March 14, 2013
St. John's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences held its Fifth
Annual Catholic Series on March 4, 2013. Kristin Heyer, Ph.D.,
Bernard J. Hanley Professor of Religious Studies Santa Clara
University, was the guest lecturer.
In her lecture "Civic Kinship: A Christian Ethic of
Migration," Dr. Kristin E. Hyer suggested that the ways Americans
typically think about the issue of immigration should be revised in
light of Gospel values and Catholic Social Thought. Instead
of seeing immigrants as threats to American security, culture, or
prosperity, Heyer proposed that Americans should see the issue
through scriptual lenses. She noted that the ancient prophets
of Israel and the Gospels stress the moral importance of offering
hospitality to the stranger and alien.
Earlier in the day, Dr. Heyer met with undergraudates students
from the university's new Catholic Scholars Program where they
talked about "Why Catholics Should Care About Immigration
Reform." Dr. Heyer also took part in a colloquium where she
discussed her research on social sin and immigration with faculty
from the Department of Theology & Religious Studies and the
university's interdisciplinary Master of Arts in Global Development
and Social Justice.