Boston College Front Row

Historian Nikhil Singh discusses the role of race in the formation of U.S. domestic and foreign policy since World War II, as part of the New Directions in African Diaspora Research lecture series. Singh is an associate professor of history at the University of Washington and author of Black Is a Country: Race and the Unfinished Struggle for Democracy (Harvard, 2004).

Singh is introduced by Davarian Baldwin, associate professor of history, after introductory remarks by Cynthia Young, associate professor of English and director of the African and African Diaspora Studies Program.

Speaker: Nikhil Singh

Date: April 27, 2006

Length: 1:39:24

As part of the sociology departments Distinguished Visiting Scholars Series, Francesca Polletta discusses storytelling when used as a political campaign tool, including its use in the United States 2004 presidential elections. Polletta is an associate professor of sociology at Columbia University, and the author of It Was Like a Fever: Storytelling in Protest and Politics (Chicago, 2006) and Freedom Is an Endless Meeting: Democracy in American Social Movements (Chicago, 2002).

Polletta is introduced by Matt Williams, Ph.D. candidate in sociology, after welcoming remarks by Juliet Schor, professor and chair of the sociology department.

Speaker: Francesca Polletta

Date: April 26, 2006

Length: 1:09:01

Prior to the film version premiere of Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code, Harold Attridge, dean of Yale Divinity School, clarifies the books distortions of Leonardo Da Vincis art, pre-Christian goddess worship, the development of early Christian doctrine, and the relationship of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. A 1967 graduate of Boston College, Attridge is the Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament at Yale and the author of seven books.

Attridge is introduced by Andrew Finstuen, Ph.D.06, interim assistant director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life.

Speaker: Harold Attridge

Date: April 26, 2006

Length: 1:03:24

Theologians Jon Levenson and Gary Anderson critique the Pontifical Biblical Commissions 2001 document, The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, which affirms the essential place of the Jewish Scriptures in the Christian tradition, and examines the depictions of Jews in the New Testament. Levenson, the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School, and Anderson, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame, speak separately, and then answer questions.

The symposium is moderated by Richard Clifford, SJ, professor of Old Testament at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and introduced by Philip Cunningham, executive director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College.

Speaker: Gary Anderson, Jon Levenson

Date: April 24, 2006

Length: 1:51:21

Jonathan Balcombe, an expert in animal behavior, describes the variety of animals that seem to demonstrate pleasure, and pleasures theoretical origins in evolution. Balcombe is an animal behavior research scientist at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C., and the author of Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good (Macmillan, 2006)

Speaker: Johnathon Balcombe

Date: April 24, 2006

Length: 58:13

Brian OConnor, adjunct assistant professor of Italian at Boston College, presents an analysis and reading of the 12th canto of Dantes Purgatorio. OConnors commentary is in English; the reading from the Divine Comedy is in Italian. This program is part of Lectura Dantis, an ongoing public reading of the Divine Comedy organized by the Boston College Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the Center for Italian Culture in Newton, Massachusetts.

OConnor is introduced by Laurie Shepard, associate professor of Italian in the Romance languages and literatures department of Boston College.

Speaker: Brian OConnor

Date: April 24, 2006

Length: 1:05:26

Garret FitzGerald, twice prime minister of Ireland (1981-82, 1982-87), speaks on the decline of the Catholic Churchs influence in the education and lives of Irish citizens. As prime minister, FitzGerald signed the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He is currently the chancellor of the National University of Ireland, and writes a weekly column for the Irish Times.

FitzGerald is introduced by Burns Librarian Robert ONeill, following opening remarks by Fred Lawrence, associate professor of theology and director of Boston Colleges Lonergan Workshop.

Speaker: Garret FitzGerald

Date: April 20, 2006

Length: 1:15:43

Boston historian Thomas H. OConnor discusses his 16th book, The Athens of America: Boston, 1825-1845 (UMass, 2006), about leaders of the post-Constitutional generation whose personal talents and financial resources made Boston the nations cultural, intellectual, and humanitarian center. OConnor is the University Historian at Boston College, where he began teaching in 1950. Among his recent books are The Hub: Boston Past and Present (Northeastern, 2001), Boston A to Z (Harvard, 2000), Civil War Boston (Northeastern, 1997), and The Boston Irish (Northeastern, 1995).

OConnor is introduced by James OToole, professor of history, following welcoming remarks from Ben Birnbaum, editor of Boston College Magazine. This event is a part of Writers Among Us: Boston College Readings, a series spotlighting recent book publications by Boston College faculty.

Speaker: Thomas OConnor

Date: April 19, 2006

Length: 42:22

Jonathan Haidt discusses his research on three rarely studied emotions-moral elevation, admiration, and awe-in the field of positive psychology, which is the scientific study of positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. Haidt is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (Basic, 2005).

Speaker: Jonathan Haidt

Date: April 13, 2006

Length: 51:18

Clair Wills speaks on representations of domesticity and female sexuality in the fiction of Irish writers Mary Lavin and Maura Laverty. Wills is a professor of Irish literature at Queen Mary, University of London, and the author of Improprieties: Politics and Sexuality in Northern Irish Poetry (Oxford, 1993) and Reading Paul Muldoon (Bloodaxe, 1998).

Wills is introduced by Marjorie Howes, codirector of the Irish Studies Program and associate professor of English.

Speaker: Clair Wills

Date: April 10, 2006

Length: 53:53