TODAY: Edith Stein Project

Today and tomorrow, catch the Edith Stein Project, "Encountering Vulnerability," in McKenna Hall, beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday and ending at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Lots of great talks are scheduled.

Edith Stein Project Registration

Make sure to register for this year's Edith Stein Project conference, coming up Feb. 10-11. This year's theme is "Encountering Vulnerability: Courage, Hope and Trust in the 21st Century." Registration is available through the Notre Dame Conference Center. The full schedule is below.

Friday, February 10

12:45 p.m. Welcoming Remarks
Auditorium


1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Keynote Address
Auditorium Human Strength and Weakness: Edith Stein's Life at the Hand of the Lord
Sarah Borden Sharkey, Wheaton College


2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Invited Speakers
Auditorium The Biology of Theology of the Body
Vicki Thorn, Founder, Project Rachel
Room 101-104 Love Conquers Fear -- Or Does It Really? Fear, Vulnerability and the Christian Life
Fr. Wilson Miscamble, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame

3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.   Invited Speakers
Auditorium An Exchange of Gifts: Embracing Vulnerability & Celebrating Adoption
Elizabeth R. Kirk, Visiting Scholar, Center for Ethics and Culture, University of Notre Dame
Room 101-104 Marriage and the Book of Ruth
Gary Anderson, University of Notre Dame
Room 112-114 Sheltering and Vulnerable--the Carmel of Edith Stein's Experience
Sr. Ann Astell, University of Notre Dame


5:15 p.m. Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart


6:15 p.m. Pizza Dinner
Atrium


7:00 p.m. Film Screening: The Human Experience by Grassroots Films
Auditorium


8:30 – 9:45 p.m. Dessert Reception
Atrium




Saturday, February 11
*Please note that Holy Mass will be offered in the Alumni Hall Chapel at 8am Saturday morning.


9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Submitted Papers
Auditorium Session 1: Edith Stein Instructs: Vulnerability, Care, and Trust in Successful, God-Centered Marriages
Pamela Fitzpatrick, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
The Core of Personhood: Vulnerability, Responsibility, Individuality
Philip Harold, Robert Morris University

Room 101-104 Session 2: The Blessed Wound: A Consideration of the Posture of Vulnerability Before Beauty
   Daniel Clarke, John Lane, and Garret Ahlers, University of St. Thomas

Room 112-114 Session 3: To Hold, Care, Challenge and Affirm: Entering into Vulnerability and Imaging God’s Love for Victims of Violence
 Lorraine Cuddeback, University of Notre Dame
 “Virtues of Acknowledged Dependence” and the Gift of Friendship with the Disabled
  Esther Terry, University of Notre Dame

Room 202 Session 4: Vulnerability and Mary’s Fiat in Edith Stein
Jacob Torbeck, Aquinas Institute of Theology
Self-Forgetfulness: The Little Way to Love and the Path to Vulnerability
Benjamin Rusch, University of Notre Dame

Room 200 Session 5: A Pilgrimage to Lourdes: Embarking with Hope, Praying with Courage, Leaving with Trust
Mary Regina Slonkosky, Holy Cross College
The Role of Vulnerability in the Life of Brother André
Andrew Polaniecki, Holy Cross College


10:15-11:15 Invited Speakers
Auditorium Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bread: Real Healing and Hope in the Struggle with Eating Disorders
Caroline Murphy Lashutka, Alumnus, University of Notre Dame
Room 101-104 “I Will Boast in My Weakness”: St. Paul and the Discovery of Christian Glory
Fr. Anthony Giambrone, O.P., University of Notre Dame
Room 112-114 Hyper-Vulnerability and Hypo-Vulnerability: Disordered Female Orientations, Empathetic Friendship, and Jane Austen’s Heroines
Kelly Henson, St. Thomas More Academy


11:30 -12:30 Invited Speakers
Auditorium Women, Sexual Asymmetry and Catholic Teaching: How the Church Beats Secular Feminists at their Own Game
Erika Bachiochi, Author, Women, Sex, and the Church
Room 101-104 Masculinity and Vulnerability
David O’Connor, University of Notre Dame

12:30-2:00 Lunch Break (a meal will be provided in a nearby residence hall, TBA)

1:15-1:45 Dialogue composed by Edith Stein
Auditorium Performed by students of Sr. Ann Astell


