Dear friends,
For the first time in almost two years living in Pandemia, it is beginning to look like there might be light at the end of the tunnel. The vaccination rate in Ontario is over 80%, and restrictions have loosened considerably. Most notably, Regis College is once again open to the public. This of course will greatly facilitate access to the Lonergan Research Institute. Moreover, Regis College will be transitioning back to predominantly in-person classes starting in January. Despite these positive moves, we must however remember that the pandemic is not over. The province of Ontario is still currently averaging about four hundred new cases per day, many of them in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. As such, in the interest of public health, physical access to the Lonergan Research Institute will remain by appointment for the foreseeable future, and in accordance with provincial regulation visitors must be able to show proof of vaccination (or exemption) as well as wear masks while inside the college and Institute. It remains unclear when we will be able to safely resume in-person Graduate Seminars, but I do hope that this will be possible sooner rather than later.
Regarding the Graduate Seminars, our first seminar of the academic year will be on Nov. 5, at 2 pm, via Zoom. David de la Fuente (Fordham) will present a paper entitled “Summoning Systematics to Responsibility: Paul Ricoeur, M. Shawn Copeland, and the Relationship Between Scripture and Theological Foundations.” David participated in a panel discussion alongside Jordan Ryan (Wheaton College, IL) and Fiona Li (Regis College) last year, and was sufficiently excellent that we have invited him back to present on his own this year. We very much appreciate his willingness to do so.
