Religion. Business. Education. Culture.
The Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC supports research by some of today’s greatest scholars — including Charles Taylor, Kathy Caveny, Miguel Diaz, Lisa Cahill, Ken Miller, John O’Malley, S.J., Margaret Archer, Stefano Zamagni, Paulinus I. Odozor and José Casanova – resulting in a significant number of influential and highly acclaimed publications by leading academic publishers.
Recent Titles
Edited by James L. Heft, S.M. and Jan E. Stets
Oxford University Press
Throughout the country, people of all ages and backgrounds are leaving traditional religious institutions. Who are they? Why are they leaving? Empty Churches brings together scholars to define and analyze the growing secularization of the U.S.—and to offer ways of responding to the challenge.
James L. Heft, S.M.
Oxford University Press
With a lifetime of experience in Catholic education, James L. Heft, S.M. examines the relationship between the academy and the church in The Future of Catholic Higher Education. Covering topics ranging from secularization to academic freedom to campus ministry, Heft analyzes both the challenge and the promise of the future of Catholic higher education in the United States.
Edited by Daniel K. Finn
Georgetown University Press
Business Ethics and Catholic Social Thought addresses the intersection of Catholic Social Teaching and business. Business leaders, economists, theologians and philosophers tackle the issues such as autonomy, technology, stakeholders and the obligations of wealth in the latest volume in the True Wealth of Nations project.
True Wealth of Nations Titles
Edited by Daniel K. Finn
Oxford University Press
Empirical Foundations of the Common Good asks two questions: what have the social sciences learned about the common good? How might theology alter its understanding of the common good in light of that insight? In this volume, six social scientists, with backgrounds in economics, political science, sociology, and policy analysis, speak about what their disciplines have to contribute to discussions within Catholic social thought about the common good. Two theologians then respond by examining the insights of social science and exploring how Catholic social thought can integrate social scientific insights into its understanding of the common good.
Edited by Daniel K. Finn
Oxford University Press
Does a consumer who bought a shirt made in another nation bear any moral responsibility when the women who sewed that shirt die in a factory fire or in the collapse of the building? To address that question, Distant Markets, Distant Harms presents a careful analysis of moral complicity in markets, employing resources from sociology, Christian history, feminism, legal theory, and Catholic moral theology today.
Edited by Daniel K. Finn
Oxford University Press
Caritas in veritate (Charity in Truth) is the ”social” encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, one of many papal encyclicals over the last 120 years that address economic life. This volume, based on discussions at a symposium co-sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, analyzes the situation of the Church and the theological basis for Benedict’s thinking about the person, community, and the globalized economy.
Edited by Daniel K. Finn
Oxford University Press
The True Wealth of Nations arises from the conviction that implementing a morally adequate vision of the economy will generate sustainable prosperity for all. It sets forth the beginnings of an architecture of analysis for relating economic life and Christian faith — intellectually and experientially — and helps social scientists, theologians, and all persons of faith to appreciate the true wealth of any nation.
Perspectives on Interreligious Dialogue
Catholicism and Interreligious Dialogue
Edited by James L. Heft, S.M.
Oxford University Press
How can the world’s many religions overcome ideological differences and come together to promote understanding, justice, and peace? Structured as a scholarly dialogue, this volume contains essays by five Catholic scholars who have committed to extensive study of and dialogue with Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The essays are followed by critical responses from two scholars of the traditions under discussion, as well as concluding comments from the Catholic scholar.
Edited by James L. Heft
Fordham University Press
In an age of terrorism and other forms of violence committed in the name of religion, how can religion become a vehicle for peace, justice, and reconciliation? And in a world of bitter conflicts — many rooted in religious difference — how can communities of faith understand one another? The fruit of a historic conference of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars and community leaders, the essays in this important book take bold steps forward to answering these questions.
Also available in French translation as Par-delà la violence.
Edited by James L. Heft, S.M., Reuven Firestone, and Omid Safi
Oxford University Press
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, many branches of Christianity, not least the Catholic Church, are engaged in a world-wide constructive dialogue with Muslims, made all the more necessary by the terrorist attacks of September 11. IACS brought together an international group of sixteen Jewish, Catholic and Muslim scholars to encourage this dialogue and carry on an important theological exploration of the theme, “learned ignorance.”
