August 6, 2004

Some big names are included in the 2004-05 schedule for lecturers at the St. Jerome's Centre for Catholic Experience, a series that brings hundreds of people to campus to wrestle with tough religious ideas.

"I invite you to attend these free, public lectures," writes David Seljak of St. Jerome's University, the director of the centre, "but only if you are prepared to be challenged by the call to be followers of Christ without borders."

He goes on: "Not long ago, Roman Catholics were obsessed by borders. The Church against the world. The sacred and the profane. The spiritual over the material. The clergy over the laity. Catholics versus Protestants. Human beings over and against nature. The saved and the unsaved.

"The St. Jerome's Centre for Catholic Experience celebrates the new mood in the Church that challenges these rigid boundaries. This mood has encouraged Christian engagement in the struggle for social change, the ecumenical movement, interfaith dialogue, conversation with feminism, and eco-theology. For example, John Paul II recently noted that Christians have to rethink the boundaries between humans and nature.

"This year, St. Jerome's University presents a list of speakers who challenge our traditional boundaries, pushing us to rethink the 'natural order' of things. We will be pushed to encounter people of other faiths, to ponder our attitude towards the rest of God's creation, and to call into question our own inherited values in the light of the Gospel message of love that transcends the boundaries of Christian and non-Christian, male and female, slave and free, sacred and profane."

Here are the announced speakers for the coming year:

Roy Romanow, former premier of Saskatchewan and head of the the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada (February 18).

Hans-Christof Graf von Sponeck, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and director of the Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq until 2000 (March 18).

Sallie McFague, one of the best known Christian feminist theologians in North America (October 29).

Douglas John Hall, internationally known Canadian theologian and author of some 30 books on theology, and founding principal of St. Paul's United College (March 4).

Janet Somerville, writer, editor, and former General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches -- the first Roman Catholic, and the first woman, to be appointed to that post (September 17).

Marilyn Legge (April 8) and Paul Bramadat (November 19), described as probably the two best young writers in the area of religion and diversity in Canada.

Rev. Jim Profit, director and superior of Ignatius Jesuit Centre of Guelph and co-ordinator of the Ecology Project of the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice (January 28).

Michael Higgins, author, Merton scholar, and president of St. Jerome's University, who will give the Graduate Association Lecture this year (November 25).

Seljak writes: "Whenever I go over the list of impressive people who have spoken at the St. Jerome's Centre, I am amazed. No longer hundreds, but now thousands, of people come to learn from our speakers every year."

In a letter to previous supporters, he warns that "If we are to continue to bring speakers in from across Canada and the US, over from the UK and Europe, we will need your help. This season we will ask for your financial support by giving you the opportunity to make a free-will offering after each talk this year. While donation envelopes will be provided, there is no obligation to donate. However, for those of you who benefit from our events and speakers, we ask that you give so that others may learn."

Oral defences of PhD theses

A crowd of graduate students will be defending their PhD theses over the next few weeks, in time for graduation at October's convocation. Here are the official notices of some oral defences:

Civil engineering. Arcadio Rodriguez-Prado, "Application of Wetlands for the Treatment of Chromium-containing Wastewater." Supervisors, W. C. Lennox and R. Legge. On display in the faculty of engineering; oral defence Friday, August 13, 9 a.m., Engineering II room 3324.

Physics. Michael P. Spanner, "Field-Free Alignment and Strong Field Control of Molecular Rotors." Supervisors, M. Y. Ivanov and W.-K. Liu. On display in the faculty of science, ESC room 254A. Oral defence, Friday, August 13, 10 a.m., Physics room 352.

Biology. Nikos Hontzeas, "A Characterization of ACC Deaminase Genes and Proteins and Their Effects on Canola Root Gene Expression". Supervisor, B. R. Glick. On display in the faculty of science, ESC room 254A. Oral defence, Monday, August 16, 9 a.m., Biology I room 266.

Sociology. Lynn Eldershaw, "Collective Identity and the Post-Charismatic Fate of Shambhala International." Supervisor, Alicja Muszynski. On display in the faculty of arts, Humanities room 317. Oral defence, Monday, August 16, 11 a.m., PAS room 2030.

Combinatorics and optimization. John Irving, "Combinatorial Constructions for Transitive Factorizations in the Symmetric Group." Supervisor, D. M. Jackson. On display in the faculty of mathematics, MC room 5090. Oral defence, Thursday, August 19, 11 a.m., Math and Computer room 5136.

Actuarial science. Kristina Pavlova, "Some Aspects of Discrete Ruin Theory." Supervisor, G. E. Willmot. On display in the faculty of mathematics, MC room 5090. Oral defence, Monday, August 23, 10 a.m., Math and Computer room 6007.

Library open; get physical; and more

Students in Economics 201 -- one of the biggest courses being offered this spring term -- are writing their final exam in the Physical Activities Complex this morning. Spring exams continue tomorrow and all next week, while the sunshine raises the annual question of why a term that runs from early May to mid-August is called "spring". Here's a reminder that the Dana Porter Library is open 24 hours a day during exam season. Well, almost: the library will close on Monday and Thursday from 3 to 8 a.m. for computer system updating. Otherwise, it's around the clock until a week from tomorrow night.

There has been lots of interest in last winter's "health challenge" for three students, operated on the web by food services, and this spring's follow-up challenge involving three staff members. As a result, says Linda Brogden of health services, "I am working on a Get Physical challenge for the fall for all departments across campus. More information will follow." And in the meantime, she advises anybody who wants to get started on personal fitness, "anyone can register on line with Chatelaine and receive a free pedometer."

If you tried to use the UW home page this past Tuesday morning, you may have run into difficulties. Here's why: we (the people in communications and public affairs who manage the page on a day-to-day basis) were trying out a new version of the HTML code for the home page, intended to improve accessibility. Turned out that the new code posed some unexpected problems for certain browsers, and it was removed at midday Tuesday for more work. Jesse Rodgers, the manager of web communications in C&PA, says the big problem in any reworking of the home page is maintaining the appearance of the page while providing for those complicated drop-down menus, which aren't popular with all users anyway and could be in line for removal.

The student-run UW Sustainability Project is looking for a new slate of executives for the fall and winter terms. Positions open include two UWSP coordinators plus directors of fund-raising, marketing, events, and internal communications. "UWSP," a memo says, "is a dynamic and ever-growing multi-disciplinary, youth-directed organization. UWSP collaborates with faculty, staff, students and local community environmental actors to design and implement a variety of projects that increase the sustainability of the UW campus." Job descriptions and application forms are available from UW waste management coordinator Patti Cook, e-mail plcook@uwaterloo.ca, and the application deadline is August 27.

The mathematics undergraduate office is closed again today to finish its move from the fifth floor of Math and Computer to the fourth. . . . The University Club will hold a "Treasures of the Sea" lobster buffet tonight, 5 to 8 p.m. (reservations ext. 3801). . . . A workshop for "experienced teachers" will be held Thursday morning under the title "Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher" (details on the teaching resources web site). . . .

And . . . I'm going to be away for the next few days. In my absence, colleagues here in communications and public affairs will issue the Daily Bulletin on the usual schedule, and information for them can be sent to bulletin@uwaterloo.ca.

CAR

Communications and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
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