Ethics and Culture Cast

By Notre Dame de Nicola Center for Ethics and CultureSociety & Culture Religion & Spirituality Christianity Education

Ethics and Culture Cast episodes

January 16, 2020Episode 44: Fr. Terry Ehrman, C.S.C.
Reverend Terrence P. Ehrman, C.S.C. is chaplain to the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. A native of Baltimore, Father Terry joined the Congregation of Holy Cross after earning a B.S. in biology from Notre Dame and an M.S. in biology from Virginia Tech. He was ordained in 2000 and received his Ph.D in theology from the Catholic University of America in 2012. Father Terry teaches the course "Science, Theology, and Creation" to undergraduates. His latest book is Man of God: Lessons to Young Men About Life, Sex, Friendship, Vocation, and Loving with the Heart of Christ (2017).
Special Guest: Fr. Terry Ehrman, C.S.C..
Links:
Department of Theology: Fr. Terry Ehrman, C.S.C.
Book: Man of God: Lessons for Young Men About Life, Sex, Friendship, Vocation, & Loving with the Heart of Christ
— In Man of God: Lessons to Young Men About Life, Sex, Friendship, Vocation, and Loving with the Heart of Christ, Fr. Ehrman draws on his experiences counseling men who are struggling to live in the world but not be of the world. In the form of emails written to a former student, he offers a plan for ongoing conversion that is both wise and practical, high-minded yet real.
Article: A professor responds to the pope’s call for an ‘ecological conversion’
— "It was a simple assignment: Observe a tree on campus in silence for 10 to 15 minutes each week of the semester. Still, the requirement was initially met with skepticism by some of my colleagues and students as a hokey, hardly academically rigorous, “tree-hugging” activity.
"And yet the natural world has a subtle power and attraction to draw even the reluctant observer into a realm of wonder—which can ultimately lead to an awareness of God’s existence and immanent presence in something as unnoticed as a tree."
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
22 min
December 12, 2019Episode 43: Steve Barr
Steve Barr is professor of physics and director of the Bartol Research Institute at the University of Delaware. He is the president of the Society of Catholic Scientists and author of bestselling books on science and religion such as Modern Physics and Ancient Faith (Notre Dame) and The Believing Scientist (Eerdmans).
Special Guest: Steve Barr.
Links:
Society of Catholic Scientists
— The Society of Catholic Scientists is an international lay organization that fosters fellowship among Catholic scientists and witnesses to the harmony of faith and reason.
Book: Modern Physics and Ancient Faith
— A considerable amount of public debate and media print has been devoted to the “war between science and religion.” In his accessible and eminently readable new book, Stephen M. Barr demonstrates that what is really at war with religion is not science itself, but a philosophy called scientific materialism. Modern Physics and Ancient Faith argues that the great discoveries of modern physics are more compatible with the central teachings of Christianity and Judaism about God, the cosmos, and the human soul than with the atheistic viewpoint of scientific materialism.
Book: The Believing Scientist: Essays on Science and Religion
— Elegant writings by a cutting-edge research scientist defending traditional theological and philosophical positions. Both an accomplished theoretical physicist and a faithful Catholic, Stephen Barr in this book addresses a wide range of questions about the relationship between science and religion, providing a beautiful picture of how they can coexist in harmony.
Article: Attempts to Explain Cosmogony Scientifically
Video: Stephen Barr on Religion and Science: The Myth of Conflict
— Stephen Barr, President of The Society of Catholic Scientists, discusses the unique relationship between faith and science and highlights how his organization combats this myth.
Book: Faith, Science, & Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge, Second Edition
— In our modern scientific and technological culture, it is not an option for Catholics to ignore or have a shallow understanding of the relationship between religious faith and scientific knowledge. Such a lack of understanding limits our ability to spread the Gospel in a world that so needs the Good News of Jesus Christ. Dr. Chris Baglow's "Faith, Science, & Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge, Second Edition," presents this necessary knowledge.
