Center on Religion and Culture

Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture (CRC) is looking forward to hosting a new slate of in-person and online events for Fall 2023.

Stay tuned for details on the CRC’s 2023 schedule of programs and follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter) for updates. You can also sign up for news and event invitations at crcevent@fordham.edu.

In the meantime, you can check out our YouTube channel for curated videos of all our events from the past year.

Thank you for your support for Fordham and the CRC and remember to follow best practices to stay healthy, for yourselves and for others.

David Gibson
Director, Fordham Center on Religion and Culture

About the CRC

CRC Speaker at the Podium for the Pope Reform Event

At a time when religion’s role in American life is both praised and contested, Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture (CRC) explores the complex relationship between faith and contemporary life.

Through public events and conversations with experts and artists, scholars and faith leaders, the CRC seeks to engage and elevate the public dialogue about religion and culture, the mind and the soul, inclusion and identity, politics, and the arts.

Check out our Events Page for more information about past and future programming.

View CRC Events

News and Updates

In Self-Produced Documentary, Student Explores New Angle on Catholicism

In a documentary that features a prominent cast of religious figures and artists, student Henry Sullivan is exploring how Catholics creatively imagine their faith. “People traditionally view Catholic art as enchanting, with statues, stained glass windows, and beautiful cathedrals. But there are other ways for Catholics to imagine their faith through art,” said Sullivan, a [...]

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Women Want Inclusion, Feel Hopeful After Talk with Top Vatican Nun

“In the church, women are still second-class citizens, but I have hope,” said Jackie Baligian, who started a women’s ministry in her parish to give women a platform. Baligian was drawn to Sister Nathalie Becquart’s talk, “Women and Youth: The Driving Force of Synodality,” at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle along with about [...]

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Ukrainian ‘Chaplain in Combat’ Speaks on Atrocities of the War

During a whirlwind visit to Fordham, the chief chaplain of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church spoke of the cruelty and inhumanity he has witnessed in his mission and why the world needs to take note. “Things are happening at a scale which I could not imagine,” said Andriy Zelinskyy, S.J., during a short visit from the [...]

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Speech Acts Panel Explores Forgiveness, Mercy, Justice in Public Discourse

How can mercy, justice, and forgiveness play a role in our public discourse? Can religious teachings help us address the intolerance and “othering” that takes place in society? These were some of the questions that panelists tried to answer at “The Quality of Mercy: Justice, Forgiveness, and Public Discourse” virtual event on March 10. The [...]

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In New Documentary, Paradoxes of the Shakers Emerge

The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming, a utopian, ecstatic religious movement best known as the Shakers, often gets conflated with the Amish. But unlike the Amish, the Shakers, who thrived during the 18th and 19th centuries, embraced technological advances and actively engaged with the outside world. On Thursday, Nov. 4, at 6 [...]

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Yearlong Series to Address Free Speech

Freedom of speech and expression, two bedrock principles of American life, will be the subject of a new series at Fordham this year. Speech Acts, which kicks off this week, will bring together high-profile speakers such as George Stephanopoulos and Nikole Hannah-Jones for eight panels and lectures to address an issue that has become increasingly [...]

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From St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Conversion to Bernstein’s MASS: A Theme of Breaking and Reimagining

In September 1971, when Leonard Bernstein’s MASS debuted, the United States was facing a time of crisis and reckoning. The piece had been commissioned by Jackie Kennedy, the wife of the late President John F. Kennedy, as a way to commemorate her murdered husband, but it also followed the assassinations of his brother Robert Kennedy [...]

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Talking with John Cecero, S.J., Vice President for Mission Integration and Ministry

On August 2, John Cecero, S.J., became Fordham’s new vice president for mission integration and ministry, succeeding Michael McCarthy, S.J. It was a homecoming for Father Cecero, who serves as an associate professor of psychology at Fordham, was a member of the Board of Trustees from 2008 to 2014, and served as rector of the [...]

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Should Cancel Culture Be Canceled?

From Aristotle to Dr. Seuss to an editor-in-chief at Teen Vogue, it would seem that anyone, dead or alive, can fall victim to cancel culture. But what exactly is cancel culture? Is it a phrase employed by the far right to portray the far left as intolerant? Or is it a profound generational shift in [...]

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The American Abortion Debate: Panelists Look Beyond ‘Labels and Accusations’

The debate over abortion rights must move beyond politics and binary discourse, said panelists at a Jan. 27 Fordham webinar, and shift to include more relevant, everyday struggles of women and their families. The event, sponsored by the Center on Religion and Culture, featured four women from diverse backgrounds: a researcher who studies American attitudes [...]

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Pope’s New Encyclical Provides Framework for Examining Capitalism and Racism, Scholars Say

Just weeks before the American presidential election, a Fordham panel of scholars analyzed the latest encyclical from Pope Francis—a U.S.-focused document that condemns trickle-down economics and addresses racism and the hardships of the global pandemic, especially those faced by the poor. “The U.S. more than any other nation is mentioned a number of times, and [...]

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