Fordham University Press launched its centennial celebration, “Living Together: Love, Religion, and Politics for the 21st Century,” on Friday, Feb. 2, on the Lincoln Center campus with a daylong gathering of its authors for symposia on the recent press publications. The press publishes academic and general-interest books in the humanities and social sciences, which reflect the University’s mission and values. It also publishes books on the New York metropolitan region.
“The year 1907 was an important year in the life of Fordham,” said Father Joseph M. McShane, president of Fordham University, in his welcoming remarks. “It was the year Fordham became a university by charter of the regents of the State of New York. And the founding of the press was part of the maturing process; Fordham put its stamp on intellectual life in America by establishing a press. I know that the entire University community joins me in hoping and praying for another 100 years.”
The event featured 14 authors and several panelists, with scholarly presentations ranging from political theologies to the phenomenon of love, and included audience discussion. Among the authors presenting their work were Judith Butler, Ph.D., Maxine Elliot Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Giving an Account of Oneself (Fordham Press, 2005); and Jean-Luc Marion, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at the University of Paris and author of Prolegomena to Charity (Fordham Press, 2002).
“[The celebration] is about all the books and authors the press has published across this century,” said Robert Oppedisano, director of the press. “We wanted to find a way to bring that legacy to vivid life and to point toward its future.”
– Janet Sassi
