Thomas Berry and "The Great Work"

October 30-31, 2019

Raised in North Carolina, Thomas Berry, C.P. (1914-2009), entered the Passionists in 1933. After defending his doctoral thesis at the Catholic University of America in 1948, he journeyed to China; the experiences there profoundly shaped Berry’s life and launched him into the study of Asian religions and cultures. During his years at Fordham University (1966-1981), Fr. Berry founded the Riverdale Center for Religious Research to facilitate reflection on modes of spiritual transformation through experiencing the great mysteries of reality. Particularly concerned about the growing ecological crisis, he wrote The Universe Story with Brian Swimme, later expanded into the Journey of the Universe project. At the age of 80, he returned to North Carolina, continuing to lecture and write as a cultural historian and later a “geologian” until his death in 2009.

Berry pioneered in-depth, study of religions in U.S. Catholic higher education, establishing a history of religions program in the Fordham University Graduate Department of Theology in 1966. He encouraged generations of scholars of Asian traditions, comparative studies, interreligious dialogue, and religious reflection on ecological challenges. While president of the American Teilhard Association, he expanded his vision, writing, and lecturing in the emerging field of religions and ecology, especially writing on the cosmology of religions. This conference celebrated Thomas Berry’s intellectual journey and "The Great Work,” underscoring his contributions to the study of religions and cultures, Teilhardian studies, religions and ecology, and the Earth community’s way into the future.

The October 30 opening session took place in Dahlgren Chapel, the reception and book signing took place on the second floor of Healy Hall, and the October 31 sessions will took place in Copley Formal Lounge.

This event was co-sponsored by Georgetown University's Office of the President, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and Catholic Studies Program with the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University.

Schedule

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

4:00 – 5:30 p.m. | Opening Session: The Life and Legacy of Thomas Berry
Location: Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart

Welcome and Moderator: John Borelli, Georgetown University

Keynote Address: Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Yale University

Short Reflections:
Stephen Dunn, C.P., St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
Kathleen Deignan, CND, The Kathleen Deignan, CND Institute for Earth and Spirit at Iona / Thomas Berry Forum for Ecological Dialogue
Brian Brown, Iona College, emeritus

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. | Reception and Book Signing: Thomas Berry: A Biography
Location: Healy Hall, Second Floor Hallway

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Location: Copley Formal Lounge, Copley Hall

9:00 – 9:15 a.m. | Welcome
John J. DeGioia, Georgetown University

9:15 – 10:45 a.m. | Thomas Berry’s Intellectual Journey: Cultures, Religions, Ecology
John Borelli, Georgetown University
Gerald Carney, Hampden-Sydney College, emeritus
Kusumita Pedersen, St. Francis College, emerita
Peter Phan (moderator), Georgetown University

10:45 – 11:00 a.m. | Break

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Teilhard de Chardin, Thomas Berry, and the Journey of the Universe
Kathleen Duffy, S.S.J., Chestnut Hill College
Catherine Amy Kropp, Yale University
Dan Scheid, Duquesne University
Frank Frost (moderator), The Teilhard Project

12:30 – 1:45 p.m. | Lunch Conversation: Thomas Berry and “The New Story”
Brian Thomas Swimme, California Institute of Integral Studies (via Zoom)
Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim (moderators), Yale University

1:45 – 3:15 p.m. | A Vision Takes Shape: Laudato Si and “The Dream of the Earth”
Leo Lefebure, Georgetown University
Nancy Wright, Ascension Lutheran Church (Burlington, VT)
Heather Eaton, St. Paul University
Katherine Marshall (moderator), Georgetown University

3:15 – 3:30 p.m. | Break

3:30 – 4:30 p.m. | Concluding Discussion: “The Great Acceleration” and the Challenge of “The Great Work”
John Robert McNeill, Georgetown University
Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale University
John Grim, Yale University
John Borelli (moderator), Georgetown University

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Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, co-authors of "Thomas Berry: A Biography" participate at the conference.

Panel on "Thomas Berry’s Intellectual Journey: Cultures, Religions, Ecology."

Panel on "Teilhard de Chardin, Thomas Berry, and the Journey of the Universe."

Brian Thomas Swimme of the California Institute of Integral Studies participates via Zoom.

Panel on Laudato Si and "The Dream of the Earth"

Panel on “The Great Acceleration” and the Challenge of “The Great Work."

