Catholicism in the American Century
The Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism
University of Notre Dame
April 17-19, 2008
U.S. historians are increasingly assessing the twentieth century as a distinct historical period, both in their scholarship and in their course offerings. Studies of twentieth-century American Catholicism are also multiplying in areas such as race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, ritual and devotion, intellectual life, and the influence of Vatican II and its aftermath. Throughout the twentieth century, Roman Catholicism, the nation’s largest church and religious community, exercised untold influence on race relations and the civil rights movement, immigration and ethnic-bloc politics, sexual practices and attitudes, social mores and cultural trends. This conference explores several dimensions of “Catholic impact” and asks how the writing of twentieth century U.S. history might be revised and renewed through a more deliberate and thoughtful consideration of the significance of Catholic ideas, institutions, and actors.
Schedule of Events
Pre-Conference Lecture (4:00 p.m., Thursday, April 17)
Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism, 17th-20th Century
Matteo Sanfilippo, Università della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
Professor Sanfilippo will be available during the conference to converse with colleagues about Roman archival holdings helpful for their current research projects.
Thursday, April 17
Opening keynote (7:30 p.m.)
Re-viewing the United States in the Twentieth Century
Lizabeth Cohen, Harvard University
Respondent: John McGreevy, University of Notre Dame
Friday, April 18
Session One (8:30 a.m.)
The Catholic Encounter with the 1960s
Thomas Sugrue, University of Pennsylvania
Moderator: Amy Koehlinger, Florida State University
Respondent: James Fisher, Fordham University
Session Two (10:45 a.m.)
Catholics after Kinsey: Gender, Sexuality, and Catholic Historiography
Marie Griffith, Princeton University
Moderator: Kathleen Sprows Cummings, University of Notre Dame
Respondent: Leslie Tentler, Catholic University of America
Session Three (2:30 p.m.)
The Catholic Moment in American Social Thought
Wilfred McClay, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Moderator: Una Cadegan, University of Dayton
Respondent: Philip Gleason, University of Notre Dame
Saturday, April 19
Session Four (8:30 a.m.)
Christianity and Community: Religion and Religiosity in Mexican American History
David Gutiérrez, University of California at San Diego
Moderator: Marc Rodríguez, University of Notre Dame
Respondent: Timothy Matovina, University of Notre Dame
Session Five (10:45 a.m.)
U.S. Catholics Between Memory and Modernity
Robert Orsi, Northwestern University
Moderator: Jim McCartin, Seton Hall University
Respondent: Joseph Chinnici, O.F.M., Franciscan School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley
Session Six (2:30 p.m.)
Catholicism in the American Century
R. Scott Appleby, University of Notre Dame
The Cornell University Press series, “Catholicism in Twentieth Century America,” explores the public presences, social practices, religious life and political influence of the nation’s largest religious community. The general editor of the series is R. Scott Appleby; authors include James T. Fisher, Thomas Tweed, Leslie Tentler, Timothy Matovina, James O’Toole, Paula Kane and Joseph Chinnici. A call for submissions to the series is ongoing.