Religious Studies Department

Santa Clara University

Perspectives Lea Story Heaine

Contents

Reflections 2

Event Highlights 2

Faculty Updates 3

Joseph Grassi 4

Romero Remembered 4

New Faculty Group 4

New Chair Announcement 5

Upcoming Events 5

In The Field 5

Alumni Updates 6

It was somewhere back in the prehistoric history of the Religious Studies Department—

when the giants like Ted Mackin and Joe Grassi walked the earth of Bannan Hall—that

Jim Reites, recently appointed chair of the department, stopped by my office and said

that some young guy was looking for a part-time position. He had just finished his

doctoral studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Jim and I concurred:

why not hire him to teach a course or two for the department? What do we have to

lose?

And thank God we did! For the past 33 years—with some timeout for seminary study

when he entered the Society of Jesus in 1986—Paul Crowley has joined the short list of

giants in the Religious Studies Department, and he has been a great gift to all of us.

Paul has seen enormous changes in the department through the years, and he has

been instrumental in molding R.S. into the truly excellent department that it has

become. Jim and I could not have known then what everyone in the theological world

now accepts—that Paul Crowley is one of the premier Catholic theologians writing in

English today. His has added credibility and distinction to our department as very few

others have.

Of course, the road is never a simple one. In the early 1980s, Paul taught briefly at St.

Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park (I had helped arrange this gig for him); he even took a

part-time job in a private detective agency. Who knew? “Paul Crowley, Private Eye”

was in our midst! There were those difficult years in Paul’s life in the mid-and late

1980s when he struggled with the deaths of three of his closest family members. When

Paul writes about suffering, his theology is not only brilliant but it is a theology created

out of the deepest and most intimate experience of loss. Indeed, this very fact makes

his theology as sound and as resonating as it is.

One of my favorite Paul Crowley stories took place at the time when John Privett was

rector of the Jesuit community. Paul invited me to have lunch with the Jesuits one

afternoon; when I showed up and waited and waited, I realized that Paul had forgotten

our engagement. I later became aware that I was hardly alone in this select group of

people. When I told the story to John Privett, he suggested this to me: “You can have

lunch every day for a year with the Jesuit community and if anyone stops and asks you

what are you’re doing here, you just simply reply that Paul Crowley had invited you but

that he probably forgot. Everyone will understand!” Those of us who work with Paul

and love him know how true this is.

As our department chair for the last six years, Paul was the only person who could

replace Catherine Bell with something of the extraordinary recognition that she

possessed in the world of religious studies. He has guided the department—or better,

he has guided us as individuals and as a community—with extraordinary academic

competence, and beyond this, with wisdom; indeed, beyond competence and wisdom,

with love. We wish Paul well on his sabbatical and we look forward to his return to us

in the fall of 2012. Until then, thank you and bless you. Ave atque vale.

-- Frederick J. Parrella

Winter 2011

2 trained than I: I was a mere

undergraduate, twenty-one,

intimidated.

My fear slowly gave way to confidence. I

came to realize that I have had excellent

training. As students, I think we hear

from the outside how well Santa Clara

prepares its undergraduates for the

future, but I don’t know how many of us

buy into it (I know I hadn’t). My class at

JST showed me just how ready we all

are, how great the Religious Studies

Department is at preparing us for great

academic work. We are better prepared

than we can imagine. Don’t be afraid.

--Kevin Senefeld, 2011

Whenever someone hears that I

attended the Jesuit School of Theology

last semester, they invariably ask, “How

was the commute?” I had to get up to

Berkeley for a 6:30 class, in East Bay

rush hour. Once, the drive took four

hours, but it was always worth it.

