President's Lecture Series

Annual Augustine Lecture: Saint Augustine as a Cure for Modern Boredom

Fr. David Meconi, S.J. Associate Professor of Historical Theology Director of the Edmund Campion Catholic Studies Center at Saint Louis University.

Prof. Esolen is a renowned scholar, thought-provoking lecturer, and poet. He is a Fellow at Thomas More College and is in the process of establishing a new center dedicated to cultural restoration there.

John L. Allen, Jr. D.S. Litt. Editor, Crux and Senior Vatican Analyst for CNN

Media plays a significant role in shaping the public’s minds and opinions and religion are no different. Assumption College welcomes Father Edward Beck, C.P. ’80, CNN’s faith and religion commentator, who presents “Religion, Church and the Media: A Delicate Balance” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 2, in the La Maison Salon. Religion, Church and the Media: A Delicate Balance, focuses on the various portrayals of faith and religion in mainstream media, particularly through televised news. Fr. Beck draws upon his 10 years of experience in network and cable news to examine the ways in which mainstream media cover faith and religion in television news. Fr. Beck graduated from Assumption College in 1980, was ordained in 1985 as a Roman Catholic priest, and is a member of the Passionist Order. For the past 10 years, Fr. Beck has served as a media contributor, providing media analysis on issues of ethics, faith, morality and religion for ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC Family Channel, HLN and current TV. For four years, he co-hosted the weekly ABC News show Focus on Faith with Chris Cuomo. In 2013, Fr. Beck contributed to the coverage of the Conclave that elected Pope Francis.

Mercy and Justice in Political Life: Augustine, Seneca, and Nussbaum

Sarah Byers, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy, Boston College presented "Mercy and Justice in Political Life: Augustine, Seneca, and Nussbaum." 

Augustine's letters to Roman magistrates and other bishops concerning the distinction between 'compassion' and 'mercy,' the importance of justice, and the moral rightness and wrongness of various kinds of punishment (including cases of human trafficking and the use of torture by the government). 

President's Lecture Series - Professor Sarah Byers, Ph.D. - November 14, 2019 from Assumption College on Vimeo.

Sandra Toenies Keating, Ph.D., associate professor of theology at Providence College, discussed the engagement and theological exchange between Muslims and Christians during her lecture, “Do Muslims and Christians Believe in the Same God?”  

John C. “Chuck” Chalberg, Ph.D.
Professional historian John C. “Chuck” Chalberg, Ph.D. delivered a lecture in the persona of Catholic convert and apologist, G.K. Chesterton. Drawing upon Chesterton’s wit, wisdom and humor, Chalberg lectured on "What's Still Wrong with the World," based upon a book written by Chesterton more than a century ago. Chalberg, as Chesterton, examined and contrasted topics of concern in the early 1900s to their continued impact and interest in today’s society. Some of those topics included the state of the family, feminism, education, democracy and the general state of the country.