One Week, Two Powerful Lectures

This October, the School of Arts and Sciences will host two powerful lectures exploring intersections of social science and the humanities.

Dr. Robert Audi, John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, will deliver the lecture at 9:05 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 20, in Basil 135.

Audi will explore one of the central institutional question Americans face: How a democracy abiding by the Constitution, which, in its first amendment, separates church and state, can adequately protect both freedom of religion and freedom from religion? He will also discuss how religious and non-religious citizens alike can function as “who they are” in civil society without creating conflicts that weaken America as a nation. Finally, he will  address the ethical question of what standards should guide citizens in advocacy and how to vote on matters that affect liberty, justice, and the personal choices individuals make in structuring their lives.

The talk is hosted by the Departments of Philosophy and Religious Studies and the William and Helen Cavanaugh Chair of Catholic Studies.

Two days later, Fisher will host the annual Cavanaugh Reading Series, featuring noted scholar and professional dancer Dr. Mark Broomfield.

The lecture will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the Black Box Theater at the Arts Center at Murphy Hall.

Broomfield, associate professor of English and the founder and director of Performance as Social Change at SUNY Geneseo, will deliver a talk that explores intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and dance.

A London-born award-winning scholar and artist of Jamaican heritage, Broomfield has published in the areas of race, gender, sexuality, dance, and ethnography. He has performed nationally and internationally and danced with the repertory company Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, performing in leading works by some of the most diverse and recognized African American choreographers in the American modern dance tradition.

The annual reading series was named in honor of the English Department’s friend and former colleague, Fr. John R. Cavanaugh. At the time of his passing in 2007, Cavanaugh had been associated with Fisher for more than 50 years, including more than 30 as one of the stalwarts of the English Department. He retired from active teaching in 1994, but never from his service to the institution.

Free and open to the public, the lecture is sponsored by the English Department and School of Arts and Sciences.

This article was written by Ranya Alsalahi, a senior film and television studies major. Alsalahi is an intern in the Office of Marketing and Communications at Fisher for the Fall 2025 semester.