CMU Lecture Series
The Dr. Harold W. Sunoo World Peace Lecture Series
Speaker: Becca Kearl
Title: Building a Better World One Conversation at a Time
Date: November 4, 2024
Bio: Becca Kearl is the Executive Director of Living Room Conversations, an organization connecting people within communities and across differences through self-facilitated dialogue since 2010. Becca believes in the ability of conversation around difficult topics to strengthen communities locally and nationally and has led healthy dialogue practices in high schools, universities, civic organizations, faith communities, as well as in her own family and community. She speaks to audiences around the country about the need to foster connection and
understanding through conversation.
Becca was drawn to community dialogue through her work with victims/survivors of domestic violence where the importance of community awareness and proximity around social issues came into sharp focus. In 2016 she began organizing large scale community conversation events around critical social issues in her area and quickly got hooked on the power of connecting people for shared understanding.
In 2019 Becca was awarded federal funding to pilot a community courtroom monitoring initiative with the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault. As Founder and Director of CourtWatch, Becca engaged over 100 community members in observing and collecting data on court cases dealing with domestic violence, sexual assault, and childhood sexual abuse. In addition to tracking the data from court cases, the program focused on the volunteer experience and how to harness the power of community to confront and shift social stigma with regular community conversations.
Becca is committed to collective efforts that bring us together and dedicates time to coalition work, both in Utah and nationally. In the Bridging Movement Alignment Council (BMAC), she is one of 15 members representing executives within the nationwide bridging movement who meet regularly to strategize, identify priorities, and initiate projects to bring bridging work to the forefront as a solution for isolation, toxic polarization, violence, and dehumanization in America. She leads BMAC projects focused on place-based bridging as well as socializing bridging skills throughout the country. Becca also serves on a statewide coalition in Utah to prevent childhood sexual abuse and improve the lives of women and girls in Utah. Becca is hope for the future comes from the knowledge that we are better together.
About the lecture series: In the spring of 2015, just before his passing, The Dr. Harold W. Sunoo World Peace Lecture Series was established by the Sunoo family to sponsor an annual guest speaker to stimulate students to think about how they can use their education to contribute to world peace. Dr. Sunoo was well-known for challenging his students to “use your brains and think,” and took his responsibility to stimulate critical thinking among his students very seriously.
Dr. Sunoo was hired by Central Methodist University in 1962. After 30 years, he retired with distinction as the Division Chair for Social Sciences and as the first Bishop Eugene Frank Professor. He published more than 20 academic books during his career and taught for shorter periods at the University of Washington, NY City College, University of California Berkeley and Irvine and Yonsei University, Republic of Korea.
His legacy will live on with the thousands of students who were influenced by his teaching, and the legions of Korean activists who drew inspiration from his life. Through the Dr. Harold W. Sunoo World Peace Lecture Series, his kindness, global vision, and wisdom will continue to touch the students at his beloved Central Methodist University.
Geist Yancey Lectureship
Speaker: John Cariani
Date: February 26, 2025
Bio: John Cariani is an American actor and playwright best known for his recurring role in Law & Order. On stage, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his role as Motel the Tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. He is also known for his roles in Broadway shows Something Rotten! and The Band's Visit, and for writing Almost, Maine, one of the most produced plays in American high schools. Cariani has appeared in numerous television shows, films, plays, and musicals throughout his career, and his plays have been performed frequently across the continent.
About the lecture series: Dr. Joe Geist was a faculty member at Central Methodist College from 1972 to 1998 and was named Professor Emeritus upon his retirement from teaching. He served as curator of the Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art from 1998 to 2014 and now serves as its registrar. His professional life as been dedicated to the furthering of the liberal arts, culture, literature, and learning.
Mr. Tom Yancey, a 1954 alumnus of Central, joined the faculty in the Swinney Conservatory in 1958. In 1972, he served as the Conservatory's dean, and in 1995 he accepted Professor Emeritus status. In addition to being an accomplished musician, Tom was a well-known artist. Tom, along with Joe, was a co-founder of the Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art and was curator of the Gallery from 1993 until 1998.
The purpose of the Geist Yancey lectureship is to provide a lasting legacy of Joe's and Tom's endless pursuit of the furthering of these pillars of higher education. The lectures will have a theme of cultural affairs, and the speaker shall be a noted/national individual from outside the CMU community.
Funding for this lecture was a gift from Dr. Joe Geist and Dr. Tom Yancey.
