Colloquia, Symposia, and Public Events

My Dream Act: A Play by Martha Razo and Cecilie Keenan

My Dream Act, performed by Martha Razo under the direction of Cecilie Keenan, was presented by FRONTERA: Artists Crossing Borders. The play took place on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at the Citizenship, Public Service, and the Common Good Symposium.

The Future of Catholicism in America

In-depth dialogue on the publication The Future of Catholicism in America. Editors Patricia O’Connell Killen & Mark Silk, alongside other scholars, discussed themes explored in the book

Magnificent Humanity:  A Conversation on Pope Leo's First Encyclical

May 27, 2026 | 4:00–5:15pm CDT

The Hank Center welcomes a blue ribbon panel of experts to provide initial takes on Pope Leo XIV’s first Encyclical Letter, Magnifica humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, which will be released on May 25, 2026. The document, which will likely be addressed not only to the Church but to all people of good will, will examine the moral and ethical challenges of artificial intelligence and its impact human dignity, human relationships, labor, and the future of work. Leo's needed message, in the spirit of Rerum Novarum (1891), is meant to be a prompt to think with the church about the "new things"--and to cultivate the beauty, wisdom, and potential of Christian humanism in the context of expanding digital cultures, new technologies, and shifting social environments.

Videos Available | Spring 2021 Series | Catholic Higher Education in Light of Catholic Social Thought

Read more about our multi-part series on the publication Catholic Higher Education in Light of Catholic Social Thought: Critical-Constructive Essays, edited by Bernard Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley. This series was cosponsored by The Ann Ida Gannon Center for Women and Leadership.
Spring Semester 2021

Book Discussion

Book Discussion with Chris Hoklotubbe (Cornell College): Reading the Bible on Turtle Island

April 13, 2026 | 3:30–5:00pm

This groundbreaking book reimagines biblical interpretation in light of the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples in North America and Canada. All are welcome for a panel discussion with one of the authors, Chris Hoklotubbe (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, ThD, Harvard), joined by Josefrayn Sánchez-Perry (Assistant Professor, Theology Department) and Julian Sieber (PhD Candidate, New Testament/Early Christianity). This event is hosted by the New Testament/Early Christianity Research Colloquium and the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage.

Sponsored conference

"Sacred Ground, Contested Space: The Sanctuary Movement Past and Present"

February 6, 2026

This panel traces the roots of the U.S. sanctuary movement from the 1980s, when faith communities opened their doors to refugees fleeing violence in Central America, to present-day efforts in Chicago where congregations, advocates, and legal partners continue to offer welcome, protection, and accompaniment to migrants. The Hank Center is pleased to co-sponsor this event.

Student Colloquia

Sobrino Student Colloquium on Worship, Theology, and Justice

November 21, 2025

As part of Ignatian Heritage Month, the Hank Center for the Intellectual Heritage and Campus Ministry invite undergraduate students to participate in a research colloquium dedicated to the great Salvadoran priest and theologian, Jon Sobrino.

Events

"How Catholics Encounter the Bible" | Book Review Panel with Michael Peppard at the 2025 CBA Annual Meeting

Saturday August 2, 2025

The Hank Center was delighted to host a panel of scholars discussing award-winning biblical scholar and historian Michael Peppard's recent book, "How Catholics Encounter the Bible," as the first plenary session of the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association at Loyola University Chicago. As a way to experience and glimpses into the varied Catholic encounters with Scripture through history, the panel was supplemented with two opportunities to visit a display of medieval and early modern manuscripts curated and presented by Loyola's Archives and Special Collections.

“Teología del Pueblo”: The People of God in the Theology of Pope Francis

The John Courtney Murray, SJ Chair in Public Service and the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago will host Fr. Carlos María Galli, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, for a panel discussion on the Pope's ecclesiological vision.

Perceiving the Other: Visual Counterpoints in Blackfeet Country, 1846

Dr. Sally Thompson discussed the art work of Jesuit missionary Nicholas Point and the legacy of Jesuit missionaries in contemporary Indian country at this lecture sponsored by CCIH, the History Department, and the Ramonat Seminar.

G.K. Chesterton: Prophetic Voice in the Public Square

In this lecture, the LUC community welcomed Fr. Ian Boyd, distinguished professor of Catholic Studies at Seton Hall University and author of The Novels of G.K. Chesterton, to offer his insights about the contemporary relevance and prophetic nature of the Chesterton's prolific writings.

Ramonat Lecture: “Perceiving the Other: Visual Counterpoints in Blackfeet Country, 1846”

The lecture discussed the art work of Jesuit missionary Nicholas Point, the Blackfeet Indian artistic response, and the legacy of Jesuit missionaries in contemporary Indian country.

G.K. Chesterton: Prophetic Voice in the Public Square

Chesterton scholar, Fr. Ian Boyd of Seton Hall University explored the contemporary resonance of G.K. Chesterton's Prophetic voice.

Faith and Neuroscience Colloquium- Perspectives on Personhood: Resources in Science, Philosophy, and Theology

This colloquium brought together resources from different academic disciplines to interrogate various perspectives on human consciousness and personhood. Keynote address by Dr. William Jaworski, Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University.

Good God, But Life Could Be Less Than Easy: George Saunders and the Fiction of Radical Humanism

This symposium featured not only a morning address by George Saunders, but also traditional conference panels interspersed with creative expressions and responses to conference themes. The day concluded with a special visit from the creative writing students at 826Chi, a local nonprofit organization, and a book signing session.

