The event is sponsored by The Gerber Institute for Catholic Studies at Newman University in celebration of Cardinal Newman Week, and is free and open to the public.

Dr. Godfrey has published articles and delivered scholarly papers at national and international conferences on a variety of topics in Historical Theology and Christian Spirituality. His most sustained areas of interest for research are the Franciscan Tradition and the theology of John Henry Cardinal Newman. He has served as convener and moderator of the Thought of John Henry Newman Group of the Catholic Theological Society of America for the last seven years. He is a member of the Editorial Board and also Book Review Editor for the Journal of the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities.

Mr. Hunt will take questions from the audience immediately following the film. There will also be a brief reception and an opportunity to pre-order signed copies of Mr. Hunt’s forthcoming book “Life Interrupted: The Trials of Darryl Hunt.” The event is free and open to the public.

Mr. Hunt’s appearance is the result of a successful grant application made by Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Jill Fort to the Gerber Institute last year.

For more information about Darryl Hunt or the Gerber Institute, please visit www.gerberinstitute.org.

What: Part 1 of Gerber Institute Visiting Speakers’ Series on Land

When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Where: De Mattias Performance Hall, Newman University

As part of its 2011-2012 programming on the topic of Land, the Gerber Institute will welcome Fr. Bill Morton, a Catholic priest from El Paso, Texas, for a lecture at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2, 2011. Fr. Morton will talk about the ongoing dispute over land use and property rights in the Lomas del Poleo region of Mexico, just south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Fr. Morton has been actively and intimately involved in this dispute since 2003. In 2006, as a consequence of his involvement, he was fined and forced to leave Mexico; however, he has continued advocating for the Lomas residents from El Paso. To learn more about Lomas see www.pasodelsur.com and/or Google “Lomas del Poleo.”

Fr. Morton has a BA in Philosophy from St. Thomas University in St. Paul, an MDiv from Weston Jesuit in Cambridge, and an MA in Theological Studies from LaSalle University in Philadelphia. He is past president of the Board of Directors of the US Catholic Mission Association and serves on the Board of Directors of Annunciation House, Inc., a house of hospitality for the undocumented in El Paso.

The talk will take place in the  of the De Mattias Performance Hall, located on the north side of the Newman University campus. Admission is free of charge and the public is invited.

Dr. Miller, Professor of Religious Studies at Gwynedd-Mercy College (Pennsylvania), has published his theological research in numerous books, including Newman:  Doctor of the Church (Oxford, 2007), Discourse and Context: An Interdisciplinary Study of John Henry Newman (Carbondale, 1993), Critical Essays on John Henry Newman (Victoria BC, 1992), and John Henry Newman on the Idea of Church (Shepherdstown, 1987).

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit the Gerber Institute’s website at www.gerberinstitute.org.

ALFIE KOHN

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DON’T BEAT THEM, JOIN THEM:

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Exploring the Value of Cooperation in a Society Addicted to Winning

The Gerber Institute for Catholic Studies is pleased to announce that Alfie Kohn will be speaking in Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday, April 16, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at Kapaun Mount Carmel High School, 8506 East Central Avenue, Wichita, Kansas. Kohn’s talk will deal with his influential ideas on teaching and parenting as they relate to the Gerber Institute’s ongoing theme of reconciling differences.

• EVENT DETAILS

Doors will open at 8:15 a.m., with complimentary coffee and bagels available before the presentation.

Break-out sessions and a pizza lunch will follow the talk ($5 for lunch, payable at the door).

The break-out sessions will be facilitated by Newman University professors on a variety of topics:

-Elementary Education, by Karen Rogers

-Secondary Education, by Steve Dunn

-Higher Education, by Steve Poulter

-Parenting, by Marguerite Regan

Alfie Kohn

Alfie Kohn is the author of twelve books on education, parenting, and human behavior, including PUNISHED BY REWARDS (1993), BEYOND DISCIPLINE(1996), THE SCHOOLS OUR CHILDREN DESERVE (1999), UNCONDITIONAL PARENTING (2005), THE HOMEWORK MYTH (2006), and FEEL-BAD EDUCATION (due out this spring). He has written for most of the leading education periodicals and has appeared twice on “Oprah.” Time magazine described him as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.”  Kohn works with educators and parents across the country and speaks regularly at national conferences.   He lives (actually) in the Boston area and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.org.

April 22, 2010 | Session Three

Healthcare and Immigration Issues

Tarcisia Roths Alumni Center (inside the Dugan Library and Campus Center)

Breakfast @ 6:45 a.m.

Panel @ 7:15 a.m.

Join panelists Fran Betzen Cook,  Marlene Dreiling, and Deborah Snapp as they take up a variety of issues related to the complex intersection of healthcare and immigration, and the challenges that lie therein.

Panelist Bios

• Fran Betzen Cook, LSCSW, Director, Catholic Charities Help Center and Immigration Services

Fran Betzen Cook, LSCSW

Grew up in Wichita and obtained a BSW from Avila College in Kansas City in 1999 and a MSW from Newman University in 2000.