Gil and Ruth Fleer Lecture Series
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Rubén Rosario Rodríguez
Title: Spiritual Formation in a Secular World: Challenges and Opportunities
Date: March 26, 2025
Bio: The Rev. Dr. Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary, holds the Clarence Louis and Helen Steber Professorship in Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. Dr. Rosario engages issues of global migration and social justice as director of the Mev Puleo Program in Latin American Politics, Theology, and Culture at Saint Louis University. His latest monographs include Theological Fragments: What We Can and Cannot Know about an Infinite God (Westminster John Knox Press, 2023) and Calvin for the World: The Enduring Relevance of His Political, Social, and Economic Theology (Baker Academic, 2024).
About the lecture series: Former faculty member and sponsor of Alpha Phi Gamma “MOKERS,” Dr. Gilbert “Gil” Fleer '55 and his wife, Ruth Hombs Fleer '58, had a vision to enhance the spirit of excellence at CMU. Their passion for their alma mater where they met, and the love of their son, Jeffrey G. Fleer, led them to make gifts to the University, enhancing the Central experience for students for generations to come.
Fleer was an assistant professor of religion at Central from 1959-65. Before his passing, Dr. Fleer was a social science professor at Western Texas College and a United Methodist counselor. He spent many years counseling young adults in unconventional settings. The couple’s strong support of leadership training led them to fund the Gil and Ruth Fleer Fund for Excellence in Values-Based Education at CMU.
This lecture is funded by the generosity of Gil and Ruth Fleer.
Dr. Thomas A. Perry Faith & Science Lecture Series
Speaker: Brother Guy J. Consolmagno
Date: April 21, 2025
Bio: Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ was born in 1952 in Detroit, Michigan. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in 1974 and Master of Science in 1975 in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona in 1978. From 1978-80, he was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at the Harvard College Observatory and from 1980-1983 continued as postdoc and lecturer at MIT.
In 1983, he left MIT to join the US Peace Corps, where he served for two years in Kenya teaching physics and astronomy. Upon his return to the US in 1985, he became an assistant professor of physics at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he taught until his entry into the Jesuit order in 1989. He took vows as a Jesuit brother in 1991, and studied philosophy and theology at Loyola University Chicago and physics at the University of Chicago before his assignment to the Vatican Observatory in 1993.
In spring 2000, he held the MacLean Chair for Visiting Jesuit Scholars at St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia), in 2006-2007 the Loyola Chair at Fordham University (New York), and in fall 2009 the Lanigan Chair in Science, Medicine, and Ethics at LeMoyne College (Syracuse). He has also been a visiting scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center and a visiting professor at Loyola College (Baltimore) and Loyola University (Chicago).
Br. Consolmagno has served on the governing boards of the Meteoritical Society; the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Division III, Planetary Systems Science (secretary, 2000 - present) and Commission 16, Moons and Planets (president, 2003-2006); and the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences (chair, 2006-2007). Since 2008, he has been a member of the IAU Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature and the Mars Nomenclature Task Group; in 2015, he became chair of the Mars TG.
He has co-authored two astronomy books: Turn Left at Orion (with Dan M. Davis; Cambridge University Press, 1989) and Worlds Apart (with Martha W. Schaefer; Prentice Hall, 1993). He is the author or co-author of four books exploring faith and science issues, including The Way to the Dwelling of Light (U of Notre Dame Press, 1998); Brother Astronomer (McGraw Hill, 2000); God's Mechanics (Jossey-Bass, 2007), and Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? (With Paul Mueller, Image, 2014). He also edited The Heavens Proclaim (Vatican Observatory Publications, 2009). Since 2004, he has written a monthly column on astronomy for the British Catholic periodical, The Tablet.
About the lecture series: Thanks to a generous gift from the Rev. Garth Leigh, wishing to honor the memory of Dr. Thomas Perry, longtime chair of the CMC English Department, this lecture has been endowed at the Central Methodist University. Rev. Leigh sponosored a lecture series as a testament to the impact Perry had on generations of students at Central, encouraging them to think deeply, wrestle with greater questions, and challenge themselves to be the best citizens and scholars. The annual lecture will focus on the role that minister-scientists have played in the development of both religious traditions as well as scientific discoveries.
In addition to spending 20 years as chairman of the Department of English at Central Methodist College, Perry also served as chair of the Division of Literature and Languages and of the honors program. He sponsored Scribblers and Scrawlers, a club for aspiring creative writers, hosting and entertaining them monthly in his home. Perry is the late father of Tad Perry, current member of the board of trustees at CMU. Rev. Leigh served as a United Methodist Pastor for many years, and has worked as a freelance writer since his retirement from ministry in 2000. He currently lives in Kansas City, Mo. with his wife, Cheri.
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