Fall Events to Plan to Attend

By Lisa Carroll

Students, faculty and staff at Catholic University can look forward to a variety of events that will take place on campus this fall.

CUA will be the venue for a $1 million humanitarian prize.

One of the biggest will be the Nov. 8 Opus Prize dinner. CUA, in partnership with the Opus Prize Foundation, will present a $1 million humanitarian award to an unsung (and, as-yet unnamed) hero who combines an abiding faith with an entrepreneurial spirit to combat such dire social problems as poverty, illiteracy, hunger and disease. The dinner will be preceded by a series of events on campus in October and November that will emphasize the theme of service.

Coincidentally, service will be an important theme for the Columbus School of Law this semester as it hosts a major conference on pro bono service and a lecture on humanitarian relief in Darfur.

The School of Architecture and Planning will host the Fall 2007 Southeast Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, titled “Assuming Responsibility: The Architecture of Stewardship,” on Oct. 11–13.

The fall semester will feature two lecture series, one each hosted by the School of Philosophy and the Center for the Study of Early Christianity. A Catholic cardinal from Belgium will lecture at the invitation of the School of Canon Law, and the School of Arts and Sciences will host a talk by a member of the British Parliament.

The CUA community can look forward to more lectures, conferences and events in the spring. For example, Professor William Wagner of the Columbus School of Law is organizing an international symposium on natural law titled “A Common Morality for the Global Age: In Gratitude for What We Are Given.” The symposium is a response to the personal request of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and will bring together leading scholars from various countries and academic backgrounds to address the issue of creating a global culture that can sustain the moral insight necessary for addressing the world’s problems. Faculty, staff and students should check the university’s Calendar of Events (http://publicaffairs.cua.edu/NewsAndInfo/calendar.cfm) for updates on the details of fall events and to get a preview of other upcoming spring events.

At last year’s inaugural university picnic, students chat with the university's new chancellor, Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl, archbishop of Washington.

The annual university Mass of the Holy Spirit to seek God’s blessings for the new academic year will be held in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 12:10 p.m. It will be followed by the second annual university picnic on the lawn in front of the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center. All classes will be canceled between noon and 3 p.m., for the Mass and picnic.

CUA’s athletic teams will begin playing in the new Landmark Conference. The Cardinals will see action against the seven other conference institutions: Drew University (Madison, N.J.), Goucher College (Baltimore), Juniata College (Huntingdon, Pa.), Moravian College (Bethlehem, Pa.), Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, Pa.), University of Scranton (Scranton, Pa.) and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, N.Y.).

Following is a list of some fall events by category.

Academic Conferences, Lectures and Seminars

Wednesday, September 5
The Columbus School of Law’s annual Pope John XXIII Lecture will be delivered by Naomi Churchill Earp, chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Earp is a 1983 graduate of the law school. 4 p.m., Columbus School of Law, Walter S. Slowinski Courtroom.

Monday, September 10
CUA’s Center for the Study of Early Christianity presents “Learning to Read the Greek Fathers in Syriac: Patristic Collections in the Syriac Masoretic Handbooks,” a seminar by Jonathan Loopstra, a graduate student in the Center for Early Christianity. 5:15 p.m., 300 McMahon Hall.

Friday, September 14
The School of Philosophy kicks off its fall lecture series, this year on the theme of “Early Greek Philosophy: Reason at the Beginning of Philosophy,” with a talk by the school’s dean, Rev. Kurt Pritzl, O.P. His presentation is titled “Anaximander’s apeiron and the Arrangement of Time.” 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall (formerly the Life Cycle Institute) Auditorium.

Wednesday, September 19
The Columbus School of Law’s Securities Law Program presents “The Globalization of the Regulation of Markets and Brokers,” a lecture by Erik Sirri, Securities and Exchange Commission director of market regulation. 5 p.m., Columbus School of Law, Walter S. Slowinski Courtroom.

