McCarthy Lecture: life, law and improv comedy

The McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement will host its 18th annual McCarthy Lecture with speaker John Inazu from Washington University in St. Louis, as well as improv comedy group The Theater of Public Policy. The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, in the Humphrey Theater at St. John’s. There is no charge for attendance and no registration is required.

The program, entitled “Disagreeing Better: Lessons from Life, Law, and Improv Comedy,” will feature both Inazu and The Theater of Public Policy. The program will emphasize how we can better communicate with the people we surround ourselves with, regardless of agreement.

The McCarthy Lecture is a public event inspired by the life, legacy and public courage of U.S. Senator McCarthy, a graduate of St. John’s. For nearly twenty years, the McCarthy Center has inspired civic involvement and bipartisan dialogue and discussion.

“This year’s program especially emphasizes how we can build better communication channels with the people we live with, work with, go to church with and play sports against,” McCarthy Center Director and Edward Henry Professor of Political Science Matt Lindstrom said.

Inazu is a distinguished professor of law and religion, as well as the author of several books and articles. His most recently published book, “Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect,” sets the tone for the program next Thursday. In it, he dissects a range of complex issues many people are experiencing in 2024—such as sexual assault, critical race theory, and religious freedom—and sheds light on ways we can engage with people who view these issues differently. The topics in this book are deemed both refreshing and necessary by critics, especially with the upcoming presidential election.

Carol Bruess has recently accepted the position of Scholar-in-Residence in Relationships and Dialogue at CSB+SJU and has aided in the planning of the upcoming event.

“When I first read the book, I felt more hopeful and a bit more at peace with the current state of our rancorous world,” Bruess said. “In this tense election year, many of us are uniquely motivated to find a better path toward human connection and understanding, and we thought: why not offer a host of opportunities and skill-building right here on our beautiful campuses?”

The upcoming event happens in harmony with the Disagreeing Better at CSB + SJU program, a campus-wide effort at political depolarization and communicating with honesty, dignity and respect. While the program officially kicks off at the McCarthy Lecture next Thursday, there will be events all week long leading up to it, including discussions, documentary viewings and a Bennie-Johnnie-Tommie debate. Students can find more information on all upcoming events by visiting the CSB+SJU webpage, or the myCSBSJU app.

A full house is expected for the lecture. The topics to be covered are increasingly relevant as we near the 2024 presidential election, and empathetic communication is important for our campus to flourish together.

“When we learn how to turn conflict into connection,” Bruess said, “we all are better off.”