Book: The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief
— An instant bestseller, The Language of God provides the best argument for the integration of faith and logic since C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity. It has long been believed that science and faith cannot mingle. Faith rejects the rational, while science restricts us to a life with no meaning beyond the physical. It is an irreconcilable war between two polar-opposite ways of thinking and living. Written for believers, agnostics, and atheists alike, The Language of God provides a testament to the power of faith in the midst of suffering without faltering from its logical stride.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
29 min
December 05, 2019Episode 42: Therese Cory
We chat with Therese Cory, an associate professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame and the newest member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas. We talk about reading Aquinas with undergraduates, the cross-cultural conversation around Aristotle's writings, and how the thought of St. Thomas is relevant to modern-day A.I. researchers.
Special Guest: Therese Cory.
Links:
Therese Cory's homepage
News: ND philosopher appointed to Vatican academy of St. Thomas Aquinas
— Therese Cory, the John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic Studies in the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Philosophy, has been named a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas by Pope Francis. Cory is one of 50 total members and one of two women — the third in the academy’s history — to be so honored.
Book: Aquinas on Human Self-Knowledge
— Self-knowledge is commonly thought to have become a topic of serious philosophical inquiry during the early modern period. Already in the thirteenth century, however, the medieval thinker Thomas Aquinas developed a sophisticated theory of self-knowledge, which Therese Scarpelli Cory presents as a project of reconciling the conflicting phenomena of self-opacity and privileged self-access. Situating Aquinas's theory within the mid-thirteenth-century debate and his own maturing thought on human nature, Cory investigates the kinds of self-knowledge that Aquinas describes and the questions they raise.
Book: The Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Sketch (by Fr. Stephen Brock)
— If Saint Thomas Aquinas was a great theologian, it is in no small part because he was a great philosopher. And he was a great philosopher because he was a great metaphysician. In the twentieth century, metaphysics was not much in vogue, among either theologians or even philosophers; but now it is making a comeback, and once the contours of Thomas's metaphysical vision are glimpsed, it looks like anything but a museum piece. It only needs some dusting off. Many are studying Thomas now for the answers that he might be able to give to current questions, but he is perhaps even more interesting for the questions that he can raise regarding current answers: about the physical world, about human life and knowledge, and (needless to say) about God. This book is aimed at helping those who are not experts in medieval thought to begin to enter into Thomas's philosophical point of view.
Lecture: Muslim Philosophers and the Christian Middle Ages
— This lecture was offered by the University of Texas chapter of the Thomistic Institute in Austin on February 20th, 2019.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
24 min
November 20, 2019Episode 41: Dr. Mark Komrad, MD
Dr. Komrad is a psychiatrist on the teaching faculty of Johns Hopkins and Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland and Tulane. He earned his undergraduate degree in molecular biophysics at Yale University, his M.D. degree at Duke Medical School, and trained in internal medicine and psychiatry at Johns Hopkins. He was an attending psychiatrist on the Treatment Resistant Psychotic Disorders Unit at Sheppard Pratt Hospital for 15 years, where he continues to train residents in psychotherapy and psychopharmacology.
In addition to clinical psychiatry, Dr. Komrad is a medical ethicist. He chaired the Ethics Committee and ethics consultation service for the Sheppard Pratt Health System in Maryland for over 25 years. He served on the Ethics Committee of the American Psychiatric Association for 6 years, which oversees ethics and professionalism for psychiatry in the U.S. Recently he has been speaking throughout the U.S. and internationally, also consulting to government policy makers, expressing ethical concerns related to physician assisted suicide and euthanasia, especially concern that these procedures are available to people with mental illness in some countries. He speaks widely about why legalizing these procedures is neither good social policy nor good medical ethics.
Special Guest: Mark Komrad, MD.
