Speakers and Celebs on Campus!!

In high school, if I heard the words "speaker" or "lecturer" I would've cringed, like most other kids my age. I associated these words with boredom and was so excited to go to college to have these lectures be optional. Since coming to Fordham, my opinion has changed completely. 

Some other club members and I before a speaking event on campus!

Fordham has brought some super cool speakers to campus, whether they're politicians, famous business people, musicians, you name it. I go to events around campus not because I have to, but because I want to. For example, I'm a part of the College Democrats. Every year we bring two speakers to campus and we've had some really big names! We just had Ezra Klein, political news journalist; we've had former Senator Dennis Kucinich, Bobby Kennedy Jr., and David Axelrod just to name a few! In college, especially at Fordham, it's important to take advantage of all the events that are offered to you, or you really are missing out! 

The exec board of the College Dems with Ezra Klein!

Another fun example is Jerry from Ben & Jerry's ice cream, who came to Fordham's Spring Weekend 2 years ago and brought free ice cream for everyone! It was super interesting to meet such a famous person and hear his success story. These are awesome opportunities that you won't find just anywhere! While my classes at Fordham have been great, it's amazing to be able to see world-class speakers and presenters, for free! When you come to Fordham and finally officially become a Ram, make sure to check out all of the events that Fordham has to offer!

Are Church and State Really Separate?

Before coming to Fordham, I attended a public high school. For most of my academic career, religion was not a topic that was taught. I grew up always being taught that while there is freedom of religion in the United States, religion is one of those topics that should be avoided. However, being at Fordham has taught me that not only should religion not be ignored since it has shaped so many cultures, but it should be discussed in many different contexts.

Over this past summer, I received an email from Fordham's Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies inviting me to apply for an interdisciplinary Concentration in American Catholic Studies, which is referred to by the members as CACS. This concentration focuses on Roman Catholic belief and culture in the United States. It begins with the concentrators meeting once per month in what is called "The Discernment Seminar," which introduces the concentrators to the program and helps them to really try to understand themselves better. The concentration involves taking six courses, which includes two Catholic Studies courses and four courses that can be selected out of a collection of courses in many different subjects that are related to Roman Catholicism.

While the concentration requires six courses, it was easy to fit into my schedule since it is an interdisciplinary concentration and many of the course offerings for CACS also fulfill my core and major requirements. For example, I need to take upper-level economics courses to fulfill my Business Economics Concentration for my Business Administration major. Therefore, I am planning on taking a course next semester called "Economic Foundations of Catholic Social Teaching," which fulfills both an economics requirement and one of my CACS requirements.

One of my favorite aspects of CACS is that guest speakers are regularly invited to Fordham for lectures. Coming from a background where religion was not discussed very often, it is fascinating to listen to and speak with the guest lecturers, who come from many different backgrounds to discuss how religion plays a part in all aspects of life.This month has been especially busy with guest lecturers. 

Professor Finn

Just before Spring Break, the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies invited Professor Daniel K. Finn from Saint John's for a week-long lecture series in which he discussed how Modern Catholic Social Teaching is related to economics, government, business, education, and many other areas that are not often associated with religion. As a Business major, I found this lecture series to be especially interesting. It was fascinating to discuss the economic and business practices of the Bible and move forward to see how they have changed, both for the good and bad. By discussing Modern Catholic Social Teaching, Professor Finn encouraged us to both practice and demand ethical business practices that would not diminish the dignity of individuals as so many modern business practices do, but to instead raise up the individual.

Melinda Henneberger

Today, I attended another lecture sponsored by the Curran Center. This time, the guest lecturer was Melinda Henneberger from The Washington Post. Her lecture was on the effect Pope Francis has had on politics in the United States. With so many politicians on both the right and left quoting the Pope and the impending meeting between President Obama and Pope Francis, it was really interesting to listen to the perspective of a journalist who has followed both politics and religion on how the Pope has been influencing American politics. She claims that the Pope has inspired both liberals and conservatives to begin talking about topics previously not discussed, which is a really positive thing in American politics. Hopefully, the politicians will do more than just talk and will begin to take some action! 

