Arts & Minds Podcast
Speakers and programs from Dominican University's Arts and Minds series, covering a range of topics from today's thought leaders.
The Haunting of Dominican
Dominicans and Disease in the South
On April 15, 2021, Dr. Margaret McGuinness, historian of American Catholicism, joined us via Zoom to reflect on religious responses to outbreaks of disease. Focusing on the rolling outbreaks of Yellow Fever in the United States in the 19th century, Dr. McGuinness discussed the Dominican efforts to achieve both caritas and veritas in the midst of epidemiological outbreaks in the Mississippi valley. This event also announced the McGreal Center exhibition about how the Dominican family has faced disease in the American past and their modern efforts in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibit is available in person at Dominican University, and other Dominican institutions across the country. Links to the digital exhibition are available on the McGreal Center site.
This talk highlights a chapter in the McGreal Center’s new sponsored book, Preaching with their Lives: Dominicans on Mission in the United States After 1850, and is a part of a 2021 speaker series sponsored by the McGreal Center and the St Catherine of Siena Center at Dominican University, to highlight recent research in Dominican history, featured in our newly released book. (S1Ep15 - 07/14/21)
If Your Brain Offends Thee, Pluck Parts of It Out
Delving into what are perhaps the modern-day equivalents of this biblical reference, Dominican University neuroscience professor Robert Calin-Jagemen takes us on a lively and thought provoking journey through "the past, present, and future of neuro-engineering for moral perfection".
From the Caritas Veritas Symposium archives. Recorded in November 2013. (S2Ep1 - 07/07/21)
You can also watch the presentation on YouTube
SOUL STORIES: I Am Migration
Developed by interns in the University Ministry Center with a grant from the Interfaith Youth Corps, Soul Stories was launched at the Better Together Coffeehouses on campus. Each event was curated around a particular topic and students worked with faculty and staff to hone their individual narratives. The theme of this event was I Am Migration and the SOUL STORIES student storytellers stepped up to share their personal experiences. (S1Ep12 - 06/23/21)
Dominican Contemplative Life, Ever Ancient, Ever New
On March 18, 2021, Sr. Cecilia Murray, historian of American religious history and Dominican Sister of Hope, joined us via Zoom to discuss the Dominican response to the American longing for contemplative life. While some Americans found a cloistered life of prayer strange, others longed to live in communities of faith devoted to prayer, meditation, and contemplation. In the midst of a busy and chaotic modern world, these communities were a witness to the desire to withdraw and meditate on spiritual mysteries.
This talk highlights a chapter in the McGreal Center’s new sponsored book, Preaching with their Lives: Dominicans on Mission in the United States After 1850, and is a part of a 2021 speaker series sponsored by the McGreal Center and the St Catherine of Siena Center at Dominican University, to highlight recent research in Dominican history, featured in our newly released book. (S1Ep11 - 06/09/21)
This event was presented in partnership with the Catholic and Dominican Institute at Mount St. Mary College, Newburgh, NY.
The Green New Deal
In November 2019, Dr. Peter Hudis of Oakton Community College visited Dominican University to talk about climate change and the "Green New Deal".
Dr. Hudis has written widely on Marxist theory and contemporary politics and is the author of Marx's Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism, and Frantz Fanon: Philosopher on the Barricades. He is General Editor of The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg (three volumes have appeared so far). (S1Ep10 - 06/02/21)
For more about the International Humanist-Marxist Organzation, visit: https://imhojournal.org/about/
A Corporate Stance for Social Justice: The Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, California, and the 1980s Sanctuary Movement.
Recorded on March 16, 2021, history professor Dr. Cynthia Taylor, and IBEW Organizer Eileen Pierce discussed their research into the history of Dominican Sisters’ involvement in the sanctuary movement in California. In the 1980s, Dominican Sisters of San Rafael made a corporate and public stance in support of providing sanctuary for Salvadoran refugees, fleeing civil war and violence in El Salvador. The federal government refused to recognize them as refugees, and they were classified as undocumented immigrants, thus in danger of deportation. In a time of renewed discussion of undocumented immigration and asylum, this is a timely discussion of the links between their research and the current reckoning over the demands of social justice for undocumented immigrants fleeing violence in Central America.
This talk highlights a chapter in the McGreal Center’s new sponsored book, Preaching with their Lives: Dominicans on Mission in the United States After 1850, and is a part of a 2021 speaker series sponsored by the McGreal Center and the Siena Center at Dominican University, highlighting recent research in Dominican history, featured in our newly released book. (S1Ep9 - 05/24/21)
The Limits of Community Policing
On October 6, 2020 co-authors Luis Daniel Gascón and Aaron Roussell, joined Dr. Clinton Nichols of the Dominican University Sociology and Criminology department to discuss the research and findings from their book The Limits of Community Policing: Civilian Power and Police Accountability in Black and Brown Los Angeles
Addressing conflicts between police and communities, the authors depart from traditional conceptions, arguing that community policing—popularized for decades as a racial panacea—is not the solution it seems to be. Tracing this policy back to its origins, they focus on the Los Angeles Police Department, which first introduced community policing after the high-profile Rodney King riots. Drawing on over sixty interviews with officers, residents, and stakeholders in South LA’s “Lakeside” precinct, they show how police tactics amplified—rather than resolved—racial tensions, complicating partnership efforts, crime response and prevention, and accountability.
