White Privilege: Implications for the Catholic University, the Church, and Theology // University of Notre Dame

White Privilege: Implications for the Catholic University, the Church, and Theology

March 26-28, 2006

McKenna Hall, University of Notre Dame

This is an interdisciplinary symposium designed to raise consciousness about the dynamics of white privilege as a form of racism. Join theologians Shawn Copeland, Meg Guider, Bryan Massingale, Laurie Cassidy, Jon Nilson, Alex Mikulich, Jennifer Harvey, Steve Bevans, and Virgilio Elizondo as they engage the work of prominent scholars of race theory in the fields of law and the social sciences, including Peggy McIntosh, Peter Kwan, Janet Helms, Michael D’Andrea, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, and Stephanie Wildman. The format of the symposium will encourage discussion among all participants with a view toward identifying structures of white privilege within the church, the academy, and society.

This symposium is sponsored by the Department of Theology together with the Departments of Psychology, Sociology, Africana Studies, the Institute for Latino Studies, the Institute for Church Life, the Office of Student Affairs, the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, the Center for Social Concerns, the Catholic Social Tradition Program, the Pre-College Program, the Graduate School, the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, the College of Arts and Letters, the Henkels Lecture Series, and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.

Videos of selected sessions are now available through the website. They are offered in two versions: High quality (for broadband connections) and Low quality (for dial-up connections).

Symposium Schedule

Sunday, 26 March

7:30 pm: Keynote Address, “Seeking Sadness: Unmasking the ‘Blessings’ and Bearing the Burdens of White Privilege”; Presenter: Jon Nilson (Theology, Loyola University, Chicago); Conference Facilitator: Margaret Eletta Guider (Weston Jesuit School of Theology); High Low

Monday, 27 March

8:30-10:30 am: Interactive Working Session, “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”; Presenter: Peggy McIntosh (Center for Research on Women, Wellesley College)
10:30 am: Break
10:45 –11:45 am: Process
11:45 am: Lunch (on your own)
1:15-2:15 pm: “Dealing with White Privilege and White Racism from a Moral Development Perspective”; Presenter: Michael D’Andrea, (Psychology, University of Hawaii); Respondent: Alex Mikulich (Theology, St. Joseph College); High Low
2:15-2:45 pm: Process
2:45 pm: Break
3-4 pm: “The Persistence of White Privilege”; Presenter: Stephanie Wildman (Santa Clara University Law School); Respondent: Shawn Copeland (Theology, Boston College); High Low
4-4:45 pm: Process
4:45-6:45 pm: Free Time and Dinner (on your own)
7-8:15 pm: “The Pastoral Challenges of Confronting White Privilege”; Presenter: Bishop Dale Melczek (Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary, Indiana); Panel Respondents:
Jan Pilarski, Justice Education Coordinator, St. Mary's College
Chris Miller, Director of Religious Education, Sacred Heart Parish, Notre Dame
Jesusa Rodriguez, St. Adalbert's Parish, South Bend
Heidi Schlumpf, Managing Editor, U.S. Catholic
Sr. Dr. Jamie T. Phelps, O.P., Professor of Theology and Director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies, Xavier University; High Low
8:15-9 pm: Process
8:30-9:30 am: “Race Is a Nice Thing to Have”; Presenter: Janet Helms (Psychology, Boston College)
Respondent: Laurie Cassidy (Theology, Trinity College); High Low
9:30-10:15 am: Process
10:15 am: Break
10:30-11:30 am: “Whiteness in the Era of Colorblindness”; Presenter: Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (Sociology, Duke University)
Respondent: Jennifer Harvey (Religion, Drake University); High Low
11:30 am -12:15 pm: Process
12:15 pm: Lunch (on your own)
1:45-2:45 pm: Whiteness Unveiled: Implications for a Collaborative Anti-Subordination Strategy”; Presenter: Peter Kwan (Western State University College of Law)
Respondent: Bryan Massingale (Theology, Marquette University); High Low
2:45-3:30 pm: Process
3:30 pm: Break
3:45-5 pm: “White Privilege and the Mission of the Church in the World”; Presenter: Michael Perry
Panel Respondents:
Jerry Powers (Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame)
Steve Bevans (Catholic Theological Union, Chicago)
Virgilio Elizondo (Theology, University of Notre Dame); High Low
5-5:30 pm: Process
5:45 pm: Dinner (on your own)
7-8:30 pm: Concluding Process and Synthesis