I felt radically inadequate the first day I

stepped into class. There were several

Jesuits, three sisters, four PhD students,

several older students and only a few

twenty-somethings. No one in the class

was in their first semester; everyone had

been in their respective graduate

programs for at least a year. Everyone

seemed to be more prepared and better

Event Highlights

October

2 Carry the Vision Conference

26 Documentary Screening: Last Journey of Oscar Romero

27 Paul Morris, “Religious Change in the Pacific Region”

November

4 Mary Beth Ingham, “Mindful Dignity: How the Franciscan Tradition Shifts the Intellectual Paradigm”

11 Bryan Massingale, Santa Clara Lecture: "Cross-Racial Solidarity: Insights from and Challenges to Catholic Social Thought"

18-21 Teilhard de Chardin: A New Generation Conference

February

9 Poetry/Mural Art in Celebration of Oscar Romero

15 Ongoing Call for Democracy in Burma

24 Pizza, Professors and Film

25 Panel Discussion, “What’s Next: Future of Jesuit Higher Education”

March

2 Panel presentation, “To Heal a Broken World”

The Adventures of Undergrads

In a Graduate World

RS Minor Tanya Schmidt (‘12) visits Macchu

Picchu during her Donovan fellowship in Peru last summer.

If I could find one adjective to describe my experience of taking a master’s level class at

the JST this fall, it would be “intense.” Other words that also come to mind are:

challenging, exciting, intimidating, enjoyable, time-consuming, awkward, inspiring, and

enlightening. There were times when I questioned if I was even remotely qualified to

be in that classroom, while others were worthy of a Tiger Woods fist pump. While

initially turbulent, the semester eventually calmed to a roll, leaving me feeling ready

and capable to engage the next level of my academic career.

Many students entering undergraduate programs elect to visit schools and some are

able to take a class to see how a college course operates. I consider the course at the

JST as not only an opportunity to see how a graduate course is run, but also how well I

could function and engage a course at that level. Upon first entering the classroom, I

was immediately struck by the age range of the students. I was, at 22, significantly

younger than the other students whose ages ranged from their late 20’s to late 50’s. I

felt like a high school freshman taking AP Calculus. However, through engaging the

course and participating in the discussion, I found myself settling into the dynamics of

the class, and found myself not only participating, but contributing to the advancement

of the class discussion.

Though I was not at the academic level of most of my classmates, I was not unprepared.

Not only is Santa Clara unique in being able to afford this opportunity to its students, it

is unique in affording its students the resources to take advantage of this opportunity

successfully. Now, if only they could have afforded a better form of transportation and

saved me the weekly 2½-hour commute, this experience would have been even better!

Might I suggest a Religious Studies Deptartment helicopter?

--John Logan, 2011

3

Faculty in the News

Elizabeth Drescher was recently

featured in the San Jose Mercury News

article “Does God Have a Facebook?” by

Mike Cassidy. In the article, she

discussed the influence of Web 2.0 on

shaping individual spirituality, its impact

on connecting communities in new

ways, and commented on the growing

trend of religious apps for smartphones

(such as the Confession app, available

for iPhones). She will have a book out in

May, entitled Tweet If You Love Jesus:

Practicing Church in the Digital

Reformation, which further explores the

subject of digital spirituality.

This past December, Socorro Castañeda-

Liles’s research on Catholic devotion to

Our Lady of Guadalupe among Mexican-

origin women was featured on the front

page of the San Jose Mercury News.

Eleven other newspapers including the

National Catholic Reporter also featured

her research. Castañeda-Liles

interviewed 100 working-class, first-

generation Mexican-American women

from Silicon Valley on how they relate to

Guadalupe on a daily basis.

Jean Molesky-Poz recently sponsored the second annual Santa Clara University three-day retreat on Clare of Assisi for faculty, staff, administrators and students (pictured here at St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista). Photo credit: Gloria Hofer Faculty Updates James Bennett published an entry entitled "Race and Racism" in The Encyclopedia of

Religion in America this past summer. His article on African Americans and anti-

Mormonism will appear in the summer 2011 issue of Religion and American Culture.

Bennett also continues to co-chair the Religion in the American West seminar of the

American Academy of Religion.