At a time when these issues have taken center stage, this discussion offers a critical understanding of how community policing really works. (S1Ep8 - 04/21/21)
Why Do We Forget? Using Sea Slugs to Understand Memory and Memory
Dr. Irina Calin-Jageman and Dr. Robert Calin-Jageman share the results of their research with Aplysia californica (i.e., sea slugs) to help determine why neural connections are lost and, in some cases, regained.
Aplysia californica–a type of ‘sea slug’ that has become a favorite organism for studying learning and memory. Why? Aplysia have both short- and long-term memory for basic types of associative and non-associative learning (they can learn simple things and can remember what they learn for a reasonably long time). We can figure out how these animals learn because they have only 20,000 neurons in their entire CNS (compare this to the 1 million or so in a honey bee or the 60-80 billion in your head). Moreover, Aplysia have some of the largest neurons in the animal kingdom, with some neuron diameters reach up to 1mm! This makes it easier to record the electrical activity in Aplysia neurons and to harvest them for molecular and cellular analysis.
You can read more about the Calin-Jageman's research on their blog page The Slug Lab.
This event was part of the At Home with Dominican series presented via Zoom to university alumni on October 6, 2020. (S1Ep7 - 02/24/21)
SOUL STORIES: Clash or Conversation
Developed by interns in the University Ministry Center with a grant from the Interfaith Youth Corps, Soul Stories was launched at the Better Together Coffeehouses on campus. Each event was curated around a particular topic and students worked with faculty and staff to hone their individual narratives. In 2017, the central theme of the annual Caritas Veritas Symposium was Clash or Conversation?: Engaging Multiple Perspectives as a Way toward Truth and the SOUL STORIES student storytellers stepped up to share their personal experiences. (S1Ep6 - 02/17/21)
Women in Mathematics
Dr. Marion Weedermann delivered the 2020 Lund-Gill Lecture titled – Women in Mathematics, Contributions with Long-Lasting Impact
Throughout history, women were considered inferior to men in their ability to think abstractly and logically. Despite that, some women broke barriers and made significant contributions to the advancement of mathematics. Today, more and more women are entering the field of mathematics. This talk gives a brief overview of women in history who contributed to the development of mathematics and focus on current female mathematicians who have developed ideas that influence our lives today. (S1Ep5 - 02/10/21)
Click here to see the slides that accompanied the lecture.
Named for former Dominican University President Sr. Candida Lund, and former English professor, Sr. Cyrille Gill - each year, the Lund-Gill Chair in the Rosary College of Arts and Sciences brings to campus an individual of the highest moral and intellectual reputation who can address themes and issues at the heart of the liberal arts and sciences.
FAITH TIME: Finding Inspiration in Interfaith Connection
FAITH TIME is a student-produced podcast series from the University Ministry Center. In this first episode, interns Alyssa Wright and Iyleah Hernandez explore the positive impact of interfaith work in a conversation with Dr. Bethlehem Hailu Dejene, professor of anthropology at Claremont Lincoln University. Recorded on October 8th, 2020. (S1Ep4 - 02/04/21)
Facing Challenges 3 - Immigration
Dominican University’s Chief Diversity Officer, Sheila Radford-Hill sat down with Dr. Suhad Tabahi from the School of Social Work and two alumni – Roberto Sepulveda, a graduate of the Brennan School of Business who has led corporate diversity and inclusion workshops, and Arianna Salgado, social justice activist and advocate for immigration legislation – to get their viewpoints on current immigration issues.
(S1Ep3 - 1/27/21)
Facing Challenges 2 - Protests and Policing
Dominican University’s Chief Diversity Officer, Sheila Radford-Hill sat down with criminology professor Dr. Clinton Nichols and two alumni – Binyamin Jones, a field training officer with the Chicago Police Department, and Berto Aguayo, a community organizer and founder of Increase the Peace – to discuss the Black Lives Matter protests and how Dominican prepared them for the career paths they’ve chosen. (S1Ep2 - 1/23/21)
Facing Challenges 1 - Healthcare
Dominican University's Chief Diversity Officer, Sheila Radford-Hill sat down with Dr. Tamara Bland from the MacNeil School of Nursing and two alumni - trauma nurse, Neil Ehmig and WIC program manager, Nancy Rivera - to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the communities they serve. The conversation is part one of a three-part series of conversations between faculty and alumni on some of the pivotal issues of 2020. (S1Ep1 - 1/20/21)