Daniel Berrigan, S.J., Remembered at Lecture
On Oct. 23, Fordham hosted the Tenth Annual Julio Burunat, Ph.D., Memorial Lecture, a series of talks aiming to promote theological discussion. Anna J. Brown, Ph.D., from St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey, hosted the lecture, “Keep Fracturing the Good Order: Daniel Berrigan, the Long Haul, and the Big Heart.” Brown met Berrigan through the Kairos Community, a community focused on advocating peace that Berrigan started in the late 1970s. Berrigan is known as the first priest to be on the FBI’s most-wanted list for his involvement in a draft card burning incident. Berrigan was a promoter of peace and arrested many times for incidents of civil disobedience. Father Berrigan was Fordham’s poet-in-residence, beginning in 2000 until his death in April 2016. The lecture focused on continuing Berrigan’s attitude of fairness and looked at contemporary issues such as climate change, war, mass migration and weapons dealership.
Fordham Announces Poets Out Loud Winners
On Oct. 25, Fordham University’s Poets Out Loud (POL) announced the winners of its annual contest. POL was founded in 1999 and receives hundreds of manuscripts each year from authors hoping to win the organization’s prize. POL then chooses two manuscripts from all the entries to publish. This year’s winners are Gary Keenan and Michael Snediker. Keenan is a poet from New York City who became the prize winner for his manuscript “Rotary Devotion.” Snediker is a Texas resident and won the Editor’s Prize for his manuscript “The New York Editions.” Fordham University Press will publish the two submissions in Fall 2017. After poet C.D. Wright, who was supposed to judge this year’s contest, passed away, poet Alice Fulton stepped in to select Keenan for the prize award. POL co-director Elisabeth Frost, Ph.D., picked Snediker as the recipient for the Editor’s Prize.
Professors Release Book on Films of Kieslowski
Two Fordham professors co-edited a collection of essays analyzing the work of Polish film director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Eva Badowska, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Francesca Parmeggiani, Ph.D., associate professor of Italian and comparative literature, released the book, “Of Elephants and Toothaches: Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s ‘Decalouge,’” to coincide with the film’s Criterion Collection re-release. The book was inspired by a seminar held by English professor Philip Sicker, Ph.D., over ten years ago on the topic of the director. Kieslowski’s film “Decalouge” is a ten-part short film series originally made for television in Poland, with each part based on one of the Ten Commandments. The book analyzes the context of the film, 1980s Poland, and look at the difficulties of translating the feeling of the film to English-speaking audiences.
Fordham Alum Opens Restaurant in Manhattan
Matt Trebek, FCRH ’13 and son of Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, opened the Mexican restaurant Oso in Hamilton Heights. The restaurant serves cocktails and plays jazz and hip-hop to set the mood. Trebek discovered his passion for food services while still at Fordham by bartending at various establishments in Manhattan. After three years of planning, Trebek and his business partner opened Oso, which seats 44 people, last May. Trebek was inspired by his visits to Mexico City and derived much of the restaurant’s food and atmosphere from the culture there. Trebek also owns and lives in the apartment building in which Oso resides. The decor of Trebek’s restaurant is also inspired by the culture he saw in Mexico City and includes a graffiti mural, fake cow skulls and assorted greenery. Trebek says he plans to open another bar or restaurant sometime in the near future.
— Compiled by Mike Byrne