Perspectives on Catholicism and the Catholic Intellectual Life
Edited by Gary J. Adler, Jr., Tricia C. Bruce, and Brian Starks
Fordham University Press
Parishes are the missing middle in studies of American Catholicism. Between individual Catholics and a global institution, the thousands of local parishes are where Catholicism gets remade. American Parishes showcases what social forces shape parishes, what parishes do, how they do it, and what this says about the future of Catholicism in the United States.
Douglas W. Kmiec, edited by Gary J. Adler, Jr.
Oxford University Press
How can religion contribute to democracy in a secular age? And what can the millennia-old Catholic tradition say to church-state controversies in the United States and around the world? Secularism, Catholicism, and the Future of Public Life responds to these questions by presenting a dialogue between Douglas W. Kmiec, a leading scholar of American constitutional law and Catholic legal thought, and an international cast of experts from a range of fields, including legal theory, international relations, journalism, religion, and social science.
Edited by James L. Heft, S.M. and Una M. Cadegan
Oxford University Press
In the Logos of Love is a collection of essays that grew out of a 2013 conference on Catholic intellectual life co-sponsored by the University of Dayton and IACS. The essays, written by scholars of theology, history, law, and media, trace the history of the Catholic intellectual tradition in order to craft new tools for understanding contemporary issues and approaching the future.
Edited by James L. Heft, S.M., with John O’Malley, S.J.
Eerdmans Publishing Company
Since the closing of Vatican II (1962-1965) nearly sixty years ago, several multivolume studies have detailed how the bishops at the council debated successive drafts and finally approved the sixteen documents published as the proceedings of the council. However, opinions vary, sometimes sharply, about the implications of Vatican II. This volume explores the major flashpoints.
Edited by Michael J. Lacey and Francis Oakley
Oxford University Press
One deep problem facing the Catholic church is the question of how its teaching authority is understood today. It is fairly clear that, while Rome continues to teach as if its authority were unchanged from the days before Vatican II (1962-65), the majority of Catholics increasingly understand themselves as the final arbiters of decision-making, especially on ethical questions. This collection of essays explores the historical background and present ecclesial situation, explaining the dramatic shift in attitude on the part of contemporary Catholics in the U.S. and Europe.
Edited by James L. Heft, S.M. and Kevin Hallinan
University of Notre Dame Press
Engineering Education and Practice: Embracing a Catholic Vision is a collection of essays exploring how major themes of Catholic social teaching―respect for the environment, sustainability, technological design, and service to the poor―all positively affect engineering curricula, students, and faculty.
James L. Heft, S.M.
Oxford University Press
Catholic high schools across the U.S. have been undergoing three major changes: the shift to primarily lay leadership and teachers; the transition to a more consumerist and pluralist culture; and the increasing diversity of students attending Catholic high schools. James Heft argues that to navigate these changes successfully, leaders of Catholic education need to inform lay teachers more thoroughly, conduct a more profound social analysis of the culture, and address the real needs of students.
Edited by James L. Heft, S.M.
Fordham University Press
From the beginning, the Abrahamic faiths ― Judaism, Christianity, and Islam ― have stressed the importance of transmitting religious identity from one generation to the next. Today, that sustaining mission has never been more challenged. Will young people have a faith to guide them? How can faith traditions anchor religious attachments in this secular, skeptical culture? Filled with real-world wisdom, Passing on the Faith will be an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand what religions must, and can, do to inspire a vigorous faith in the next generation.
Edited by James L. Heft, S.M.
Fordham University Press
How do Catholic intellectuals draw on faith in their work? And how does their work as scholars influence their lives as people of faith? In this book, ten leading figures explore the connections in their own lives between the private realms of faith and their public calling as teachers, scholars, and intellectuals.
Edited by Francis Oakley and Bruce Russett
Continuum International Publishing Group
In March 2003 leading historians, theologians, journalists, social scientists, and foundation executives met together at the St. Thomas More Catholic Center at Yale University to examine the current crisis facing the Catholic Church, the revelations of sexual abuse by priests and the hierarchy’s complicity. The aim of the conference was to heal and strengthen the church through a deeper understanding of governance, leadership, and the roles of the laity and clergy.
