Latest Project: Prison degree program
My latest project is the starting of a degree program, through the University of Scranton, for inmates at State Correctional Institution at Dallas, PA. Our first semester began Fall 2021, after a year delay from Covid19. Fifteen students were enrolled. The program initially makes possible the earning of an Associates in Arts in Liberal Studies. The program seeks to grow both in students and toward a Bachelors degree.
A huge part of my inspiration is how the Bard Prison Initiative has done their work (see this great Ken Burns doc), replicated in the Moreau College Initiative, in which I was pleased to teach for two semesters.
A huge part of my inspiration is how the Bard Prison Initiative has done their work (see this great Ken Burns doc), replicated in the Moreau College Initiative, in which I was pleased to teach for two semesters.
Raven Foundation video interviews on mimetic theory
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My research expertise is most pronounced around René Girard's mimetic theory on the origins of human culture and religion. The Raven Foundation, which advances mimetic theory, did a video series interviewing me on my theological and anthropological understanding of the theory.
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Reclaimed-wood, pay-it-forward cafe: The Local Cup
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While doing my PhD work at the University of Notre Dame, I worked with the wonderful Near Northwest Association and the great many neighbors there, like Mike Griffin and his late wife of beloved memory, Catherine--and so many others--to build a "pay it forward" coffee shop: the Local Cup. My main role, besides some initial planning, administration, and bits of barista-ing, was to spearhead the reclaimed woodwork and aesthetic design of the remodel.
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Camden Fireworks Art Center
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My biggest project while living in Camden, NJ was to lead--with the help of Heart of Camden and others like Cassie MacDonald--the fundraising, planning, demolition, and construction of what has become a wonderful arts center in Waterfront South, Camden. Camden Fireworks is an amazing place for art and events that build community and beauty in an often very challenging city.
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A public attack on Christian nationalism and the promotion of Jesus' politics
My book Jesus for President with Shane Claiborne was part of a larger life project--most publicly visible in 2008 through a 21 city book tour with Claiborne--to exorcise the chauvinist (often neoconfederate) spirit that has possessed Christianity in the U.S. and catalyzed the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. We failed nicely.
We even had a small European tour, seen below with translators.
We even had a small European tour, seen below with translators.
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Heart of Camden community development group
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For a few years I worked with the low-income housing developer and all around community developer, Heart of Camden. Born from the volunteering community that runs through Sacred Heart Church, this non-profit has remodeled 250 houses in the neighborhood, turned an old decaying cinema into a big gym for neighborhood kids and schools, built a community theatre amidst much abandonment, provided all the institutional framework for the above noted firehouse project, greened over 30 acres--and has overall made Waterfront South a renewed and renewing neighborhood. God bless their work.
To the right is a trailer that, in part, highlights Heart of Camden's work; but it really spotlights the inspiring spirit of Father Michael Doyle. Purchasing the film also raises funds for HOC. |
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Sacred Heart School
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Sacred Heart School, an extension of the Sacred Heart parish, has been an anchor in Waterfront South for generations. I was pleased to teach there for two years along with many other close friends that moved into that neighborhood with me. One community friend, Cheryl Heatwole-Shenk started up a Montessori pre-school branch in conjunction with the school. Both schools can use plenty of support and financial help. Consider sponsoring a student at either the main school or Montessori branch.
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Sacred Heart Church in Camden, NJ
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A bouquet of community, liturgy, and beauty, Sacred Heart Church changed my life with its people, its practices, its rituals, and its spirit. If you are ever even remotely near the intersection of Ferry Ave and Broadway in south Camden, NJ, go visit them and join their persevering work.
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Center for Environmental Transformation and Eve's Garden
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Greening the industrial blight of Waterfront South and raising awareness about the (often racially inflected) ecological crisis is one of the marks of the Sacred Heart community and all its partners. Pioneering urban gardener Andrea Ferich, along with many other people in the neighborhood, created beautiful urban gardens and a greenhouse that became a source of activity, green-therapy, food, fun for hundreds of people. From that "Eve's garden" grew a sustained institution, Center for Environmental Transformation, that welcomes service-learning groups for retreats. I'm privileged to have joined in some of their work when I lived in Camden and I've now even brought University of Scranton students on an Easter trip to stay at CFET.
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