2:00-3:00 Invited Speakers
Auditorium The New Sexual Revolution
Kathryn Lopez, National Review Online
Room 101-104 Girard, GaGa, and Ghandhi: Redefining Sexual Violence and Transforming Vulnerability
Amelia Ruggaber, Alumnus, University of Notre Dame


3:15-4:15 Invited Speakers
Auditorium Using the Relationship Attachment Model to Build Secure Relationships
John Van Epp, Author, How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk
Room 101-104 Consumed by Mercy: Mary Magdalene and the Christian Witness
Fr. Nathan Cromly, CSJ, Congregation of St. John


4:30-5:30 Invited Speakers
Auditorium How to Have “Safe” Sex
Anamaria Scaperlanda-Ruiz, Co-founder, Edith Stein Project
Room 101-104 Women and Public Policy
Emily Matich, Director of Operations, World Youth Alliance North America
Room 112-114 Beauty and Vulnerability
Ashley Crouch, Director of Outreach and Programs, Love and Fidelity Network


6:00 Closing Banquet
Lower Level

Edith Stein Project Registration

Registration is now available here for the annual Edith Stein Project, a conference sponsored by idND and cosponsored by the Center for Ethics and Culture. This year's conference is entitled "Encountering Vulnerability: Courage, Hope, and Trust in the 21st Century" and will take place February 10-11 in McKenna Hall at Notre Dame. The conference schedule is now available, below. This is one of the most anticipated events of the spring semester at Notre Dame, so mark your calendar!

Conference Schedule

FRIDAY, FEB 10 PRESENTATIONS

12:15-12:45
Registration

12:45-1:00
Introduction and welcome to the conference

1:00-2:00
Dr. Sarah Borden, Edith Stein and Vulnerability

2:15-3:15
Fr. Wilson Miscamble, C.S.C.: Love and Fear
Vicki Thorn, Hormones and Bonding

3:30-4:30
Dr. Gary Anderson, marriage and Book of Ruth
Elizabeth Kirk, adoption and vulnerability

5:15 Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart

6:30 Pizza dinner
7:00 Movie and Discussion with Professor David Solomon

SATURDAY, FEB. 11 PRESENTATIONS:

9:00-10:00
Submitted Papers

10:15-11:15
Caroline Latushka, Eating Disorders
Fr. Anthony Giambrone, O.P., Vulnerability in Scripture....

11:30 -12:30
Erika Bachiochi, Women, Sex and the Church
Dr. David O’Connor: Masculinity and Vulnerability

12:30-2:00
Lunch

2:00-3:00
Kathryn Lopez, Media and Vulnerability
Amelia Ruggaber, Sexual Violence and Other Violence Against Women

3:15-4:15
Dr. John Van Epp, How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk
Fr. Nathan Cromly, CSJ, Vulnerability and Mary Magdalene

4:30-5:30
Anamaria Scaperlanda-Ruiz, Chastity and Vulnerability
Emily Matich, Women and Public Policy
Ashley Crouch, Beauty and Vulnerability

6:00
Closing Banquet

Deadline for Edith Stein submissions

Call for Papers:
The Edith Stein Project
Encountering Vulnerability: Courage, Hope, and Trust in the 21st Century
Seventh Annual Conference
February 10-11th, 2012
DEADLINE EXTENDED! New deadline: December 15th, 2011.

The Identity Project of Notre Dame is proud to present the theme for its seventh annual conference, "Encountering Vulnerability: Courage, Hope and Trust in the 21st Century."

The 2012 Edith Stein Project will address the idea of vulnerability and how it affects our identity and relationships as human beings. While vulnerability often carries with it a negative connotation and is associated with abuse, instability, and heartache, perhaps there is another side to vulnerability. In addition to examining ways in which it may be misused, we must also consider its value. If vulnerability is intrinsic to us as human beings, is there a proper place for it in our identity and our relationships?

Through the presentations and panels of this year's Project, we hope to explore this question and accomplish two objectives:

(1) To offer hope and healing to those who have been harmed by the exploitation of their vulnerability
(2) To examine the positive role of vulnerability, particularly within relationships.

 As always, we look to St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta) for inspiration. A philosopher and convert who was martyred in Auschwitz in 1942, Edith Stein wrote on questions of human dependency and suffering, particularly pertaining to women.

