Curran Center for American Catholic Studies

The Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies advances knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American Catholicism within the academy, the church, the broader religious community, and the general public.

Our mission is to:

• Educate rising generations of religiously-informed citizens
• Foster ecumenical, inter-religious, and interdisciplinary engagement with Catholic thought and practice
• Promote informed and compassionate analysis of the critical religious and social issues of our time.

Upcoming Events

Thomas Merton and "M": What Merton's Affair with a Nurse Taught Him About Love and Humanity 
By Gregory K. Hillis, Ph.D., Bellarmine University
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 | 5:30 PM EST  | Butler Commons, Duane Library, 3rd Floor REGISTER HERE

Allowing Their Testimony: The Struggle for Six U.S. Black Catholic Saints
By Ralph E. Moore, Jr., Delores Moore, & Fr. Maurice Nutt, CSSR
Thursday, February 9, 2023 | 7:00 PM EST  | Butler Commons, Duane Library REGISTER HERE

A Center for American Catholic Studies

American

• The Center focuses on the rich and complex story of Catholicism in the Americas.
• We take a ‘hemispheric’ approach to Catholicism that recognizes the interwoven tapestry of Catholicism in North, Central, South America, and the Caribbean—the entire “ecclesia in America.”

Catholic

• The Curran Center is rooted in Fordham’s Roman Catholic Jesuit identity, an identity that inspires a critical-faithful approach to the tradition and a creative search to imagine its place in the world.
• Catholic means universal, and the Center’s vision of Catholicism is global and inclusive.
• Our conversations are ecumenical, interreligious, and with those not having religious identities.
• Inspired by the example of Pope Francis, we recognize that thinking about faith demands thinking about justice issues such as poverty, peace, and the earth as well.

Studies

• As a university-based center, we emphasize an approach to Catholicism that is intellectual and engaged.
• Our American Catholic Studies concentration provides Fordham undergraduates with an opportunity for intensive study of the Catholic tradition enhanced by events, outings, mentorship, service, and an experience of the community.
• Our programming includes lectures by distinguished scholars, conferences on timely issues, and faculty reading groups that explore topics of faith, justice, aesthetics, and human meaning.
• Our awards and book series seek to support scholarship on Catholicism that is creative, critical, and explores new horizons.