Can We Be Civil? Call-Out Culture in America

Speaker: 
Cathleen Kaveny
 
19 Oct 2023
 
5:30 PM
 
Sun Room, Memorial Union
Co-sponsors: 
  • Phi Beta Kappa Society
  • Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)

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Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar

Pleas to be "civil" in our political and social dialogue in the news media are often followed by demands to call out discrimination and injustice wherever we see it. Can the two forms of interaction coexist? Or do they cancel each other out? This lecture will examine the tensions between the two types of discourse by referring back to a characteristically American form of political rhetoric: prophetic indictment, which finds its roots in Puritan Massachusetts but whose reach has extended to our own day. 

Cathleen Kaveny is a scholar who focuses on the relationship of law, religion, and morality. She serves as the Darald and Juliet Libby Professor at Boston College, a position that includes appointments in both the Theology Department and the Law School. Kaveny regularly teaches contract law to first-year law students. Her books include Law's Virtue: Fostering Autonomy and Solidarity in American Society and A Culture of Engagement: Law, Religion, and Morality.

The University Book Store will be onsite selling her book at the event.

This lecture will be recorded, and the recording link will be added here within 36-48 hours after the lecture has finished.

Phi Beta Kappa Visiting ScholarPleas to be "civil" in our political and social dialogue in the news media are often followed by demands to call out discrimination and injustice wherever we see it. Can the two forms of interaction coexist? Or do they cancel each other out? This lecture will examine the tensions between the two types of discourse by referring back to a characteristically American form of political rhetoric: prophetic indictment, which finds its roots in Puritan Massachusetts but whose reach has extended to our own day. Cathleen Kaveny is a scholar who focuses on the relationship of law, religion, and morality. She serves as the Darald and Juliet Libby Professor at Boston College, a position that includes appointments in both the Theology Department and the Law School. Kaveny regularly teaches contract law to first-year law students. Her books include Law's Virtue: Fostering Autonomy and Solidarity in American Society and A Culture of Engagement: Law, Religion, and Morality.The University Book Store will be onsite selling her book at the event.This lecture will be recorded, and the recording link will be added here within 36-48 hours after the lecture has finished.