Audience question during the conference.

Featured Participants

John Grim Toggle

About John Grim

John Grim is a senior lecturer and research scholar at Yale University, with appointments in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Divinity School, and Department of Religious Studies. He teaches in the joint M.A. program in religion and ecology and is co-founder and co-director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale with his wife, Mary Evelyn Tucker. Mary Evelyn and John were executive producers of the Emmy Award winning film Journey of the Universe (2011) with Brian Swimme.

John Grim's Profile

Mary Evelyn Tucker Toggle

About Mary Evelyn Tucker

Mary Evelyn Tucker is a senior lecturer and research scholar at Yale University, with appointments in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Divinity School, and Department of Religious Studies. She teaches in the joint M.A. program in religion and ecology and directs the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale with her husband, John Grim. Mary Evelyn and John were executive producers of the Emmy Award winning film Journey of the Universe (2011) with Brian Swimme. Her special area of study is Asian religions.

Mary Evelyn Tucker's Profile

Other Participants

John Borelli Toggle

About John Borelli

Dr. John Borelli, a historian of religions and theologian, is special assistant for Catholic identity and dialogue to President John J. DeGioia of Georgetown University. Borelli has been at Georgetown University since 2004, where he teaches, manages conferences and events, coordinates dialogues, facilitates workshops, and promotes university relations with offices and institutes of the Holy See.

John Borelli's Profile

Brian Brown Toggle

About Brian Brown

Brian Edward Brown is the co-founder and sustaining member of the Thomas Berry Forum for Ecological Dialogue at Iona, where he is professor emeritus of religious studies. He holds a doctoral degree in the history of religions from Fordham University and a law degree from New York University.

Brian Brown's Profile

Gerald T. Carney Toggle

About Gerald T. Carney

Gerald T. Carney is professor of religion emeritus at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. Carney’s work has examined the theological impact of Vaishnava Hindu devotional drama, as well as Vaishnava aesthetics and an early Vaishnava mission to convert the West. For four decades he has documented in word and image the threatened spiritual ecology of Vrindaban, India.

Gerald T. Carney's Profile

John DeGioia Toggle

About John DeGioia

John J. DeGioia is the forty-eighth president of Georgetown University. For nearly four decades, DeGioia has worked to define and strengthen Georgetown University as a premier institution for education and research. As the first lay president of a Jesuit university he places emphasis on sustaining and strengthening Georgetown’s Catholic and Jesuit identity and its responsibility to serve as a voice and an instrument for justice. He has also been an advocate for interreligious dialogue. He continues to teach an Ignatius Seminar each fall, part of a program offering first year students the opportunity to encounter unique courses of study inspired by the Jesuit educational theme of cura personalis (“care for the whole person”). He is a member of the Order of Malta, a lay religious order of the Roman Catholic Church dedicated to serving the sick and the poor. Before becoming president, DeGioia served at Georgetown as senior vice president, responsible for university-wide operations, and dean of student affairs. DeGioia earned his B.A. and Ph.D at Georgetown University.

John DeGioia's Profile

Kathleen Deignan Toggle

About Kathleen Deignan

Kathleen Deignan, CND, is a sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame and a professor of religious studies at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. She is the founding director of the Deignan Institute for Earth and Spirit at Iona, where she is also a co-convener of the Thomas Berry Forum for Ecological Dialogue.

Kathleen Deignan's Profile

Kathleen Duffy Toggle

About Kathleen Duffy

Kathleen Duffy, SSJ, is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, professor emerita of physics at Chestnut Hill College, and director of the Institute for Religion and Science at Chestnut Hill College. She also serves on the advisory boards of the American Teilhard Association and Cosmos and Creation and is editor of Teilhard Studies, a biannual publication of the American Teilhard Association.

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Stephen Dunn Toggle

About Stephen Dunn

Stephen Dunn, C.P., is now retired from teaching Christian ethics, particularly eco-ethics, in the Faculty of Theology at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto. He was founding director of the Elliot Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology, a multidisciplinary graduate institute at the University of Toronto.

Stephen Dunn's Profile

Heather Eaton Toggle

About Heather Eaton

Heather Eaton is a professor at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada, whose work has focused on peace studies, gender, ecology, religion, animal studies, and nonviolence. She holds a Ph.D. in ecology, feminism, and theology.

Heather Eaton's Profile

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