The Cardinal’s talk focused on Catholic social teaching in the age of economic globalization, and was delivered to a packed room in the Westbrook Building. He discussed the Church’s focus on strengthening communities and the ways in which global capitalism is creating increasingly stratified societies.

To watch the entire talk, visit the Religion and Public Life resources page, where all of the videos for the speaker series will be posted throughout the spring.

The next talk will be on Tuesday night. All remaining talks will be on Tuesdays, beginning at 5:30 pm in room 0014 of the Westbrook Building, next to Duke Chapel.

Jose Casanova | February 19
“Post-secularization, Globalization, and Poverty”

Ruth Marshall | February 26
“Pentecostalism, Poverty & Power”

Katherine Marshall | March 5
“Religion and Development”

Peter van der Veer | March 26
“The Spiritual, the Secular and the Poor in India and China”

Susan Holman | April 9
“Public Health, Poverty & Patristics”

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Opening reception April 10
5:30-7:30 
West Duke Building
 

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It must be a healthy sign about your current environment when you regularly stumble across new ideas or opportunities that intrigue you.

With environmental concerns weighing on us in ways that can seem daunting, I think we can get a real psychological boost from small, tangible efforts like a commitment to recycling. And don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good – every small item that we throw into the trash thinking it is not going to make a difference adds up to a lot more trash! In the case of the Duke Free Store, not only do we benefit psychologically and societally from the effort at sustainability, but also from a positive sense of human connection. Kenan Senior Fellow and behavioral economist Dan Ariely has lots of interesting things to say about both the act of giving, and the alluring force of that thrilling little word, FREE!

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For more information and to download the application, visit our Campus Grants site.

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I’m just coming out of a conference held today at Kenan, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on LGBT Human Rights Advocacy.

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When I picked up the Chronicle yesterday morning I was so sad to see what has become a familiar headline. Yet another theme party has stirred controversy over blatant and insensitive stereotyping. Kappa Sigma Asia Prime—superficially redubbed “International Relations”—unfortunately adds to a long list of derogatory parties at Duke.

Last week I described the Me Too Monologues as an exercise in “moral imagination,” which is a concept that I first explored in the Ethics Certificate Program gateway course, and specifically through our reading of Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem. The subtitle for her piece on the trial of Nazi party official Adolph Eichmann is “a report on the banality of evil,” the banality of evil being the antithesis of moral imagination. If we cannot place ourselves in another’s position, and if we desensitize ourselves to language, then it may simply be with banality that we allow harm, disrespect, immorality, or even evil.   In Arendt’s assessment, Eichmann committed atrocities not out of severe anti-Semitism and hatred, but instead by thoughtlessly following command.

With this in mind, I think it is better not to demonize this one particular organization, but instead to notice the banality with which we as a campus and as a larger society allow such disrespect. The tagline for several of the flyer campaigns in reaction to these parties has been, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”  How often do we pay attention? The situation may not always warrant outrage.  But greater attention on a smaller scale can make a difference.

One of our Campus Grants last spring funded a photo essay called The Multitudes Project for a house course that explored Asian American life at Duke. I wish it was still on display, but you can see the full collection on their Facebook page.  From a wall that at first seemed to invoke homogeneity, there emerged 40 individuals and 40 insights into those individuals’ experience of being Asian.

There’s nothing simple about how we define our identities, and we should all be aware and thoughtful about whether we legitimize or undermine anyone’s sense of humanity. I hope we will all commit to paying more attention and therefore guarding against a banality of disrespect within our communities.

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Happy Friday all! If I can persuade your weekend plans in any way, I absolutely recommend you go see Me Too Monologues tonight or tomorrow, 7:30pm in Nelson Music Room. 

Without giving too much away, I will say that certain facets of identity were unlocked and explored, not only for the authors or performers, but also for each of us sharing in their stories. The purpose of the Campus Grants program is to promote ethical reflection, deliberation, and dialogue at Duke and beyond. Based on the snippets I heard walking out of the performance last night, and the passionate conversations I’ve had with several people today, that goal was met in all three of its parts.

Some of the issues were things I have previously thought would not really affect me, or maybe could not possibly enter my realm of identity. But the explanation poured out through the emotion and candor of each monologue made me experience what it might actually be like to be that person, to have that identity, to live in those shoes. It was devastating; it was uplifting; it was a tremendous experiment in moral imagination.

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