We hope to provide a balance of academic presentations from various disciplines and personal stories relating to the theme of vulnerability and how it relates to our dignity as human persons. We welcome the submission of abstracts drawing on a wide range of perspectives and academic specialties. Special consideration will be given to submissions of ideas for panel discussions that would bring together several speakers to discuss a focused theme.

Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

•         The writings of Edith Stein
•         Like a Child: Innocence and its relationship to vulnerability
•         The Vulnerability of God in the Incarnation and Crucifixion
•         Vulnerability in a world of Talk Shows and Reality TV
•         The Effects of Eating Disorders
•         Vulnerability and the Greek loves
•         Vulnerability and the Blessed Virgin Mary
•         The Book of Ruth and/or Book of Judith
•         John Paul II’s Muleris Dignitatem
•         Disability Studies and Vulnerability
•         The Effects of the "Hook-Up" Culture
•         The role of openness and/or trust in friendships
•         Vulnerability and Femininity/Masculinity
•         The Vulnerability of a Faithful Witness to the Faith
•         Women in the Workplace
•         John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae
•         Vulnerability as a binding force within communities
•         Advertising and the Distortion of Beauty
•         Vulnerability and Sexuality
•         Healthy Vulnerability in Relationships: Developing Trust and/or Forgiveness
•         Technology as a means to avoid vulnerability and openness
•         Vulnerability and the spiritual life

One-page abstracts for individual papers should include name, title, affiliation (academic or otherwise), address, and e-mail address. Presentations should be approximately 30 - 45 minutes in length, or, for panel discussions, one hour total. 

The deadline for submissions is December 15th, 2011.  Notification of acceptance will be mailed by January 1st, 2012. Abstracts should be emailed to edith.stein.nd@gmail.com.

More information on the Edith Stein Project, including the full Project Description and Call for Papers can be found on our web site: www.nd.edu/~idnd.  

Edith Stein Project: Call for Papers

Call for Papers:
The Edith Stein Project

Encountering Vulnerability: Courage, Hope, and Trust in the 21st Century

Seventh Annual Conference

February 10-11th, 2012

The Identity Project of Notre Dame is proud to present the theme for its seventh annual conference, "Encountering Vulnerability: Courage, Hope and Trust in the 21st Century."

This year we hope to explore what it means to be “vulnerable,” for the idea of vulnerability often carries with it a negative connotation: abuse, instability, heartache. As such, we consider vulnerability as something to eradicate from our lives. Yet, because of our finite human nature, we will necessarily be limited in our abilities and strengths. As Blessed John Paul II said, "No amount of economic, scientific or social progress can eradicate our vulnerability to sin and to death." This gives us good reason to guard ourselves carefully in situations where we could be harmed; however, in trying to protect ourselves, we often come to fear our vulnerability.

But perhaps there is another side to vulnerability: in addition to examining ways in which it may be misused, we must also consider its value. If vulnerability is intrinsic to us as human beings, is there a proper place for it in our identity and our relationships?


Recognizing vulnerability’s positive role, we look to Christ as a model, “For precisely by lowering himself to the point of defenseless vulnerability of love, he shows what his true greatness is indeed” (Blessed John Paul II).  We consider our weakness and our dependence upon God and others to be a strength, because as St. Paul wrote, "It is when I am weak that I am strong."


Moreover, it is "not good for man to be alone," so we must cultivate an ability to share our lives and our hearts with each other.  With this openness comes the risk of being rejected or spurned, yet C.S. Lewis reminds us of the necessity of this risk because "to love at all is to be vulnerable." In this sense, vulnerability breaks down barriers between persons and allows for genuine communication and intimacy; it asks that "the thoughts of our hearts may be laid bare" (Blessed John Paul II).


Through the presentations and panels of the conference, we hope to accomplish two objectives:

(1) To offer hope and healing to those who have been harmed by the exploitation of their vulnerability
(2) To examine the positive role of vulnerability, particularly within relationships.


 As always, we look to St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta) for inspiration. A philosopher and convert who was martyred in Auschwitz in 1942, Edith Stein wrote on questions of human dependency and suffering, particularly pertaining to women.

We hope to provide a balance of academic presentations from various disciplines and personal stories relating to the theme of vulnerability and how it relates to our dignity as human persons. We welcome the submission of abstracts drawing on a wide range of perspectives and academic specialties. Special consideration will be given to submissions of ideas for panel discussions that would bring together several speakers to discuss a focused theme.

Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

·         The writings of Edith Stein
·         Like a Child: Innocence and its relationship to vulnerability
·         The Vulnerability of God in the Incarnation and Crucifixion
·         Vulnerability in a world of Talk Shows and Reality TV
·         The Effects of Eating Disorders
·         Vulnerability and the Greek loves
·         Vulnerability and the Blessed Virgin Mary
·         The Book of Ruth and/or Book of Judith
·         John Paul II’s Muleris Dignitatem
·         Disability Studies and Vulnerability
·         The Effects of the "Hook-Up" Culture
·         The role of openness and/or trust in friendships
·         Vulnerability and Femininity/Masculinity
·         The Vulnerability of a Faithful Witness to the Faith
·         Women in the Workplace
·         John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae
·         Vulnerability as a binding force within communities
·         Advertising and the Distortion of Beauty
·         Vulnerability and Sexuality
·         Healthy Vulnerability in Relationships: Developing Trust and/or Forgiveness
·         Technology as a means to avoid vulnerability and openness
·         Vulnerability and the spiritual life

One-page abstracts for individual papers should include name, title, affiliation (academic or otherwise), address, and e-mail address. Presentations should be approximately 30 - 45 minutes in length, or, for panel discussions, one hour total.

The deadline for submissions is November 15th, 2011.  Notification of acceptance will be mailed by January 1st, 2012. Abstracts should be emailed to edith.stein.nd@gmail.com.

More information on the Edith Stein Project can be found on our web site: www.nd.edu/~idnd.

Eggsploitation: A documentary

This week the Integritas students attended the Edith Stein Project conference. The students attended many different lectures and panel discussions on vocation, but as a group watched the documentary "Eggsploitation" which screened on Friday night in McKenna Hall. The documentary told the stories of four women who volunteered to be egg donors to infertile couples and who faced devastating consequences from the procedure. It highlighted the fact that egg donation is a largely unregulated medical procedure whose consequences are under-studied and undocumented, giving prospective donors little scientific basis on which to make their decision to go through with the procedure. One of the women profiled in the documentary was actually a medical student at the time, and despite careful research into possible risks from the procedure, she could find no serious documented reasons for concern. The women all suffered terrible physical consequences as a result of the drugs they had to take to prepare their bodies for egg donation and as a result of the surgical procedure to harvest their eggs. These consequences included breast cancer, the loss of an ovary, stroke, and even death. As one woman said, "Now I can't even have my own babies."

The documentary was especially relevant to the students, because it is primarily college students who are targeted for egg donation, since they are generally young, healthy, attractive, and intelligent- characteristics sought by parents seeking to get pregnant through in-vitro fertilization. While ads soliciting egg donors have not appeared on Notre Dame's campus, they are widespread on the campuses of many Ivy League institutions. The term "donor" is misleading, since often these advertisements offer tens of thousands of dollars for the "donor's" eggs. This sort of marketing preys upon the vulnerability of indebted college students who can be desperate to find ways to pay off school loans and make ends meet.

The documentary was powerful and disturbing, bringing to light a largely taboo subject. It also raised philosophical questions such as: What is the maternal connection between an egg donor and the child born from her egg? What rights do children born of egg or sperm donation have, especially in regards to obtaining their biological medical history? How can infertile couples using IVF justify endangering their egg donor's health for the sake of artificially conceiving a baby? How has our culture managed to promote a dualism that separates personal identity from one's physical body to the degree that egg donation sounds reasonable to so many young women? How can scientists, doctors, and infertile couples justify the immense resources expended on egg and sperm donation and IVF while resisting any increase in resources invested in helping mothers who are considering abortion to carry their babies to term and possibly offer them for adoption?

TODAY: Edith Stein Project

Catch part (or all!) of the Edith Stein Project in McKenna Hall today and tomorrow. There's something for everyone! Here is the full schedule:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011
(All presentations located in McKenna Hall)

11:00-11:30 a.m.
Registration

11:30-11:35 a.m.
Introduction and welcome to the conference

11:35 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
Keynote: Professor Gerard Bradley: “Personal Vocation: Jesus Calls Upon Each One of Us for Help”

12:45-1:45 p.m.

