Invitation to February 9 Vincentian Chair of Social Justice Lecture

M. Shawn Copeland, Ph.D., is the 2022–23 Vincentian Chair of Social Justice. She is a Professor Emerita at Boston College. In 2003–04, Dr. Copeland was the first African American and first African American woman to serve as President of the Catholic Theological Society of America(CTSA). In 2018, she became the first African American theologian honored with the prestigious John Courtney Murray Award, the Catholic Theological Society of America’s highest honor.

A Catholic womanist theologian, Dr. Copeland exercises a particular expertise in theological anthropology as well as political theology. At St. John’s, she is delivering a series of talks on Visions of Freedom: A Political Theology for Our Time.

You are invited to attend the third presentation in her series on Thursday, February 9, from 1:50 to 3:30 p.m. in the D’Angelo Center Ballroom.

Dr. Copeland’s third lecture is entitled, “Who is My Neighbor?”

Given the ambiguities of our national history, as human persons, as citizens, we people of the United States are beset with grave existential, spiritual, and intellectual suffering stemming from our refusal to open our minds and hearts widely and generously to our neighbors. To answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?”, in action as well as in speech, requires that we rethink what it means to be human and to live humanely in a nation shaped by a legacy of domination and oppression.

Registration is required. This event is open to all students, faculty, administrators, and staff, as well as the general public.