Webinar: The State of Roman Catholic SLACs

Details

February 28, 2024
3:00 PM ET
Presented on Zoom

Register

Summary

Whatever the shared challenges now facing programs in the study of religion across the country, those who are working in small liberal arts colleges (SLACs)—and, in particular, those that are denominationally affiliated—sometimes face issues different from their colleagues in larger universities and in public colleges. This hour-long webinar will discuss the current state of the field in two sample Catholic SLACs, Avila University and St. Thomas Aquinas College, while considering the state of the humanities at these schools, the status of the study of religion in particular, as well as any specific challenges of Catholic-affiliated schools. 

Panelists

Leslie Dorrough Smith | Smith is professor of religious studies and chair of the school of humanities at Avila University, a small Catholic liberal arts university in Kansas City, MO, that serves a large population of first generation and low-income students. She also directs the women's and gender studies program at Avila.

Craig Martin | Martin is professor of religion at St. Thomas Aquinas College, a small liberal arts college in the suburbs outside New York City. STAC was started in the 1950s by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, NY, but the college separated from the Catholic church in the 1970s. The college still claims a Catholic heritage, and several Dominican Sisters remain on the Board of Trustees.

Moderator

Russell T. McCutcheon | McCutcheon is a University Research Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, where he was also a longtime Department Chair. He chairs the AAR’s Academic Relations Committee.