.
 

Performances

Marietta Hedges, assistant professor of drama, joined Karen Bradley, head of the M.F.A. dance program at the University of Maryland, in co-creating the docudrama play Fear Up: Stories from Baghdad and Guantanamo, about the war in Iraq and prisoner abuse in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp. Performed from Aug. 11 to 23 at the New York International Fringe Festival, the play received good reviews and several theaters across the country have asked to read the script for possible future productions. The play was earlier given staged readings at the Busboys and Poets performance space in Washington, D.C., and at the Camden People’s Theatre in London, England.

Jon Klein’s adaptation of James Howe’s children's book Bunnicula was staged several times in the past year, including shows at the Childsplay Theater in Tempe, Ariz.; South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, Calif.; the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People in Toronto; 7 Stages Theatre in Atlanta; and the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, N.Y.

In the past year, he has had revival productions in the D.C. area of two of his plays: T Bone N Weasel at Rep Stage in Columbia, Md., and Betty the Yeti at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick, Md.

Murry Sidlin, dean, music, conducted five concerts between Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 at the Cascade Festival of Music in Bend, Ore., during his 11th summer as the festival’s artistic director.

Publications

Maria Sophia Aguirre published “Working Mothers’ Contributions to Family Income: Proportions and Effects,” in Vol. 20 (2006) of the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy.

Joseph Capizzi, has written two opinion pieces for Factis.org, which provides news and opinion on social policy. The first piece, titled “Society Gone Wild,” appeared Aug. 23. The second, titled “Benedict and Islam: Much Deeper Than the Deep Thinkers at The New York Times Can Imagine,” ran Sept. 20.

David Jobes, professor, psychology, published a book titled Managing Suicidal Risk: A Collaborative Approach (Guilford Press, 2006). According to Alan Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, “Jobes is a master teacher, and readers of this book are lucky to be among his students.”

Andrew Simpson, associate professor, music, recently released a CD of chamber music, titled “A Fiery and Still Night” (Capstone Records). He is featured on piano in one of the four tracks.

Andrew Weaver, associate professor, music, wrote an article titled "Music in the Service of Counter-Reformation Politics: The Immaculate Conception at the Habsburg Court of Ferdinand III (1637-1657)" that appeared in the August edition of the journal Music & Letters.

Kevin White, associate professor, philosophy, and Monsignor John Wippel, The Theodore Basselin Professor of Philosophy, each contributed a chapter to Theological Quodlibeta in the Middle Ages: The Thirteenth Century, which was published this summer by Brill. White’s chapter is titled “The Quodlibeta of Thomas Aquinas in the Context of His Work,” and Monsignor Wippel’s chapter is titled “Godfrey of Fontaines’ Quodlibet XIV on Justice as a General Virtue.” The cover of the book includes a picture of a page from an Aquinas manuscript kept at the John K. Mullen of Denver Memorial Library. Timothy Noone, professor, philosophy, will contribute a chapter on John Duns Scotus in the book’s second volume, to be published next year.

Students

Sophomores Nicholas Berg and Thomas Medek have each been awarded a $1,500 scholarship by the Washington, D.C., Post of the Society of American Military Engineers. They are among 10 recipients of the annual awards, which honor achievements by D.C.-area university students in engineering. Berg, Medek and the other recipients attended a Sept. 30 gala in their honor.

James Catano, graduate student, politics, published a paper titled “War Crimes Under International Law” in the Sept. 2 issue of Global Politician magazine.

Dorle Hellmuth, Ph.D. candidate, politics, was one of 11 scholars selected by the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy to receive an annual grant for research in social policy. The grant will help fund her dissertation, titled “Effects of Government Structures on Foreign Policy Decision-Making.”

The Delmarva Power Foundation awarded undergraduate Christina Lessard a $10,000 scholarship, to be used toward her CUA tuition. The scholarship is given each year to select recipients of the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest recognition for a senior Girl Scout.