Links:
Dr. Mark Komrad, MD homepage
Video: Physician-Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia for Non-Terminal Patients with Mental Disorders: An Emerging Ethical Crisis
— Talk delivered at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN
You Need Help: A Step-by-Step Guide to Convince a Loved One to Get Counseling
— Just about everyone knows a relative, friend, or coworker who is exhibiting signs of emotional or behavioral turmoil. Yet figuring out how to reach out to that person can feel insurmountable. We know it is the right thing to do, yet many of us hesitate to take action out of fear of conflict, hurt feelings, or damaging the relationship.
Through a rich combination of user-friendly tools and real-life stories, Mark S. Komrad, MD, offers step-by-step guidance and support as you take the courageous step of helping a friend who might not even recognize that he or she is in need. He guides you in developing a strong course of action, starting by determining when professional help is needed, then moves you through the steps of picking the right time, making the first approach, gathering allies, selecting the right professional, and supporting friends or relatives as they go through the necessary therapeutic process to resolve their problems.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
33 min
November 15, 2019Episode 40: James Matthew Wilson
In this episode, we chat with Villanova University professor and poet James Matthew Wilson. He was with us on campus as part of our 20th Annual Fall Conference on friendship. In our conversation, we talk about the real work of writing poetry, listening to the muse, and why each of us should learn to write a bit of poetry ourselves.
Special Guest: James Matthew Wilson.
Links:
Homepage: James Matthew Wilson
The River of the Immaculate Conception
— James Matthew Wilson's new poem The River of the Immaculate Conception is at once a commemoration of composer Frank LaRocca's Mass of the Americas and a meditation on the history and place of Catholicism in North America. Ranging from St. Mary's Cathedral, in present-day San Francisco, back to the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego, and on to the conversion of Elizabeth Seton, Wilson's poem speaks of a land with a sacred mystery at its heart.
Some Permanent Things, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
— In this Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, Wilson has completely revised the poems to attain a more classical perfection and restored their original published ordering as four sequences, beginning with "The Violent and the Fallen," "Four Verse Letters," and "La Rochefoucauld's Ghost," and culminating in the new poems collected as "The Christmas Preface."
Fall Conference 2019: Love and Friendship in the Films of Whit Stillman
— A conversation with Whit Stillman and James Matthew Wilson from the de Nicola Center's 20th Annual Fall Conference.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
30 min
November 13, 2019Episode 39: Digital Friends
Our guests were part of a panel discussion at the dCEC's 20th Annual Fall Conference, "I Have Called You Friends." Their panel discussed "digital friendship." Video of the panel session will be posted to the Center's YouTube channel.
Special Guests: Fr. Anthony Sciarappa, Fr. Harrison Ayre, and Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP.
Links:
Pursued By Truth
— Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble is at the forefront of reviving the ancient discipline of memento mori (“remember your death”). She was inspired by her order’s founder, Blessed James Alberione, who kept a skull on his desk to remind him of his inevitable death. After a spiritual retreat in 2017, Sr. Theresa Aletheia received a ceramic skull from one of her sisters and she has been meditating on death daily ever since.
Clerically Speaking Podcast
YouTube Playlist: I Have Called You Friends
— Videos from the dCEC's 20th Annual Fall Conference are posted to our YouTube channel playlist, including plenary keynote sessions and many of the individual panel discussions.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
24 min
October 31, 2019Episode 38: J. J. Wright
J. J. Wright is a composer with roots in jazz and sacred music. He is the director of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, and his gig list includes recording and performing with Caribbean Jazz Project: Afro Bop Alliance, featuring vibraphonist Dave Samuels. The album was nominated for a GRAMMY for 'Best Latin Jazz Album' and won the Latin GRAMMY in the same category. In addition to Mr. Samuels, J.J. has had the privilege of performing with Billy Hart, Ike Sturm, Nate Wood, Chris Cheek, Zach Harmon, Mark Ferber, Matt Ulery, and Delfeayo Marsalis.