Paul Crowley S.J. published his article “Encountering the Religious Other: Challenges

to Rahner’s Transcendental Project” in the September issue of Theological Studies.

David Gray published an article “On the Very Idea of a Tantric Canon: Myth, Politics,

and the Formation of the Bka’ ‘gyur” in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of

International Association of Tibetan Studies.

This fall Kristin Heyer published “A Feminist Appraisal of Catholic Social Thought,” in

For the City and the World: Conversations in Catholic Studies and Social Thought and

"A Response to “Restorative Justice as a Prophetic Path to Peace?” Plenary Address

by Stephen J. Pope, Catholic Theological Society of America Annual Proceedings .

In January, Gary Macy gave a talk on “The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination”

for the Jesuit Alumni in Arizona and “Whose Old Time Religion?” for the Divinity

School at Vanderbilt University. He also serves as a reader at the defense of Neomi

DeAnda’s doctoral thesis at Loyola University in Chicago.

In February, Jean Molesky-Poz co-founded and facilitated a three week series,

Conversations among Women at Holy Spirit Parish in Berkeley. In these meetings

women of all ages, share with one another their experience of faith, and ask how

have women historically contributed to the church, and what can we learn from their

examples. With the support of a Bannan Grant, she also sponsored the second SCU

three-day retreat on Clare of Assisi (pictured above). It was held in January at St.

Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista. She, with Srs. Beth Lynn, of Minneapolis,

and Dianne Short of Cincinnati, introduced participants to the life of Clare of Assisi

through The Tavola, (1283) a painting on wood of Clare, with eight insets depicting

episodes of her life. This use of visual theology provided opportunities for

participants to recognize encounters of mystery in their own lives.

Inside Story Headline

Photo Credit: Ana María Pineda, RSM

30 Years Later: Romero Remembered Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was killed on March 24, 1980. Last year, with

the support of a Bannan grant, Ana María Pineda, RSM organized several events to

celebrate the 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Romero of El Salvador. On

April 28, 2010 Monseñor Urioste from El Salvador, who was Archbishop Romero's Vicar

General when Romero was killed, spoke on the "Life and Legacy of Archbishop

Romero.” Monseñor Urioste carried on Romero's work after his death, and has kept

the memory of Archishop Romero alive. On October 26, 2010 Pineda screened the

documentary "Monseñor: The Last Journey of Oscar Romero," which was introduced

by Father Bob Pelton from Notre Dame University. This documentary is told from the

perspective of the poor who knew Archbishop Romero and who were directly touched

by his kindness and courageous defense. Together with Juan Velasco of SCU’s English

and Modern Languages Departments Pineda concluded the series with an event on

February 9, 2011 entitled "Poetry and Mural Art in Celebration of Monseñor

Romero.” Using poetry, vignettes from "Memories in Mosaic," photos and mural art,

they presented the story of Archbishop Romero.

Joseph A. Grassi 1922-2010

Joseph Grassi (pictured above) taught

in the Religious Studies Department

from 1971 to 2003. He maintained his

ties to the university by continuing his

teaching through the Osher Lifelong

Learning program for several years.

Members of the department, Santa

Clara Jesuit community, family and

friends mourned his passing and

celebrated his contributions at a

memorial liturgy in Santa Clara’s

Mission Church on January 15. A

former Maryknoll missioner, Joseph

was remembered as one who "who

made the scriptures come alive" and

changed the lives of his students. He

is survived by his wife Carolyn, his

sons Peter and Eddie, and siblings

Emily Walsh and Peter Grassi Sr., as

well as countless others.

