Termine und Veranstaltungen

As part of the "European Wasatia Graduate School for Peace and Conflict Resolution", Dr. Tom Graff and Ellen G. Williams, JD / Cambridge University will give a lecture on the topic:

Reconciling Redemption: Incarnation and Anti- Semitism in Dante’s Commedia

Lecture abstract:

In and through the sweeping dramatis personae of the Commedia,Dante orchestrates a profound meditation on the myriad forms which redemptive life in Christ takes. Underlying this otherworldly, Christian pilgrimage is the basic conviction that all of human history, and indeed each human person, looks towards and is transformed by an encounter with Jesus Christ. In this paper, I offer that such a conviction, rooted in the mystery of the Incarnation, finds Dante at once at his most theologically daring and his most theologically problematic. Significantly, it is for Dante the same perfect union of justice and mercy in Christ’s atonement which, on the one hand, makes possible new forms of redemptive relation to pagan antiquity, that, on the other hand, justifies and perpetuates the historical persecution of the Jewish people. In this sense, in the Commedia, incarnation, and anti-Semitism are inextricable. The aim of this paper, accordingly, is to trace some aspects of Dante’s theological failure towards Judaism, with the suggestion that it is Dante’s own vision of redemption that is itself in need of healing.

Workshop following the lecture 15.00 - 16.30h

abstract: Mass Incarceration and Restorative Justice

One of the less expected symptoms of the era of mass incarceration in the United States is apathy: whether, for the incarcerated or formerly incarcerated, as an overwhelming despair in the face of unresolved trauma and civic marginalization; or, for the non-incarcerated, as (at best) a feeling of helplessness to intervene meaningfully, or (at worst) a learned indifference to the roughly 2 million people in US prisons today. For our workshop together, we propose the ongoing practice of restorative justice as one practical means of instantiating hope and healing in one’s community and in oneself in the face of such deadening, recalcitrant harms in contemporary society. Specifically, Ellen Williams will introduce the pioneering work of her non-profit organization Take Heart, which brings hope, healing, and mentorship opportunity to formerly incarcerated individuals by allowing them to build relationships—without judgment and with genuine understanding—with youth who are similarly situated as they once were as teens. To conclude, as a performative reflection on the discussion as a whole, Ellen Williams will moderate a peacemaking circle, in which all attendees are invited to participate.

 Bios:

 Ellen G. Williams, JD is director of TAKE TEN, a conflict resolution education initiative at the Robinson community learning center in South Bend, Indiana, USA.

 Thomas Graff is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame in England, and an Academic Officer at the Von Hügel Institute at St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge. His doctoral thesis investigated the mystical body of Christ in the Commedia as informed by Dante’s engagement with Augustine. His research interests broadly include the relationship between theological reflection and literary form, the relationship between justice, mercy, and authorship, and the role of the humanities, above all in prison contexts, as a public and common good.

 With all best wishes,

Dr. Zeina Barakat & Marlene Langholz-Kaiser