Friday January 26, 2018
12:30-1:30 p.m.
***Alternate Room: Room LL06 (lower level, opposite elevators)***
Kelvin Smith Library *
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues:
Talk about the personal becoming, or being, political….
Or, to put it another way, private conflict becoming socialized. Long ago, E.E. Schattschneider, in one of the two or three books all American Politics professors have to know, pointed out that keeping conflict private is always in the interest of whoever is winning – “in the school yard it is not the bully, but the defenseless smaller boys, who will ‘call the teacher.'” He was emphasizing that power is everywhere; involving government is a way to change the participants and odds. The same could be said of naming and shaming, if social processes turn bullies into pariahs.
The current uproar over abuse in many forms grows out of the wide range of issues in any relationship among unequals. That involves basic ethical questions separate from legality or possibly even stated consent. The conflict is shaped by the stigmas and tropes operating within the media that are still the main conduits for information and judgments. The #metoo movement illustrates how victims’ voices can be powerful, but raises further questions about the role of social media – as a mode for liberation or repression. Join us as Dr. Clites explores the dynamics and implications of the current discourse.
All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Brian Clites studies the anthropology of power, violence, and trauma within contemporary Roman Catholicism, as well as broader issues of gender, pain, and suffering within marginalized communities in the United States. His work draws upon multiple fields within the humanities, including religious studies, history, philosophy, and cultural anthropology. He joined the Department of Religious Studies in Fall 2017, shortly after completing his doctorate at Northwestern University.
Brian is currently finishing his first book, Breaking the Silence, an ethnography of survivors of priestly sexual abuse. Examined through the history of three generations of Chicago Catholics, the book unearths the local traditions of religious activism that later enabled these survivors to transform their suffering into such a robust agenda of political and ecclesiogical reforms. In addition to enriching the study of American Catholicism and challenging theories of gender and violence within religious studies, the book also serves as a corrective to public understandings of the abuse crisis in the United States. The survivor movement in Chicago began decades before the 2002 scandal in Boston, and in fact defined the discursive framework through which Americans have understood and debated the pain and suffering of the abuse crisis. Research for Breaking the Silence has been supported by grants from the American Catholic Historical Association and the Cushwa Center for American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame.
Prior to arriving at Case Western Reserve, Brian taught at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and John Carroll University. His offerings have included a range of courses on topics within Catholic Studies, American Religious History, and Theory and Method.
Where We Meet
The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required.
* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.
The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.
Parking Possibilities
The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
February 2: Health Care Education in a Rapidly Changing Landscape. With Jerry Goldberg DDS, Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and formerly Dean, CWRU School of Dental Medicine.
February 9: From Guest-workers to Refugees: How a Non-immigrant Nation Became the World’s Most Welcoming Refugee State. With Girma Parris, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science.
February 16: Environmental Policy in the Pruitt EPA. With Catherine J. LaCroix J.D., Adjunct Professor of Law.
February 23: Gill v. Whitford: The Supreme Court and Partisan Redistricting. With Jonathan L. Entin J.D., David L. Brennan Professor Emeritus of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science. ***Alternate Location: The Baker-Nord Center, Room 206, Clark Hall, 11130 Bellflower Road***
March 2: The Past and Future of Net Neutrality. With Aaron Perzanowski J.D., Professor of Law.
March 9: Law Enforcement and the Opioid Crisis. With Daniel Flannery Ph.D., Professor and Director, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education.
March 16: Spring Break
March 23: Alzheimer’s: From Care to Cure and Back. With Peter Whitehouse, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neurology. ***Alternate Location: Zverina Room of the Dittrick Medical History Center, 3rd floor of the Allen Memorial Library, 11000 Euclid Ave.***
March 30: Panama and Paradise: What Have We Learned from the “Papers,” and Will It Make Any Difference? With Richard Gordon J.D., Professor of Law and Director, Financial Integrity Institute.
April 6: Income Inequality Among Seniors, At Home and Abroad. With Terry Hokenstad Jr. Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, and Emily Campbell M.A., Associate Director, Center for Community Solutions.
April 13: TBA
April 20: People and Property. With Peter Gerhart J.D., Professor and Dean Emeritus, School of Law.
April 27: Two Sides of Brexit. With Elliot Posner Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, and Luke Reader Ph.D., SAGES Lecturer. |
