Portrait of Dr. Kristin Heyer, Professor for Theological Studies, Boston College
February 26, 2018

Dr. Kristin Heyer: "Cultivating Civic Kinship: A Christian Ethic of Immigration"

Event Details

Date & Time

Monday, Feb 26, 2018 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM


Department

Religious Studies


Cost

Lecture is free and open to all.


Location

John. J. Hemmingson Center Ballroom, 702 E. Desmet Ave., Gonzaga University


Event Type & Tags

  • Academics

About This Event

Department of Religious Studies Annual Flannery Lecture

Dr. Kristin Heyer, Professor of Theological Ethics, Boston College

Immigration is often framed in terms of crisis management, rather than by addressing underlying economic, political and cultural contributing factors. In the US context in particular, political rhetoric has often masked complicity, abetted human rights violations and betrayed the nation’s founding principles. The lenses that shape the (quickly shifting) immigration debate in the US can distort the realities that migrants face and become surrogates for other cultural and political concerns. Focusing solely on economics or fear-based approaches too often de-humanizes newcomers. In the Flannery lecture I will explore contributions that Scripture and the Catholic social tradition offer an immigration dialogue in light of these realities. Resources from Christian ethics challenge the dominant, instrumentalist frameworks and offer a counternarrative of civic kinship with moral, spiritual and policy implications.

About the Flannery Lecture Series: The FLANNERY CHAIR OF ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY is an endowed Chair gift of the late Maud and Milo Flannery of Spokane, to further excellence of theological study and teaching at Gonzaga University. The Flannery Lecture is delivered twice per year by an outstanding theologian who is invited to campus especially for the lecture