Special Guest: J. J. Wright.
Links:
J. J. Wright Music
— Homepage of J. J. Wright
Vespers for the Immaculate Conception
— Produced by the Grammy-award winning and Billboard Chart topping composer, musician and choir director at the University of Notre Dame, J.J. Wright, this album is a unique, beautiful recording that brings audiences a new vision of sacred music by fusing the rich heritage of Catholic sacred music with the tradition of jazz. It is a concertized vespers service that tells the story of the miraculous origin of Mary. The music takes the listener on a spiritual journey through ancient prayers and psalms that strengthen our relationship with Mary, Mother of God.
Notre Dame Magazine: Having Coffee with J. J. Wright
— "Class assignments trigger student anxiety all across campus every day, no story there, but what happened to pianist J.J. Wright during his first semester at Notre Dame was more like existential anguish.
"Asking her sacred music students to create prayer services within particular musical traditions, Professor Margot Fassler had urged Wright, then a new graduate student, to compose a jazz setting for evening prayer, known by tradition as vespers."
Notre Dame Folk Choir YouTube Channel
— The Notre Dame Folk Choir is made up of sixty vocalists and musicians from all levels and disciplines at the university. Our ensemble serves the Notre Dame community as one of its principal liturgical choirs, primarily singing at the 11:45 Mass at the Basilica each Sunday.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
24 min
October 17, 2019Episode 37: Dale Ahlquist
Dale Ahlquist is the president of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton and the author of five books about Chesterton, including The Complete Thinker and Common Sense 101. We chat about Chesterton's 1930 visit to Notre Dame, his interdisciplinary approach to writing, and (spoiler alert!) the meaning of The Man Who Was Thursday.
Special Guest: Dale Ahlquist.
Links:
The Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton
— Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) is a writer like none other. As a journalist, he wrote thousands of essays for the London newspapers. But he also wrote a hundred books: novels, poetry, plays, literary criticism, history, economic theory, philosophy, and theology. And detective stories. He wrote on every conceivable subject, but his vast output is matched only by the consistency and clarity of his thought, his uncanny ability to tie everything together. In the heart of nearly every paragraph lies a jaw-dropping aphorism or sparkling paradox that leaves readers shaking their heads in wonder.
Poem: The Arena (Dedicated to the University of Notre Dame, Indiana)
— On Saturday, Oct. 11, 1930, in the inaugural game at Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish beat Navy, 26-2. Chesterton was in attendance. "The Arena" is his poem commemorating the occasion.
The G. K. Chesterton Collection
— The University of Notre Dame's London Global Gateway is proud to house the G.K. Chesterton Library. As well as being the premier English Catholic intellectual of the 20th century, Chesterton had a very specific connection to the University of Notre Dame: he was named a visiting professor and given an honorary degree in 1930. It is appropriate that Notre Dame, widely recognized to be the leading Roman Catholic teaching and research university in the United States, is home to such a remarkable collection. Serving as a tangible connection between the Notre Dame main campus and the London Global Gateway, the collection also aims to unite the University with the broader Roman Catholic community in the United Kingdom.
Book: "My Name is Lazarus"
— 34 stories of converts whose path to Rome was paved by G.K. Chesterton. Edited with an introduction by Dale Ahlquist. Jewish converts, Muslim converts, former atheists, agnostics, and Protestants of all stripes. Drawn to Chesterton for utterly different reasons. All arriving at the same destination.
Book: "G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense"
— This book is the perfect introduction to Chesterton. Dale Ahlquist is an able guide who takes the reader through twelve of Chesterton’s most important books as well as the famous Father Brown stories.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
30 min
October 03, 2019Episode 36: Arthur Brooks
In this episode, we sit down with Arthur Brooks, the former president of the American Enterprise Institute and the author of "Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt." We talk about the importance of freedom of speech on college campuses, the role of American Catholics throughout history, and the importance of willing the good of the other as other.
