VCU’s Fall 2012 Bishop Walter F. Sullivan Lecture Series Announced

By Cassie Williams Jones

The School of World Studies in Virginia Commonwealth University’s  College of Humanities and Sciences has announced two lectures as part of the fall 2012 Bishop Walter F. Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies Lecture Series. 

Susan Fitzpatrick-Behrens, Ph.D., associate professor of history at California State University, Northridge, will speak on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. in the VCU Student Commons Theater, 907 Floyd Ave. Her lecture is titled “The Maryknoll Catholic Mission in Peru.”

Robert Brenneman, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, will speak on Thursday, Oct. 4, at 4 p.m. in the Commons Theater. His lecture is titled “Comparing Catholic and Protestant Strategies for the Central American Gang Problem.”

In 2011, Fitzpatrick-Behrens published her book "Transnational Faith and Transformation: The Maryknoll Catholic Missionaries in Peru" based on her comparative analysis of a transnational Catholic religious movement initiated by Maryknoll missionaries in highland communities in Peru and Guatemala. The Maryknoll missionaries were established in 1911 as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America by the bishops of the United States. Fitzpatrick-Behrens’ research illustrates that Mayas and Andeans in Guatemala and Peru used the faith-based organization to redefine communities and to access national political movements.

Brenneman teaches a wide range of sociology classes at St. Michael’s College, including a special topics course titled “God, Gangs and Globalization.” His research work focuses on the impact of violent social structures on human flourishing using the tools of sociology to analyze human attraction to violence linked with cultural symbols and group identities.

Last year, Brenneman also published a book on his research titled "Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America," which takes an intimate look at the lives of 63 former gang members, many who joined an evangelical congregation as part of their attempt to extricate themselves from gang violence.

Both lectures are free and open to the public. Parking is available for a fee on a first-come, first-served basis at VCU’s Main Street Deck at the corner of Laurel and Main streets.

The lecture program is named in honor of Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, who headed the Catholic Diocese of Richmond from 1974 to 2003.

For more information, contact Andrew Chesnut, Ph.D., Bishop Walter Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies at VCU, at rachesnut@vcu.edu or 804-827-3408.