Friday, September 21
The School of Philosophy presents a lecture titled “A Systematic Xenophanes?” by James Lesher of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

Friday, September 28
The School of Philosophy presents “Reason and Myth in Early Pythagorean Cosmology,” a lecture by Carl A. Huffman of DePauw University. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

Friday, October 5
The School of Philosophy presents “The Immateriality of Love and Strife in Empedocles,” a lecture by Patricia Curd of Purdue University. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

The Columbus School of Law will host a pro bono conference in the fall.

Friday, October 5, and Saturday, October 6
The Columbus School of Law hosts “The Role of Law Schools in Fostering Commitment to Pro Bono Publico,” a national conference that will explore ways law schools can prepare students for a lifetime commitment to service. Columbus School of Law. 

Thursday, October 11, through Saturday, October 13
CUA’s School of Architecture and Planning will host the Fall 2007 Southeast Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, titled “Assuming Responsibility: The Architecture of Stewardship.” CUA Assistant Professor Luis Eduardo Boza and Assistant Dean Michelle Rinehart will serve as co-chairs of the conference, which will be held at the Edward M. Crough Center for Architectural Studies.

Friday, October 12
The School of Philosophy presents “‘Changing, It Rests’: Flux and Constancy in Heraclitus” a lecture by Kenneth Dorter of Canada’s University of Guelph. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

The Center for Medieval and Byzantine Studies presents a lecture by professor Miri Rubin of the University of London. The title, time and location of the lecture are to be determined.

Monday, October 15
The Military and National Security Law Students Association hosts a talk by Andrew S. Natsios, President George W. Bush's special envoy for Sudan. His speech, “The Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan and U.S. Policy Responses,” will address the refugee crisis in Darfur. 5 p.m., location to be determined.

The Center for the Study of Early Christianity presents “Origen and the Ebionites,” a seminar by Gregory Finley, a graduate student in the School of Theology and Religious Studies. 5:15 p.m., 300 McMahon Hall.

Friday, October 19
The School of Philosophy presents “Parmenides, Astronomy, and Scientific Realism,” a lecture by Alexander P. D. Mourelatos of the University of Texas at Austin. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

Thursday, October 25
The School of Canon Law will host Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles, Belgium. His lecture, “Liturgy, 40 Years After Vatican II,” will be the first in a series to honor Monsignor Frederick R. McManus, an alumnus and former professor/dean of the School of Canon of Law. 4 p.m., Caldwell Auditorium.

The Center for the Study of Early Christianity presents “Coptic Christology in Practice: The Incarnation and Egyptian Bodily Performance,” a lecture by Stephen J. Davis of Yale University. 5:15 p.m., 300 McMahon Hall.

Friday, October 26
The Center for the Study of Early Christianity presents “Memory, the Cult of the Saints, and Archeological Practice,” a seminar by Stephen J. Davis of Yale University. Noon, 300 McMahon Hall.

The School of Philosophy presents “Anaxagoras: Science and Speculation in the Golden Age,” a lecture by Daniel Graham of Brigham Young University. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

Tuesday, October 30
The School of Arts and Sciences presents “The Crucial Alliance: The United Kingdom and the United States in 2007,” a lecture by Sir Patrick Cormack, British member of Parliament and London coordinator of CUA’s Westminster parliamentary internship program. 7 p.m., Great Room, Pryzbyla Center.

Friday, November 2
The School of Philosophy presents “Source and Quotation: Early Greek Philosophers in Medieval Commentaries on Aristotle’s Metaphysics,” a lecture by Georg Wieland of Germany’s Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. The presentation is part of CUA’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

Monday, November 5
The Center for the Study of Early Christianity presents “St. Ephrem the Syrian on Freedom of the Will,” a seminar by Mark Mourachian, a graduate student in the Center for Early Christianity. 5:15 p.m., 300 McMahon Hall.

Friday, November 16
The School of Philosophy presents “Francis Bacon’s Third Sailing,” a lecture by John McCarthy, CUA associate professor of philosophy. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

Friday, November 30
The School of Philosophy presents “Primal Truth, Errant Tradition and Crisis: The Pre-Socratics in Late Modernity,” a lecture by Richard Velkley of Tulane University. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

Friday, December 7
The School of Philosophy presents “From Myth to Reason,” a lecture by Charles Kahn of the University of Pennsylvania. The presentation is part of the school’s fall lecture series. 2 p.m., Aquinas Hall Auditorium.