For the past 10 years she has served at Catholic Charities in a variety of roles including counselor, staff supervisor, and currently as the Director of the Help Center and Immigration Services.   Her passion is in serving the poor and in ending oppression.

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• Deborah Snapp, LBSW, Executive Director for Catholic Social Service in the Diocese of Dodge City

Has been employed with the agency since 1987, starting as a Social Worker, before becoming Program Director in 1991 and being appointed as Executive Director in 2006. In addition, Debbie also serves on the board of directors of The Crisis Center in Great Bend, is a committee member of the South Central Kansas Tornado Recovery Organization, and active with many diocesan functions. Before moving to Dodge City in 1980, she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and a Bachelor’s Degree in Family Life and Human Development from Kansas State University. Debbie is also a strong advocate for adoption, as she and her husband adopted two sons through the adoption services of Catholic Charities.

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• Marlene Dreiling, Executive Director Guadalupe Clinic

• John McCormick, Associate Professor of Theology, Newman University

John McCormick

Dr. McCormick is an Associate Professor of Theology in the Department of Theology and Philosophy and Director of the Liberal Studies Program. McCormick joined Newman in the Fall of 1996. His academic interests include the areas of Sacraments, Church, and Catholic Social Teaching.

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April 15, 2010 | Session Two

Perspectives on the Relationship between Healthcare and Financing

Cardinal Newman Room (lower level of Sacred Heart Hall)

Breakfast @ 6:45 a.m.

Panel @ 7:15 a.m.

Join panelists Dr. Ed Hett, Lynette RauvolaBouta, Michael Murphy as they discuss questions related to healthcare and financing, including: How do reimbursement practices affect models of care? How would you re-envision the future?

Panelists Bios

• Dr. Ed Hett, family practitioner

Dr. Ed Hett

A native of Marion, Kan., Ed Hett, MD, received his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at Tabor College, and his Medical Degree in 1981 from the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. He completed his Family Medicine residency at St. Joseph Medical Center in 1984. That same year he opened a private practice, Twin Lakes Medical, which joined Preferred Medical Associates in 1997 and became PMA Twin Lakes, where he continues to practice part time.

Dr. Hett was named president of Preferred Medical Associates in 2001.

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• Lynette RauvolaBouta, Senior Vice President, Mission Integration, Via Christi Health

Lynette RauvolaBouta

Lynnette RauvolaBouta (RAU voh la boo TAY) joined Via Christi Health System as Vice President, Mission Integration in September of 2004.

She is responsible for ensuring mission integrity in Via Christi Health System structures, policies and procedures. This includes seeing that VCHS follows the integrity of the mission set forth by the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Wichita, the health system’s sponsoring congregations.  It also includes ensuring that VCHS facilities follow the ethical and religious directives for Catholic health care services.  RauvolaBouta designed the health system’s Mission Integration Plan, including church relations, community accountability and advocacy, organizational and clinical ethics, ministry leadership formation and spiritual (pastoral) care.

Prior to joining VCHS, RauvolaBouta served as executive leader of sponsorship for the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She served as executive vice president for mission integration in the Benedictine Health System in Duluth, Minnesota, and was vice president of operations at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd, Minnesota.

She has held a number of positions on the boards of healthcare, long-term and senior care facilities and is an accomplished organist.

RauvolaBouta holds a master’s in healthcare administration from the University of Minnesota, a master of arts in theology from St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, and a bachelor of arts in religious studies from The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota.

• Michael Murphy, President and CEO, Coventry Health Care

Michael Murphy

Michael joined Coventry Health Care of Kansas in May of 2008 as President and CEO.  Prior to joining Coventry, Michael previously held the position of President and CEO with  Mercy Health Plans in St.  Louis.  Prior to being named CEO for Mercy Health Plans, he served in various operating roles within the organization including Chief Operating Officer, Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Government Programs.  Prior to joining Mercy Health Plans, Michael founded, owned and served as President and CEO of Managed Prescription Services (MPS), a national Pharmacy Benefits Management company headquartered in St. Louis.  MPS was later sold to Humana.  Michael has also provided Management Consulting services.  He received his Bachelor’s degree from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 1979 and his MBA from Washington University – Olin School of Business in 1996.

Paula Huston

Huston will link her reflections on forgiveness to current debates about capital punishment. Her lecture is the latest in a series of presentations sponsored by the Gerber Institute on the theme “Reconciling Differences.” Click on the link to the right to see all related events and posts.

In Forgiveness, Huston asserts that Christ’s injunction to forgive without measure is central to Christianity, and is not merely an option but a requirement. Copies of Forgiveness and other works by Huston will be available for purchase at the reading, courtesy of Eighth Day Books.

A popular speaker and retreat leader, Huston often appears at conferences, bookstores, churches, and other venues to speak on the topics of forgiveness, simplicity, and prayer, and the practice of the virtues. She has been a Newman Lecturer for several universities and has appeared on public radio stations and cable TV. In addition to Forgiveness, she is the author of The Holy Way: Practices for a Simple Life, a personal narrative about her struggles to incorporate into her life some of the practices of a contemplative monastic community in Big Sur, California.