The Hank Center Presents, Live from Loyola George: Saunders Radio Hour

The Hank Center hosted an evening with MacArthur Genius and the Man Booker Prize-winning author, George Saunders. Raised Catholic in Chicago but now also a practicing Tibetan Buddhist, the author has a decidedly individual take on spirituality that informs his fictions.

Blessed, Broken, and Given: Students’ Perspectives on the Eucharist and Social Justice

November 7, 2024
Palm Court, MDS Chapel, Damen Den, Ignatius House

As part of Ignatian Heritage Month, the Hank Center and Campus Ministry invites you to take part in an event investigating the connection between the Eucharist and Social Justice. The day will include two research colloquia where invited undergraduate students will present short papers on this topic, the celebration of Evening Prayer/Vespers, and dinner.

All members of the Loyola Community are invited to this event, but RSVP is required no later than October 31.

Continental Philosophy Symposium

April 4-6, 2024
Regents Hall, Lewis Towers, WTC
The so-called “theological turn” of the mid-20th Century describes the several ways that Continental philosophy is frequently taken up in Catholic academic settings– both as a courting of religious belief and, as frequently, a way past belief. At the same time, debates within Continental Philosophy about secularization, atheism and the deconstruction of Christianity directly mark the decline of ontotheology in the West, which demands an opening to non-European voices. The rise of these secular forms becomes a critique of the West from within, a self-reflexive gesture made in the wake of the death of Europe’s God, while also providing liberation for those on the margins of its ‘civilizing’, violent ethos. This conference hosted an array of leading global voices–scholars who interrogated these questions and a host of others.
This event was a closed meeting by invitation only.

Kathy Osberger Book Lecture: I Surrender: A Memoir of Chile's Dictatorship, 1975

February 5, 2024 at 4:00 pm
McCormick Lounge, Coffey Hall, LSC
Loyola welcomed Kathleen Osberger for a talk on her recently published memoir, I Surrender: A Memoir of Chile's Dictatorship, 1975. In September 1973, a CIA-assisted coup overthrew the democratically-elected president of Chile, ushering in the Pinochet dictatorship. In 1975, Kathleen Osberger, a recent graduate and lay volunteer from Notre Dame, left for Santiago to teach in a Catholic grade school. Upon arrival, she was told a secret: the religious women she would live with sheltered dissidents in the cross-hairs of Pinochet’s secret police. Soon, Osberger is handed a blindfold, a warrant, and must go on the run. This lecture is sponsored by Catholic Studies and the Hank Center. Students, arrive early to arrive early to receive a complementary copy of the book!
Event Video Coming Soon.

VIDEO AVAILABLE | Spirit and the Machine: Catholic Responses to an Increasingly Artificial World

An interdisciplinary conversation with Fr. Phillip Larrey (Pontifical Lateran University), Ann Skeet (Santa Clara University), and John W. Farrell (journalist) on Artificial intelligence (AI), one of the most important technologies in the world today-- but also one rife with serious spiritual, social and ethical questions.
May 12, 2021, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM CDT
Zoom Forum

Videos Available| Signs of the Times: Context, Contingency, Crisis

This day-long symposium offered reflections on major events and current affairs impacting Catholics, the Church, and the study of theology and ethics today. Featured current LUC doctoral students and recent graduates.
April 23, 2021, 9:00 AM
Zoom Forum

The Storm Cloud of the 21st Century: Capitalism, the Technocratic Paradigm, and the Sacramental Imagination

October 15, 2020
Featuring Eugene McCarraher, Villanova University. Free and open to the public.

A Better Way to Work: Pope Francis, the Care Economy, and the Future of Work

June 22, 2021, 11:30 AM CDT
Zoom Forum
In the aftermath of the global pandemic, the economic value of care reemerges as what it has always been: a matter of human dignity and justice. Re-prioritizing care requires new mindsets--from building a world that is socially and environmentally just, to reevaluating the meaning of decent work in contemporary life, to developing feasible economic and public policies that place care of people and care of environment at the center of life. We were pleased to host a dialogue about these crucial questions. This event was free and open to the public.

<i>Fratelli Tutti</i>: A Conversation Addressing Pope Francis’s New Encyclical on Human Solidarity and its Socio-Political Implications for the United States

October 16, 2020, 12:00 - 1:30 PM
During this time when our nation experiences an unprecedented health and socio-political crisis, a nationally recognized panel of voices explored the teaching of this encyclical on human solidarity and draw some concrete implications for this pivotal moment in our nation’s history. With M. Shawn Copeland, John Gehring, Carmen Nanko-Fernández, and Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv.This event is free and open to the public. Registration Required.

Confronting Poverty in the USA: Discussion, Dialogue, Action

Keynote speaker Anna Galland (Executive Director of MoveOn.org) provided remarks, discussion, and a workshop about addressing and abating poverty.
October 30, 2:30 - 5:30 PM
McCormick Lounge, Coffey Hall, LSC

John Henry Newman's Path to Sainthood

What makes a modern saint? On October 13th, Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), English theologian, philosopher and cardinal, was officially canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. This event featured presentations on the life and sanctity of John Henry Newman by leading Newman scholar of our time Fr. Ian Ker (Oxford) and Melissa Villalobos, the woman whose miraculous cure led to Newman’s canonization. The event was moderated by Kenneth Woodward, former religion editor of Newsweek and author of Making Saints.
October 30, 5:30 - 7:00 PM
Holy Name Cathedral Auditorium, 730 N Wabash Avenue, Chicago IL