Marywood University Historian to Present Free, Virtual Talk on “Victorian Vegetarians” Dr. Adam Shprintzen, a historian of nineteenth century America and Associate Professor of History at Marywood University, is presenting a free, virtual talk for the Maine Historical Society about the history of vegetarianism in 19th-century America on Monday, January 13, at 7 p.m. Dr. Shprintzen will look at the lively history of early American vegetarianism and social reform. Vegetarianism, practiced in the United States since the country’s founding, has been misunderstood and understudied, especially with regard to the early years of the movement. Through the Civil War, the vegetarian movement focused on social and political reform, but, by the late nineteenth century, it became a path for personal strength and success in a newly individualistic, consumption-driven economy. This development led to greater expansion and acceptance of vegetarianism in mainstream society. Featured in national publications ranging from the New York Times to Slate, Dr. Shprintzen is a frequent guest on podcasts and radio shows. He is the author of The Vegetarian Crusade: The Rise of an American Reform Movement, 1817-1921. Presently, he is researching the history of the Automat and its place in popular memory. While the Zoom presentation is free and open to the public, registration is required. This program is offered as a companion to the organization’s exhibit, Maine’s Untold Vegetarian History, which is on view through May 17, 2025. To register for this virtual event, visit the Maine Historical Society’s event website: mainehistory.org/events/food-of-the-future and follow the registration link.
The University of Scranton Virtual Talk on Challenges of Educating Youth in Uganda Set The University of Scranton’s Gail and Francis Slattery Center for the Ignatian Humanities will host a virtual presentation titled “Hope and Healing for Ugandan Youth: Educating Amidst Environmental Degradation, Food Insecurity, and Poverty Through the Bethany Land Institute.” Rev. Emmanuel Katongole, professor of theology and peace studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, will present the lecture at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Mar. 18. The talk, part of the 2020-21 Humanities Forums at Scranton, is open to the public and can be viewed on Zoom at: http://bit.ly/3bApVZU, or on YouTube at http://bit.ly/2Ipj8Hv. Father Katongole holds a joint appointment with the Keough School of Global Affairs, where he serves as a full-time faculty member of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. A member of the Contending Modernities Initiative team, he coordinates an inter-disciplinary research project, which investigates how religious and secular forces compete or collaborate in shaping new modes of authority, community and identity within the context of nation-state modalities in Africa. He is a Catholic priest of Kampala Archdiocese, Uganda, where he was ordained in 1987. His research focuses on politics and violence in Sub-Saharan Africa; political theology; global Catholicism; theology and peace studies and reconciliation His publications include “Born from Lament: the theology and Politics of Hope in Africa” (Eerdmans, 2017); “The Journey of Reconciliation: Groaning for a New Creation in Africa” (Orbis, 2017); and “Reconciling All Things: A Christian vision of Justice, Peace and Healing” (IVP Books, 2018). Before joining the University of Notre Dame in 2013, Father Katongole served as associate professor of theology and world Christianity at Duke University, and as founding co-director of the Duke Center for Reconciliation. He taught at The University of Scranton in the Theology/Religious Studies Department during the 1999-2000 academic year.
