CRYPTONYM

In a piece for the Washington Post’s On Faith blog, Susan Bratton, author of Christianity, Wilderness, and Wildlife, examines the presence of animals in Christian art. She writes:

From the mosaics at Ravenna to the stained glass of medieval cathedrals, Christian art is a zoo. River otters, after all, play chess on a column at Naumburg Cathedral in Germany. The ascendancy of a Christian aristocracy infused weapons and hunting back into commissions for frescoes and capitals by the early Middle Ages. The first ascetics, meanwhile, treated these passions as worldly and proved their holiness by caring for injured animals and inviting them into their desert or forest hermitages. For a Celtic or a desert monk to receive the trust and companionship of animals, wild and domestic, was a sign of the coming of God’s kingdom on earth, as predicted by the prophet Isaiah. In the confines of the monastery, the lion or wolf could lie down with the lamb - and the monk. Themes such as ravens feeding Elijah or St. Antony, St. Jerome and his lion, or St. Giles protecting a hind from the huntsmen of the king teach ethics and may carry a thinly disguised political message about the abuse of secular power.

You can read the entire post here.

Posted by COA at 02:10 PM | Permalink
Posted to University of Scranton

Today, President Bush announced that the U.S. will be imposing economic sanctions against Sudan.

For those interested in learning more about the situation in Darfur, Amsterdam University Press recently published Explaining Darfur: Lectures on the Ongoing Genocide.

Despite serious pressure from the United Nations, public statements of outrage from the United States, and now sanctions—the war in Darfur, Sudan, continues unabated. Many in the West still have only a very limited understanding of either the conflict or the forces driving it.

Explaining Darfur provides essential resources for understanding the conflict in Darfur, from the historical background to an analysis of the present situation. It also proposes several nonviolent ways of solving the crisis, from the democratization of the Sudan to reconciliation negotiations between tribes at all levels to dramatically expanding the operational capacity of the peacekeeping troops supplied by the African Union. Initiated by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, this will be the definitive study of the ongoing Darfur conflict and its possible solutions.

Learn More about the Book

Posted by at 03:50 PM | Permalink
Posted to Amsterdam University Press | Politics and Current Events | University of Scranton

Philip Mosley, editor of Anthracite! An Anthology of Coal Region Drama, invites the public to attend a book signing and dramatic reading at the Bookstore of Penn State Worthington Scranton on Tuesday, January 23rd from Noon to 2:00pm.

Philip Mosley is professor of English, Communications, and Comparative Literature at Penn State Worthington Scranton. He edited and wrote the introduction for the book which was published recently by the University of Scranton Press.

More Information on the Event

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Posted by at 01:15 PM | Permalink
Posted to Author Events | History | University of Scranton

Hispanic Women was recently reviewed on Catholic Online. Sister Mona Castelazo explains the book's goal to describe, "Hispanic women's liberation theology based on lived experience, rather than abstract theories." Sister Castelazo has some questions about the religious correctness of liberation theology, but she values Hispanic Women: "Some of the theology in the book may be questionable, but the overall message—that there are many voices within the church that need to be heard—should be taken seriously."

Read the Review

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Posted by at 11:10 AM | Permalink
Posted to Religion | Reviews | University of Scranton

With recent tragedies in the coal industry reminding us of the toil of miners throughout the ages, we have dusted off our Loretta Lynn albums and settled down with a few titles from the University of Scranton Press. Scranton lies in the heart of Pennsylvania's old anthracite coal region, where generations of souls fashioned lives and family in the harsh milieu of the coal industry. The University of Scranton Press publishes a range of coal-themed books, from economic histories to poetry and drama.

Hard Coal and Coal Cars is a history of the coal-hauling business Read more about Hard Coal and Coal Cars

Coalseam brings together fourteen poetic voices who sing to the texture of family life, the confluence of cultures, the brutality and danger of the mines, and the scars left on people and the environment. Read more about Coalseam

In Anthracite Ghosts, Walter Dinteman's photographs tell the story of beauty amid desolation, recalling the lives the people who lived and worked in the region in its prime. Read more about Anthracite Ghosts

Anthracite! (forthcoming in June) brings together six neglected plays on the Appalachian coal mining region. Read more about Anthracite!

Posted by at 12:43 PM | Permalink
Posted to Politics and Current Events | University of Scranton