While I am not Catholic myself, I have really enjoyed being part of CACS. It is a really great experience to understand the Catholic faith better and understand how it relates to so many aspects of American culture. The best part of the program is that everything is motivated by dialogue. None of the courses are simply lectures. The point of the program is for people from all different backgrounds and perspectives to sit and discuss the many issues that we are faced with today and discuss how those issues relate to the beliefs and teachings of Roman Catholicism. For the members of CACS, religion is not a subject that is taboo, but a subject that brings us all together in thoughtful dialogue.

Who's Speaking at YOUR Graduation?

Cheer up, John Brennan!
You're comin' to speak at Fordham!

The Fordham community received news recently that John Brennan, the Obama administration’s deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security, will give the commencement speech at graduation this year. Apparently, this is especially awesome since he works with Obama. That, and he graduated from Fordham in 1977.

We like to keep it "in the family" over here.

Personally, I was routing for Alan Alda, also a Fordham grad, to speak, because he rocks. He gave an insightful and all-around beautiful speech to Connecticut College in 1980. And he starred in M*A*S*H, which I'm too young to appreciate, but still. Who wouldn't want this shining face delivering a commencement speech!?

Alan Alda is not speaking at Fordham's
graduation this year, but he's still happy!

We may have scored Brennan, but we haven't lost our bragging rights. Alas, what our commencement speaker lacks in awesomeness our baccalaureate mass celebrator makes up for tenfold. Because he's not just a priest. He's not even just a Bishop. He's a stinkin' CARDINAL.

CARDINAL Tim Dolan

And, like the rest of us, he's pretty darn excited about it.

Harry Markopolis

E&Y sponsored the first in series on individuals who had to make tough ethical decisions in their careers. Today, they invited Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos to speak at Fordham. In the beautiful Keating 1st auditorium, Mr. Markopolos overviewed some key give-aways in the made-up statements Madoff used as he "made off" with investers' money. In fact, he said that identifying the ponzi scheme was a simple matter--getting the SEC to listen and take action was the hard part. He explained how many financial institutions turned a blind eye to these blatant misrepresentations because they were receiving such high returns.

International Student Forum

International Students: Faces of Fordham: International Student Forum: "Hi International Students! Fordham's International Forum took place in the Faculty Lounge on September 16th to solicit the opinions of inter..."

Mary Schapiro Speaks on the SEC at Fordham Law

Gabelli School of Business: Mary Schapiro Speaks on the SEC at Fordham Law: "Last month I got a chance to attend a panel discussion addressing the past, present, and future of the Securities and Exchange Commission...."

Mario Gabelli Visits Fordham

On December 1, Mario Gabelli of the newly named Gabelli School of Business spoke to students on what to expect in the business world of tomorrow and the important roles they will soon play in it.

Read more about Gabelli's lecture at the Fordham eNews Room

Irish to Filipino: Fordham's Cultural Clubs Shine

Fordham's multicultural clubs bring diversity, excitement and life to Fordham's campuses. These clubs recieve an annual budget from the United Student Government and the student executive boards for each club put that money to good use hosting workshops, performances, leactures and more. They bring influential personalities, speakers, activists and artists to campus to add to the dialouge.

Our bloggers recap some of their favorite events our cultural clubs have hosted:

Harry Kim on the recent Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (F.I.N.D.)

Sarah Sullivan on the festivities of the Gaelic Society's Oíche Mhór Ceol (Big Music Night)

The UN Visits Fordham

Political Science Major Andrew Steffan attends Secretary General of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza's lecture...

Fordham College Rose Hill: The UN Visits Fordham: "Yesterday, September 21st, José Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OSA), gave a lecture in Duane Lib..."