• Fr. Wilson Miscamble, C.S.C.: “Discerning One’s Call in the Contemporary University: One Priest’s Rambling Reflections on Happiness, Mission, Meaning and What Really Matters”

• John and Monica Sikorski: "The Theology of the Body within Marriage"

• Panel Discussion: “Defending Sexuality: Battling the Culture of Pornography” (Moderator: Michael Bohnert; Panelists: Dr. Eric Sims, Dr. Jill Sims, Bobby Rauch)

2:00-3:15 p.m.
Wendy Shalit: “Authentic Femininity in the 21st Century”

3:30-4:30 p.m.

• Leonard DeLorenzo: "Vocation and Transformation: Learning How and What to Love"

• Dr. Jeffery Langan: "Vocation in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings"

• Dr. John Cavadini: "'Become What You Are!':  the Universal Call to Holiness"

5:15 p.m. Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart

6:30 p.m. Dinner and discussion with Bishop Emeritus John D'Arcy

8:30 p.m. Showing of Eggsploitation - Introduction and Q & A with Jennifer Lahl

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011
(All presentations located in McKenna Hall)

9:00-10:00 a.m.

Submitted Papers:
Session 1

• Katherine Whalen: “Standing Beside Mary Below The Cross: How Edith Stein Calls Contemporary Women to Defend the Sanctity of Life”

• Sister Elinor Gardner, O.P.: “‘I will seek Him whom my heart loves’ (Song 3.2): On Woman and Being Called”

Session 2

• Emily Bisssonnette: “A Suffering Culture in Need of Suffering: The Witness of Suffering as Integral to the Vocation and Sacrament of Marriage”

• Rebecca Krier: “Spiritual Vocation: Edith Stein and Ignatius of Loyola in Dialogue”

Session 3

• Nathaniel Peters: “Bernard of Clairvaux for the Rest of Us: Activity, Contemplation, and Vocation”

• Donald L. Wallenfang: “Awaken, O Spirit: The Vocation of Becoming in the Work of Edith Stein”

Session 4

• Lillian Civantos: “Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, and the Art of Circumstance”

• Pauline Marie Smith: “The Geography of Vocation”

10:15-11:15  a.m.

• Dawn Eden: "The Thrill of the Chaste"

• Fr. Neil Roy, PhD, STL: “Vocation and the Sacramental Life”

• Michele Chronister, "God's Grace is Enough for Us: The Work of Grace in an Individual's Vocation"

11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m.

• Religious life with Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel, OP; Sr. M. Benedicta Duna, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Sr. Constance, Little Sisters of the Poor

• Danielle Rose: “Who is the saint that is just you?”  (Talk and musical performance)

• Dr. David O’Connor: “She may be my wife: How A Real Man Looks at Women”

12:30-2:00 p.m.
Lunch-on your own

2:00-3:00 p.m.

• Natassia Kwan: "Domestic Violence in the U.S.: Past, Present, and Hope for a Better Future” and Michael Bohnert: "Aging Planet: The Overpopulation Myth"

• Lisa Everett: “Natural Family Planning and the Pursuit of Happiness in Marriage”

• Dr. Gilbert Meilaender: "The Infinite Horizon of Vocation"

3:15-4:15

• Dr. David Fagerberg, "Our Vocation in the Face of Death: Living the Resurrection”

• Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel, OP: “Edith Stein and the Wisdom of Experience: The Masculine and Feminine Vocations to Love”

• Dr. Catherine Pakaluk: "Being Mary in a Martha World: Edith Stein on What Women Want"

4:30-5:30 p.m.

• Alumnae panel: Caitlin Dwyer and Anamaria Scaparlanda-Ruiz, “ We R Who We R: Finding Yourself Apart from Drinking and Hookups,”

            Dorothy Cummings McLean, “Waiting for Your Marching Orders: Staying Sane while Single”

• Sr. M. Benedicta Duna, “Spiritual Childhood as a path to Spiritual Motherhood”

