The Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, in partnership with the Marymount Institute for Faith, Culture and the Arts, invites the Loyola Marymount University community to celebrate the power and potential of human connection and creative collaboration with the 2018-19 Bellarmine Forum. This year’s theme “Collaboration and Creativity: Faith, Culture and the Arts,” will be woven into BCLA course offerings and animated through panel discussions, exhibits, performances and community engagement.
The central theme of this year’s forum pays special tribute to the 50-year anniversary of the affiliation between the R.S.H.M./Marymount and Jesuit/Ignatian traditions at LMU, as well as the influence of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange (C.S.J.) as one of the university’s sponsoring religious orders. We look forward to a series of R.S.H.M. and C.S.J. events celebrating the impact of faith, culture, and the arts on society, as well as our university and spiritual life.
Theresia de Vroom, professor of English and director of the Marymount Institute for Faith, Culture and the Arts, is the force behind this year’s Forum. A panel discussion with her and others at the exhibition opening for “Sincere and Emotional: Stories of Connection,” will take place on Thursday, Sept. 13 and officially launch the Forum.
“The spirit of this year’s Forum can be summed up in the words of English writer William Plomer: ‘The ripest fruit hangs where not one, but only two can reach.’ What we do as a community of thinkers, writers, artists, scientists, activists, movie makers, and friends is the ‘ripest fruit.’ Collaboration and therefore creativity are what we seek to investigate and celebrate,” says de Vroom.
Internationally renowned photographer, Judy Dater, will bring her 50-year retrospective “Only Human” to the Laband Art Gallery from Oct. 6 to Dec. 8. The exhibition and ancillary events will serve as the cornerstone of the fall semester. The centerpiece event, a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS, will take place in the spring and conclude the forum with a powerful message of peace and unity.
Bellarmine Forum affiliated courses take place at the same class time to facilitate joint seminars and play the pivotal role in creating a collaborative community of scholars. Courses like “Ministry and Pastoral Leadership,” and “Women Writing Resistance,” will engage students across disciplines as well as inside and outside of the classroom. All courses will also incorporate Jeff Dietrich’s book “The Good Samaritan: Stories from the Los Angeles Catholic Worker on Skid Row,” and students will have the opportunity to hear him speak on Thursday, Oct. 18.
The 2018–19 Bellarmine Forum is made possible with the support and collaboration of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the College of Communication and Fine Arts, the Marymount Institute for Faith, Culture and the Arts, the Academy of Catholic Thought and Imagination, the Laband Art Gallery, the William H. Hannon Library, Alumni Relations, the Office of Student Affairs, Campus Ministry, the Center for Service and Action, the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, the Jesuit Community, the Department of English, and the Department of Theological Studies.
To view the full event schedule, fall course offerings, and past Forum themes, visit: bellarmine.lmu.edu/bellarmineforum.
