DR. BILLY JUNKER I read C.S. Lewis’ The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature , in preparation for a summer seminar, and Flannery O’Connor’s Complete Stories in preparation for my fall undergraduate teaching. I read Calcidius’ commentary on Plato’s Timaeus . I really have no justification for reading Calcidius except that I like reading ancient commentaries. DR. DAVID FOOTE This past summer I made my way through several books that have been staring at me for quite some time and asking to be read. The first was Treatise on the Love of God by St. Francis de Sales, one of the great spiritual writers of the tradition. Then the events
WHAT WE’RE READING AND WATCHING
A popular question Department of Catholic Studies faculty get asked from students and alumni alike is how to make sense of everything that has happened during 2020 and, it follows, how to respond fruitfully and faithfully as Catholics. As teachers their natural inclination is to, foremost, dive into learning more so they can, too, think critically as to act wisely. Here is a sample of what some of our professors have been reading and watching.
FATHER MARTIN SCHLAG I read John Finnis’ Aquinas: Moral, Political, and Legal Theory this past summer. Finnis uses about 60 different works of St. Thomas. One of the chapters is great for my graduate course I am teaching this semester. Next, I read White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era by Shelby Steele. To relax I picked up the detective story The Guardians by John Grisham, about a group of Christians, especially a lawyer who is also an Episcopalian minister, who defend innocent people against wrongful convictions.
surrounding the death of George Floyd hit and I added more to my list. I found Thomas Sowell, a prolific writer, an economist by training, especially helpful. His short essay, “Race, Culture, and Equality,” gave a nice picture of his general approach. I am now also reading his more recent book, Discrimination and Disparities . Finally, I am
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