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7th Annual Philosophy Day Scheduled for November 18-19 at St. John Fisher College

11/12/2009

St. John Fisher College will host "Philosophy Day: Philosophy and the Catholic Heritage" on Wednesday, November 18 and Thursday, November 19 in the Midlevel of the Golisano Gateway on campus. "World Philosophy Day" is observed globally as an occasion for people to reflect upon the importance of critical thinking, world peace, international cooperation, and the love of wisdom. The sessions at Fisher are free and open to the public.

The events will begin on November 18 at 6:30 p.m. with a showing of The Wit and Wisdom of Fulton J. Sheen, a video on the life of the famous "television priest" (1895-1979) who is presently being considered for canonization by the Catholic Church. An opening address by Kathleen Riley, Professor of History at Ohio Dominican University, will immediately follow the screening of the film. In her presentation, Riley will provide a retrospective examination of the life of Bishop Sheen.

On November 19, sessions will begin at 8 a.m. and are scheduled through 8:30 p.m. Topics to be discussed include "The Catholic Heritage," "The Roots of Catholic Education," and "Social Justice and Catholic Education." Presenters include faculty and students from St. John Fisher College, Syracuse University, Empire State College, and Daemen College, as well as a Rochester City School District psychologist. The evening will conclude with a closing address by James Simpson, the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English at Harvard University, entitled "Bad News Bible: Six Dark, Dynamic, and Demeaning Paradoxes of Sixteenth-Century Evangelical Bible Reading."

Philosophy Day is sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an agency of the United Nations. UNESCO was founded in November 1945 and is dedicated to furthering the education of the world beyond classrooms and the publication of scientific breakthroughs.

For more information about Philosophy Day at St. John Fisher College, please contact Dr. Tim Madigan, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, at (585) 385-5259 or tmadigan@sjfc.edu.

The full Philosophy Day schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, November 18
6:30 – 7:00 p.m.	A showing of a video, The Wit and Wisdom of Fulton J. Sheen
7:00 – 8:00 p.m.	Opening Address – “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and Justice: Fulton J. Sheen’s Twentieth Century Odyssey” Kathleen Riley, Professor of History, Ohio Dominican University
Thursday, November 19
8:00 – 9:20 a.m.	Roundtable I: The Catholic Heritage Participants: Welcome by David Pate, St. John Fisher College Dean of Arts and Sciences; Sarah White (School Psychologist, Rochester City School District): “Playing God: School Psychologists as Gatekeepers to Special Education”; Brian Winkler (Empire State College student): “Gödel and God”
9:30 – 10:50 a.m.	Roundtable II: The Roots of Catholic Education Participants: Tim Madigan (Department of Philosophy, St. John Fisher College): “St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More: Humanists, Educators, and Martyrs”; William Graf (Department of Religious Studies, St. John Fisher College): “The Founding of St. John Fisher College”
11:00 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.	Roundtable III: Aesthetics Participants: Tim Madigan (Department of Philosophy, St. John Fisher College): “John Fisher in Popular Culture”; Michael Costanzo (Department of Religious Studies, St. John Fisher College): “The Day of Judgment in Matthew 25, Michelangelo, Cherubini, Mozart, and Verdi”; Helen Demay (Artist): “Painting and the Catholic Tradition”; David White (Department of Philosophy, St. John Fisher College): “Going My Way: Bing Crosby and Bishop Butler”
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.	Roundtable IV: Ancient and Modern Philosophy Participants: Charles Natoli (Department of Philosophy, St. John Fisher College): “Lucretius on Religion and Superstition”; Susan Dawn Wake (Department of Philosophy, St. John Fisher College): “Philosophical Jeopardy”—Test your knowledge of philosophy and win prizes. Also, if time permits, join us for a game of “Pin the Tale on Buridan’s Ass”
1:45 – 3:05 p.m.	Roundtable V: Ethics and Logic Participants: David Baranov (Department of Sociology, St. John Fisher College): “Individual Acts and Social Judgments”; James Moran (Department of Philosophy, Daemen College): “Aquinas on Law”; Barb Lowe (Department of Philosophy, St. John Fisher College): “Doing Unto Others: Empathy vs. Sympathy”; Howard Blair (Syracuse University): “The Ontological Argument Revisited”
3:10 – 4:30 p.m.	Roundtable VI: Social Justice and Catholic Education Presenters: Michael Wischnowski (School of Education, St. John Fisher College): “Justice and Catholic Education”; Guillermo Montes (School of Education, St. John Fisher College): “Usury in the Catholic Tradition”; William Graf (Department of Religious Studies, St. John Fisher College): “John LaFarge and Racism in the United States: An American Catholic Perspective”
4:30 – 5:00 p.m.	Roundtable VII: Fulton J. Sheen: Media Celebrity, Bishop of Rochester, and Social Activist A showing of the video, The Wit and Wisdom of Fulton J. Sheen
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.	Dinner Break
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.	Closing Address: “Bad News Bible: Six Dark, Dynamic, and Demeaning Paradoxes of Sixteenth-Century Evangelical Bible Reading” James Simpson, Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English, Harvard University

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