Special Guest: Arthur Brooks.
Links:
Arthur Brooks's Homepage
— Arthur Brooks is a bestselling author, a social scientist, and the former president of the American Enterprise Institute. At AEI, Arthur worked with top scholars, policymakers, and elected officials to fight for for all Americans’ access to free enterprise and earned success.
Video: Love Your Enemies (Arthur Brooks at Notre Dame)
— Arthur Brooks's lecture on Thursday, September 19, 2019, hosted by Notre Dame's Constitutional Studies Program, Tocqueville Program, and the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture.
Love Your Enemies: How To
— To illustrate several of the actionable steps each of us can take to subvert the culture of contempt, Arthur created a series of short, animated video lessons based on the key themes of his new book, Love Your Enemies. Watch them here.
Documentary Film: The Pursuit
— Professional musician turned intrepid economist Arthur Brooks travels around the globe in search of an answer to the question: How can we lift up the world, starting with those at the margins of society? His journey takes him through the chaotic streets of Mumbai, a town in Kentucky left behind by the global economy, a homeless shelter in New York, a street protest in Barcelona, and a Himalayan Buddhist monastery. Along the way, he discovers the secrets not only to material progress for the least fortunate, but also true and lasting happiness for all.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
33 min
September 12, 2019Episode 35: Ernest Morrell
Ernest Morrell is the Coyle Professor in Literacy Education and Director of the Center for Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame. Ernest has recently been named director of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) James R. Squire Office for Policy Research in the English Language Arts. He is an elected Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, a past president of NCTE, and a co-convener of the African Diaspora International Research Network. From 2015-2019 Ernest has been annually ranked among the top 200 university-based education scholars in the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings published by EdWeek. Ernest is also the recipient of the NCTE Distinguished Service Award, the Kent Williamson Leadership Award from the Conference on English Leadership, and the Divergent Award for Excellence in 21st Century Literacies . His scholarly interests include: literacy studies, the teaching of English, literature for children, critical media pedagogy, youth popular culture, and postcolonial literatures of the African Diaspora.
Email Professor Morrell directly to receive a copy of his forthcoming book! Email: [[email protected]](mailto: [email protected])
Special Guest: Ernest Morrell.
Links:
YouTube video: "Fighting for Life in the Digital Age" – Bread of Life Dinner Fall 2018
— Professor Morrell urged students to develop a "pro-life media literacy" which doesn't simply ignore the pervasive anti-Catholic, anti-life message presented in popular media by taking a "head-in-the-sand" approach, but instead advocates a combination of healthy skepticism, creativity, and technical skill development. As he said, "if we don't like the media we have, develop the skills to create another."
Center for Literacy Education
— No single gift is more precious and empowering than the gift of reading. Simply put, when students read more, their lives improve. Academic literacy rates are positively correlated to life expectancy, educational outcomes, and earning potential, while low literacy rates are negatively correlated to incarceration, dropping out, and unemployment. To open a book is to unlock a whole host of academic and professional opportunities that might not otherwise be available. With this in mind, the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives founded the Center for Literacy Education (CLE) in 2017 with the generous support of a Notre Dame family from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The CLE’s goal is to transform literacy scholarship and practice in today's urban and multicultural urban schools. Led by inaugural director Dr. Ernest Morrell, a nationally known expert in literacy studies, the CLE especially targets students from vulnerable populations attending public and Catholic schools.
Every Child a Super Reader
— Literacy experts Pam Allyn and Ernest Morrell maintain that when we build on children's key strengths and immerse them in an intellectually invigorating, emotionally nurturing, literature-rich community, we grow "super readers"-avid readers who consume texts with passion, understanding, and a critical eye.
Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes
— I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
36 min

About Ethics and Culture Cast

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Lively conversations with professors, fellows, scholars, and friends of the University of Notre Dame's de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. The Center is committed to sharing the richness of the…