Summer Symposium
Each summer, the Program of Liberal Studies and General Program alumni/ae gather on Notre Dame's campus, eager to engage their teachers, the authors of the Great Books.
The Program of Liberal Studies coordinates the events which are centered on seminars that explore the week's theme.
Eleventh Annual PLS/GP Summer Symposium
God and the Problem of Evil
June 14-19, 2009
This year’s annual PLS Alumni/ae Summer Symposium will be held from Sunday, June 14 to Friday, June 19. Our theme is “God and the Problem of Evil (and Suffering).” We have a very exciting roster of seminars, and this is going to be an intellectually stimulating week, so please make plans to come – and make them as soon as possible. As usual, there will be two week-long seminars and several shorter seminars. We are fortunate in having Fr. David Burrell, C.S.C., emeritus professor of Philosophy and alumnus of the class of 1954, teaching with us this summer; and you will also get to meet Prof. Candida Moss, who joined the theology component of the Program this year. Here are the course descriptions:
I. Week-long Seminars.
Saint Augustine: Has He Said the Last Word? A Seminar Dedicated to Professor Frederick Crosson—Walter Nicgorski
The first three days of this five-day seminar will focus on Augustine’s Confessions. This will be followed by two days of discussion of excerpts from The City of God (to be announced and distributed as necessary). Special but not exclusive attention will be given to the topic of "God and the Problem of Evil."
Text: Frank Sheed's translation of The Confessions; but participants may use whichever translation is available or already owned. The Sheed translation is published by Hackett Publishers ISBN: 0-87220-186-4.
Shakespeare’s King Lear—Stephen Fallon
"Let them anatomize Regan. See what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in nature that make these hard hearts?" Lear's question, as he descends into madness in the middle of Shakespeare's tragedy (III.6), epitomizes the play's questions. Where does evil come from? What is nature and what kinds of actions are natural? Are we by nature inclined to loyalty and filial duty or to brutal, ruthless selfishness? Is the world of King Lear one in which nature is "redeem[ed] . . . from the general curse" (IV.6), or one in which, in Albany's words, "Humanity . . . prey[s] on itself, / Like monsters in the deep" (IV.2). We will explore these and other questions as we read Shakespeare's titanic tragic masterpiece.
Text: I will be using the Signet edition (ISBN 0-451-52410-1), but any good edition is acceptable. SF
II. Shorter Seminars
The Book of Job: An Interfaith Inquiry into Human Suffering in the Face of God—Fr. David Burrell, C.S.C.
This three-day seminar, led by Fr. Burrell (PLS 1954), the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Theology, will briefly explore the possible meanings of theodicy before turning to the Book of Job. In the book we will find, in addition to its sheer beauty, a way around the dilemmas to “do theolodic” inevitably generate. Ayyub (the name for Job in the Qu’ran) will reveal a Muslim face of the biblical Job, for comparative edification.” Kerr festschrit.pdf
Texts: In addition to the Book of Job (preferably in the New Revised Standard Version), the seminar will read Fr. Burrell’s book, Deconstructing Theodicy: Why Job Has Nothing to Say to the Puzzle of Suffering ISBN: 978-1-558743-222-4.
Divine and Human Suffering in the Early Church: Biblical Perspectives—Candida Moss
"Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should
follow in his footsteps." (1 Peter 2:21) The Apostle Peter's call to
suffering offers a theologically controversial model in which the
Christian life is defined by suffering in imitation of Christ. This
three day seminar will examine the perspectives of three New Testament
authors on the importance and role of human and divine suffering. We
will explore if - and why - suffering is a problem for these authors,
the ways in which suffering relates to evil, and the role of suffering
in salvation and redemption. The first day will examine the earliest
gospel, the Gospel of Mark, the second will consider 1Peter, and the
final day will explore the Apocalypse of John.
Text: The New Revised Standard Version Bible is preferred, but please bring whatever translation or critical Greek text you have at home.
Monday : The Gospel of Mark
Wednesday: 1 Peter
Friday: Revelation
Is Nature Enough?—Felicitas Munzel and Matt Dowd
“In our ongoing discussions at the summer alumni symposia, we have been exploring for some years the impact of modern science on our understanding of both the world around us and the human self. John Haught is one of a handful of theologians who has attempted to take the increasingly complex scientific understandings of the world and examine their impact on theology. In reading Haught’s book Is Nature Enough? we will explore his attempt to place modern science within a fully realized theological understanding of creation.”
Text: John Haught, Is Nature Enough?
Evolution and Natural Evil—Phillip Sloan
In view of the fact that this is the Darwin bicentenary, the two classes will concentrate on the issue of Evolution and Natural Evil. This has been one of the main theological issues surrounding evolutionary theory since its inception and is exploited by anti-religionists as the proof of God's absence from the world. This exploration will be conducted in two sessions.
Class 1: Darwin, Origin of Species, any edition, chps. 3, and final chapter (either 13, 1st edition, or 14 in 6th). First Edition available on-line at http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/origin.html.
Class 2: Celia Deane Drummond, CHRIST AND EVOLUTION: WONDER AND WISDOM. (Fortress Press: Minneapolis, 2009) ISBN 978 0 8006 4013-2. We will concentrate on chapters 5-6. The whole book is worth reading.
2009 Summer Symposium Form
2009 Schedule
Area Attractions