Gender, Globalization, and Empire Faculty Group

A new faculty study group has formed this winter quarter around issues of Gender,

Globalization and Empire. Co-convened by RS Professor Kitty Murphy and History

Professor Naomi Andrews, the group creates a space on campus for faculty to collaborate

on teaching and research related to issues of empire, postcolonial studies and issues of

gender. Religious Studies Professors Soco Castañeda-Liles, Kristin Heyer, and Teresia

Hinga have joined twenty-one colleagues from eight other departments in Arts and

Sciences as well as the Law School in this interdisciplinary working group, and

membership is open to any faculty member whose teaching and/or research interests

align with the group's themes. The group has a website where events of interest to group

members are posted, resources and related courses are catalogued, and collaborations

between group members are published (www-relg-studies.scu.edu/ggefsg). Interested

faculty can contact Kitty Murphy for details (cmurphy@scu.edu). While the group is

designed for faculty and funded by the Faculty Development Office, it supports student

learning through discussions of pedagogy and interdisciplinary collaboration on

courses. An undergraduate Core pathway is also in the works. Also, this November the

American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature will host their joint

meeting in San Francisco, and the AAR will be hosting plenary sessions on the issue of

"Religion and Empire" that the study group will promote on campus with faculty members

and students.

4

5

Upcoming Events

Pizza, Professors and Film

What? A screening of the Woody

Allen 1989 film Crimes and

Misdemeanors as well as a brief

discussion of political philosopher Leo

Strauss by Professor Akiba Lerner.

Stop by for free food, good

conversation, and a classic movie.

When? Thursday, May 5, 5:00-

7:30 pm

Where? Weigand Room (Arts and

Sciences 202)

Religious Studies Reception

What? Join us as we honor graduating

Religious Studies majors and minors

along with Theta Alpha Kappa

inductees at our annual departmental

dinner and reception.

When? Wednesday, May 25, 5:30pm

Where? Adobe Lodge

Mark your calendars!

In the field with Religious Studies:

Students of TESP 179, the department’s Research Methods seminar, attended the

Chung Tai Zen Center in Sunnyvale, CA with Professor Boo Riley. The group had

dinner with the abbot and then joined an evening class for meditation in the Zen hall

followed by a class session in which the abbot lectured on the sutra they were

studying in their fall class. Pictured from left to right: Mark Vetto, Brittany Adams,

John Logan, Ven. Jian Hu Shifu, Phillip Boo Riley, Kevin Senefeld, Sam Ghows, and

Paul Kosloski.

As Perspectives was going to press,

we learned that John Nobili, S.J.

Professor Gary Macy has been

appointed as the next chair of the

Religious Studies Department,

effective Spring quarter 2011.

Professor Macy has taught at Santa

Clara since 2007 in areas of

medieval theology and ritual

practice, arenas in which he has

published prolifically for decades.

Stay tuned for an interview with

the new chair in the spring edition

of Perspectives. Congratulations,

Professor Macy!

New Chair Appointed for Religious Studies Department

Alumni Updates

6

Everett DePangher (2006) currently works part time as Program Coordinator for the

Islamic Networks Group (ING), a San Jose organization that provides educational and

cultural competency resources about five different religions.

An unconventional undergraduate, Janet Ferree (2007) attended SCU as a self-

described “old lady,” and reported she is “even grayer now.” Janet is currently enrolled

at the JST in Berkeley working on an MA in Theology, Ethics and Social Theory, with a

focus in human trafficking. She was brought onto the Global Solidarity Team for the

diocese of San Jose because of her interests and is also the South Bay religious rep for

the locally-based Not For Sale Campaign. She participated in Professor Hinga’s “To Heal

a Broken World: Generations of Global Civic Engagement” panel on March 2, 2011.

James Servino (2007) is in his third year with the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's

largest civil rights organization working for lesbian, gay, bi and trans rights. He began

his work as the Religion and Faith intern, progressing to executive assistant and

currently manages online fundraising and advocacy.

Santa Clara University

Religious Studies Dept.

500 El Camino Real

Santa Clara, CA 95053-0335

[Recipient Name]

[Street address]

[Address 2]

[City, ST ZIP Code]

Religious Studies

What have you been up to?

We’d love to hear from you!

Please submit alumni news to

ReligionTeam@gmail.com for

inclusion in the next issue of

Perspectives!

Find us on the Web: www.scu.edu/religiousstudies