College of Saint Mary’s 9th Annual Elden Curtiss lecture on Sept. 21 will feature Dr. Laurie Cassidy

Omaha, Neb. – Dr. Laurie Cassidy will present the 9th Annual Elden Curtiss Lecture on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Cassidy will present “Being Mercy” in the Gross Conference Center at 7 p.m.

Cassidy, assistant professor of theology at Marywood University in Scranton, Penn, is co-editor of She Who Imagines: A Feminist Aesthetics from Liturgical Press, 2012.  Interrupting White Privilege: Catholic Theologians Break the Silence, which she co-edited with Alex Mikulich, won 2007 Book of the Year Award from College Theology Society.  Her second volume Religion, Culture and Economics in Conflict and Conversation, released by Orbis Press in 2011, was co-edited with Maureen O’Connell.

Works of mercy are ancient practices rooted in scripture that express Christian discipleship. Cassidy’s presentation will explore how the “works of mercy” can be become co-opted in a capitalist society, as they do not realize relationships of mercy, and can reinforce systems of injustice. Cassidy will invite the audience to reflect on the possibility that our “being mercy” involves allowing God to enable people to realize their very nature as mercy.

A reception will follow in CSM’s Hillmer Art Gallery. Admission to both the 9th Annual Elden Curtiss Lecture and following reception are free to the public.