Catholics in the Movies
Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism
University of Notre Dame
April 2-4, 2009
“At the movies, Catholicism – rather than Protestantism – is the American religion.” Colleen McDannell
Focus
Cinema is arguably the most understudied and potentially enlightening lens through which to examine the historical trajectories of Catholics in the United States over the previous century. This conference will explore how American Catholics produced, acted, viewed, boycotted, and were depicted in film. The starting point for the conference is the outstanding volume Catholics in the Movies (Oxford, 2008), to which the conference speakers contributed essays.
Thursday, April 2
Film Screening (7:30 p.m.)
On the Waterfront
Discussion to follow with James T. Fisher, Fordham University
Friday, April 3
Session One (9:00 a.m.)
Race and Ethnicity
Moderator: Paula Kane, University of Pittsburgh
The Celluloid Melting Pot: Catholic Ethnicity on the Silent Screen
Judith Weisenfeld, Princeton University
The Catholic Singer: Ethnic Performance, American Dreams and Going My Way
Anthony Burke Smith, University of Dayton
Starting All Over Again: Mid-Century Catholics Confront Race
Jeffrey Marlett, College of St. Rose
Session Two (2:00 p.m.)
Masculinity
Moderator: Colleen McDannell, University of Utah
J. C. Superstar and the Streets of Dock City, 1938
Thomas J. Ferraro, Duke University
A Couple of Harps: True Confessions and the Brotherhood of Irish American Ethnicity Timothy Meagher, Catholic University of America
The Strong, Vulgar Type: Images of Masculinity in Dogma
Amy Frykholm, correspondent for The Christian Century
Film Screening (7:30 p.m.)
Santitos
Discussion to follow with María Amparo Escandón, novelist and screenwriter
Saturday, April 4
Session Three (9:00 a.m.)
Ritual and Devotion
Moderator: Jeffrey Marlett, College of St. Rose
The Production Code and the Production of Devotion in Wartime Hollywood
Paula Kane, University of Pittsburgh
Passage through the Borderlands: Transformation in the Devotional World of Santitos
Darryl Caterine, LeMoyne College
The Devotional Life of St. Mel: The Passion of the Christ
Colleen McDannell, University of Utah
Session Four (2:00 p.m.)
Film and American Catholicism
Moderator: Thomas J. Ferraro, Duke University
Playing Catholics: Who’s Zooming Who?
Tracy Fessenden, Arizona State University
The Spiritual Front in Postwar American Film
James T. Fisher, Fordham University
Catholic Crime Stories
Carlo Rotella, Boston College
Cover image: Courtesy Oxford University Press