The Center for Civil and Human Rights has instituted a new series of closed-door roundtable discussions, probing key issues with invited scholars from Notre Dame and across the country. The series aims to place Notre Dame at the center of meaningful conversation about the most pressing civil and human rights issues facing contemporary society. A primary goal of the roundtable discussions is the establishment of jumping-off points for future research initiatives at CCHR.
The inaugural event, held on April 21, 2017 at Notre Dame Law School, focused on the intersection of the Catholic social teaching and human rights discourses. Drawing from the perspectives of both legal scholars and those deeply immersed in the CST tradition, the half-day conversation was structured to encourage an open dialogue on points of agreement and contention. Among the topics addressed by the group were the various differences between the two traditions, and ways in which each might enrich the other; potential challenges to communication between the Catholic community and those in the human rights community; and the concept of integral human development as understood and expressed by both traditions.
Attending the April roundtable were:
Evelyn Aswad, University of Oklahoma College of Law
Paolo Carozza, Notre Dame Law School/Director, Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Doug Cassel, Notre Dame Law School
Chris Cervenak, Associate Director, The Center for Civil and Human Rights
Rachana Chhin, LL.M. candidate in International Human Rights Law, Notre Dame Law School
Meghan Clark, St. John’s University
Colleen Cross, Ph.D. candidate in Theology/Peace Studies
Christina Leblang, “Convocate” Project Manager, The Center for Civil and Human Rights
Andres Lopez, J.S.D. candidate in International Human Rights Law, Notre Dame Law School
Fr. Thomas Massaro, S.J., Santa Clara University Jesuit School of Theology
Jennifer Mason McAward, Director, The Center for Civil and Human Rights
Caesar Montevecchio, Catholic Peacebuilding Network
Sean O’Brien, Assistant Director, The Center for Civil and Human Rights
Jerry Powers, Director, Catholic Peacebuilding Studies
Bill Purcell, Associate Director, Catholic Social Tradition and Practice, Center for Social Concerns
Clemens Sedmak, King’s College, Visiting Professor, Catholic Social Tradition and Community Engagement
The inaugural roundtable coincided with the public launch of Convocate, a new online research platform developed by CCHR, in partnership with the Hesburgh Libraries, that enables the simultaneous exploration of documents from CST and international human rights.
Originally published by at humanrights.nd.edu on May 10, 2017.