6:00 p.m.
Closing Banquet

Edith Stein Project registration open

Registration is now open for this year's Edith Stein Project conference. The sixth annual Edith Stein Project conference is entitled "Irreplaceable You: Vocation, Identity, and the Pursuit of Happiness." It will be held February 11-12 in McKenna Hall on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Registration is now open through the Notre Dame Conference Center. The Edith Stein Project is organized by the Identity Project of Notre Dame (IDND), a student club formed in 2006, and co-sponsored by the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. This year's conference explores Pope John Paul II's declaration that "every life is a vocation." It takes up the thesis that each one of us is called to perform an irreplaceable role in the Body of Christ that only we can perform, simply by the virtue of being ourselves in our own distinctive situation. Proceeding from a hylomorphic view of men and women, the conference will feature plenary speakers and panelists reflecting on how to live out personal vocation in the contemporary world. Registration is now open; it is requested but not required. You can read more about the history of the conference and the vision of this year's project at the Edith Stein Project's website. The full schedule for the weekend is available here.

The Edith Stein Project: Toward Integral Healing for Women and Culture

A new student group, The Identity Project of Notre Dame (IDND), formed during the 2006-07 school year. IDND’s goal is to promote discussion of the dignity and vocation of men and women in light of Catholic anthropology (i.e., teaching on the nature and purpose of human persons) at Notre Dame and in the community. The students hope to help other students integrate these principles into their daily lives. The founding members of the enormously successful Edith Stein Conference helped to start IDND, and the conference now continues under its auspices.

This year’s conference, held at Notre Dame on February 23rd and 24th, was entitled, “The Edith Stein Project: Toward Integral Healing for Women and Culture,” and focused specifically on healing for individual women and for society generally. During this conference, participants were asked to discuss approaches to healing which embrace a vision of the person as an inextricable union of body and soul and to integrate spiritual, emotional and psychological aspects of the person. The participants were encouraged to weave together intellectual and pastoral elements of Catholic teaching in an effort to re-form our culture’s perception of the person and women’s perception of their selves in light of their inalienable human dignity. Speakers included Paolo Carozza, associate professor of Notre Dame Law School and a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Wendy Shalit, author of A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue; and Janet Smith, a moral theologian from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

In addition to the conference, IDND also sponsored various social events, an outreach initiative to high school students, and weekly discussions for undergraduate students on various issues concerning the dignity and vocation of human persons, on human sexuality and on marriage.

The conference closed with a preview screening of the movie Bella – an independent, prolife film, and winner of the People’s Choice Award at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, which is scheduled for general release in August 2007.

The Edith Stein Project: Redefining Feminism

Snowy South Bend played host to a heated debate this winter over whether the University of Notre Dame should allow The Vagina Monologues to take place on campus. Three Notre Dame students sparked new life into this debate when they initiated an entirely different forum for discussion about violence against women – a discussion more consistent with the mission of Our Lady’s University. This event was a two-day, studentled conference entitled “The Edith Stein Project: Redefining Feminism.” Three undergraduate students initiated the project, inspired by the writings on women of both Edith Stein (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) and Pope John Paul II. These three students felt strongly that Notre Dame needed to have a constructive forum for dialogue and education about the dignity of women and the problems women face in our culture, a forum that incorporated the rich teaching of the Catholic Church on the dignity of the human person. With the help of the Center and other campus groups, their desire became a reality.

The first half of the conference sought to take an honest, holistic look at how women are perceived and treated within our culture. Speakers addressed issues ranging from rape, pornography, and eating disorders to abortion, contraception, and current gynecology. The talks explained the physical, emotional and spiritual damage women experience as a result of these practices. Furthermore, they challenged the audience members to reevaluate the culture’s misconceived notion of the nature and dignity of the human person, particularly the female person, which lies at the root of these problems.

The second half of the conference sought to move beyond criticism to a better vision for women in our society. Speakers—including Center senior research fellow Alasdair MacIntyre, Laura Garcia of Boston College, Deirdre McQuade of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Josef Seifert of the International Academy of Philosophy—sought to articulate a solid, philosophical foundation for the “new feminism” called for by John Paul II in Mulieris Dignitatem. This new feminism is one that acknowledges and upholds the reality that men and women are endowed with equal dignity, being made equally in the image and likeness of God, but are also endowed with unique natures and distinct gifts to offer society.

Over three hundred people attended the conference, including students from Notre Dame, the University of Dayton, Taylor University, and Franciscan University of Steubenville, as well as members of the South Bend community. The event has received attention from The South Bend Tribune, Today’s Catholic, Our Sunday Visitor, The National Catholic Register, the Washington Times, and the National Review.