Dr. Brian Clites, the Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor in Catholic Studies II, provided insight to the Washington Post on their recent article, A new Pope confronts his church’s abuse scandal amid praise and scrutiny. The allegations “are serious,” he said, “but they’re so common that I cannot imagine many people who would have been elected pope who would not have had similar profiles.”
As the papal conclave concludes with the election of Pope Leo XIV, Professor Jonathan Tan has continued to be a leading voice in media coverage of this historic transition. The Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor of Catholic Studies, Dr. Tan has provided expert analysis across major outlets, offering valuable context on the implications of Pope Leo’s election following the passing of Pope Francis.
Having spent the last few weeks being sought out by the media worldwide, extensively covering Pope Francis’s passing, Dr. Tan prepares for a second marathon of interviews:
Dr. Tan additionally published an op-ed for UCA news titled, “Pope Leo XIV and the Church’s coming of age in the Global South,”(May 13, 2025) in which he discusses the new pope’s decision to identify with Peru and what his dual citizenship could mean for the Catholic Church.
This page will be continually updated, stay tuned!
Dr. Brian Clites, Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor in Catholic Studies II, was quoted extensively in the article, Pam Bondi Unleashes On Alleged ‘Anti-Christian Bias’ — And A Christian Leader Has Thoughts (HuffPost, April 24, 2025), discussing the Trump administration’s latest task force. Dr. Clites states that Trump’s executive order “cites the First Amendment protection of religious liberty as its guiding principle, but in fact the order itself is a remarkable incursion against the separation of church and state.” He further observes, “By calling out the protection of women’s rights as ‘anti-Christian,’ the administration is uplifting the views of some Christians over and against the views of other Christians,” emphasizing that “American Christians hold diverse views about reproductive justice and Transgender rights”
The world mourns following the Monday morning news on April 21st, of the passing of Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Dr. Jonathan Tan, the Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor of Catholic Studies, has been busy reflecting on the legacy of the inspirational late Pope and discussing what comes next. As one can imagine of such a groundbreaking individual, there is much to discuss. He was interviewed live by Singapore’s Channel News Asia (CNA), Ideastream’s Sound of Ideas (April 22, 2025), and BBC Newsday (April 24, 2025). He was quoted by USA Today and Time, and has written three op-ed’s for UCA News, “Conclave will reflect Church’s new-found global orientation: Pope Francis sowed the seeds for the internationalization of the papal office itself” (April 24, 2025), “The future of Vatican-China relations beyond Pope Francis” (April 28, 2025), and “Choosing the next pope after Francis.” (May 6, 2025). Dr. Tan additionally wrote a column for the People’s Reporter, “Remembering Pope Francis: A Pope for the World and Asia” (May 10 – 24, 2025)
Amid the anticipation, on the evening of Tuesday, May 6th (Wednesday, May 7th Singapore time), his expertise is again called upon in two Singapore morning news segments, BBC Newsday with Steven Lai and Singapore’s Channel News Asia CNA 938 radio news morning report, “CNA938 Rewind – Holy smoke: Who will be the next pope?” with Hairianto Diman and Susan Ng, both of which focus on the papal conclave, issues, and frontrunners.
To learn more about his extensive work, this page will be updated as more events and information become available, so stay tuned!
Dr. Tan continues to share his expertise following the announcement of the new Pope Leo XIV.
Pawo Choyning Dorji, will be visiting CWRU from Wednesday, April 23rd through Friday, April 25th, to screen his films and deliver a talk titled, “Untying Knots of Light and Sculpting Time: Storytelling in Bhutan”. This talk will focus on the themes of interdependence, impermanence, and the motivation behind storytelling. Drawing from personal experiences, along with spiritual and cultural insights, filmmaker, screenwriter, and director Dorji explores how Bhutanese stories are deeply interwoven with Buddhist principles, reflecting Bhutan’s unique perspective on creativity, existence, and happiness.
This event is presented in partnership with the Departments of Religious Studies and English and the Asian Studies Program.
Pawo Choyning Dorji is a 2025 Hildegarde and Elbert Baker Visiting Scholar in the Humanities.
First two events are free and open to the public
Registration for each is requested.
Film Screening and Discussion: Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Wednesday, April 23rd; 7pm
Strosacker Auditorium
Untying Knots of Light and Sculpting Time: Storytelling in Bhutan
Thursday, April 24th; 4pm
Eldred Hall Room 203
For “The Monk and the Gun,” get your ticket here
Film Screening and Discussion: The Monk and the Gun
Friday, April 25th; 7pm
Cinematheque at the Cleveland Institute of Art
Adam J. Banks will be giving a talk on Thursday, March 20th at 2pm titled, “A Day in the Life of Al Green’s Internet, A Career of Studying It: Black Language, Culture and Technology – on Campus and in Community;” register below.
From texts to techne, from technological artifacts to discourses on science and technology, from participation and innovation to critique and resistance, from FUNK to the sermon and the need for a Black digital hermeneutic, we’ll explore how Black people in this society have engaged with the mutually constitutive relationships that endure between humans and their technologies.
Why can a rhetorical approach be an interdisciplinary hub for humanistic inquiry into technology and tech issues? Exactly what is a “Black digital rhetoric”? How do Black engagements with digital technologies illuminate—and trouble—tensions between liberatory possibilities and ongoing oppressions?
In his talk, Adam Banks, Bass Fellow in Undergraduate Education, and Professor of Education and African and African American Studies (by courtesy) at Stanford University, will use these questions, explorations, and provocations to share reflections on scholarship, teaching and pedagogy and his efforts to take intellectual work off campus and into local communities.
Thursday, March 20th at 2pm
Clark Hall Room 206
Dr. Howard Chiang of the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Lai Ho & Wu Cho-Liu Endowed Chair in Tawan Studies and Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, will deliver his talk on Thursday, March 6th at CWRU. This talk uses the concept of “transtopia” in order to develop a new model of transness. Through three historical examples from the Sinophone Pacific—eunuchs, renyao, and adju — it challenges the assumption that gender nonconforming figures did not exist historically and the idea that the Western category of transgender delivers the best framework for understanding their experience.
Co-sponsored by the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities and the Departments of History and Religious Studies.
Thursday, March 6th
12pm – 1:30pm
Mather 100
Light lunch will be served
Dr. Jonathan Tan presents his talk, “Beyond a Eurocentric Catholic Church: Insights and Reflections from Asian Catholicism,” Wednesday, February 5th at 8pm EST.
The presentation with a following discussion will be hosted via Zoom.
Scan the QR code in the flyer to participate.
At the invitation of Reed College, Professor Sarma departs for Portland, Oregon to present their lecture “Epistemic Doubt: A Dream We Dreamed One Afternoon Long Ago.” Sarma has wondered if experiences are real or not and if perceptions are merely projections on an underlying undifferentiated and real substrate. Their own congenital epistemic confusion, compounded by a TBI in 1995, led to reflections about mysticism, consciousness and psychedelics. Sarma writes and researches about psychedelics, Cultural Theory, philosophy, post-colonial studies, museology, the Grateful Dead, “Hinduism,” contemporary Hinduism, bioethics, and Madhva Vedanta. Verily, their job is to shed light and not to master.
The lecture takes place January 29th, 2025