Other Events (Celebrations, Plays, Musical Performances, etc.)

Saturday, September 29
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents the Great Noise Ensemble led by music director Armando Bayolo with guest musical group Duo 46. 8 p.m., Ward Recital Hall.

Wednesday, October 3
The Columbus School of Law, along with the CUA Department of Art and the Office of Campus Ministry, presents the opening of “Image of Justice,” an art exhibition that will explore the theme of social justice through the vision of local artists in a broad spectrum of two- and three-dimensional media. Law school atrium.

Thursday, October 4, through Sunday, October 7
CUA’s Department of Drama presents The Beggar’s Opera, John Gay’s 1728 masterpiece, a satiric opera that compares low-class thieves and prostitutes with their aristocratic and bourgeois “betters.” Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Hartke Theatre.

Saturday, October 13
CUA’s chorus concert presents the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Samuel Barber. 7 p.m., Great Hall, St. Paul’s Center (Rock Creek Church Road and Webster Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.).

Friday, October 19
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents musical compositions of its students and faculty who are members of the Cardinal Composer’s Society. 8 p.m., Ward Recital Hall.

Friday, October 19, and Saturday, October 20
CUA hosts Homecoming and Reunion Weekends 2007. Several gatherings for alumni will be held over the weekend. The homecoming football game against Hampden-Sydney (Va.) College will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday. For a complete lineup of events, visit http://alumni.cua.edu/homecoming/Homecoming2007//ScheduleOfEvents.cfm.

Sunday, October 21
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents a concert by the CUA Chamber Choir. 4 p.m., Great Hall, St. Paul’s Center.

Friday, October 26, through Sunday, October 28
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents Evita, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical about Eva Peron, the former first lady of Argentina. 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday. Hartke Theatre.

Saturday, November 3
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents a performance of the CUA Orchestra. The program will include Mozart's Symphony No. 39, Ravel's Sheherazade featuring faculty member Melanie Sonnenberg as a soloist and Sibelius' Symphony No. 3. 7:30 p.m., Great Hall, St. Paul’s Center.

Thursday, November 8
CUA, in partnership with the Opus Prize Foundation, will honor one unsung humanitarian hero with the $1 million Opus Prize. Two other humanitarians will each receive $100,000 awards. A Mass will be held at 4:30 p.m. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner and awards ceremony.

Sunday, November 11
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents The Rome Trio, a faculty recital. Time and location to be determined.

Thursday, November 15, through Sunday, November 18
CUA’s Department of Drama presents Listen, the thesis play of Meg Schadl, a master’s degree student in playwriting. In Listen, a career woman who is immersed in the minutiae of her life is forced to look outside herself when the universe places greater global issues directly in front of her. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Hartke Theatre.

Friday, November 16, through Sunday, November 18
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents Elixir of Love, an opera by Gaetano Donizetti about a young woman torn between two suitors, one of whom turns to a “love potion” to win the young woman’s heart. 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday. Ward Recital Hall.

Friday, November 30
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents a recital of new music by CUA composition students. 8 p.m., Ward Recital Hall.

Saturday, December 1
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents a concert by CUA’s Women’s Chorus. 8 p.m., St. Vincent’s Chapel.

Sunday, December 2
CUA’s Town and Gown Singers present a Musique de Noël concert. The program will include the performance of Camille Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, Hector Berlioz's The Shepherd's Farewell and traditional carols for Advent and Christmas. 4 p.m., Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes (1217 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.).

Friday, December 7
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents the annual Christmas Concert for Charity. 7:30 p.m., Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Friday, December 14, through Sunday, December 16
CUA alumnus Joe Plummer, B.A. 1954, and his son, Joe Plummer Jr., will perform a two-man rendition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

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