About Lane Center

The Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Social Thought and the Ignatian Tradition advances the scholarship and application of the Catholic intellectual and Ignatian traditions in the church and society with an emphasis on social concerns. Drawing upon the rich diversity of the university, the San Francisco Bay Area and the international Society of Jesus, we support research, teaching and action to promote and engage Catholic social thought especially in response to contemporary issues.

Sponsored Publications & Events

  • Beyond Borders: Reflections on the Resistance & Resilience Among Immigrant Youth and Families

  • Beyond Borders: Book Discussion and Reflections from the Kino Border Initiative (Sep. 2019) featured reflections and research on migration from USF faculty and staff committed to solidarity across borders. We celebrated the Lane Center’s newest volume, Beyond Borders: Reflections on the Resistance and Resilience Among Immigrant Youth & Families, which captures testimonies, best practices, and methods on how to respond to the realities of global migration. We also heard from a recent delegation of nine USF faculty and staff who visited the US/Mexico border through the Kino Border Initiative. Watch the recording.
  • Sanctuary as Love of Neighbor Event | 2017 

Resources and Partnerships 

Sponsored Publications & Events

"Integrating Ecology and Justice in a Changing Climate"

Drawing on Jesuit values as well as perspectives from disciplines across the humanities and sciences, this volume is oriented toward care for the people, communities, and ecosystems that make up our common home. Caring for our planetary home means responding to the multifaceted challenges of the current historical moment. As unprecedented changes are happening around the planet, the climate emergency poses an existential threat to humankind and to all life on Earth. This is a problem of survival and sustainability, but it is also more than that. It raises questions about justice. Ecological destruction cannot be adequately understood without addressing the systemic inequalities of social systems, and likewise, those inequalities cannot be understood apart from their ecological context. Engaging with a wide range of topics, from Pope Francis to Zen Buddhism, from the Global North to the Global South, from personal practice to systemic change, Integrating Ecology and Justice in a Changing Climate provides tools for thinking through these complex issues and facilitating the emergence of healthy, convivial, contemplative, and just ways of being in the world. 

Roundtable on Economic Justice and the Economy | May 2019

The International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) has identified six priorities for discernment, collaboration, and action. Among them is the promotion of environmental and economic justice as interconnected ethical challenges. The Lane Center held a roundtable discussion on May 1, 2019 that brought together scholars of different disciplines, along with community leaders working for justice, to take up these challenges. To view recordings of the scholars’ presentations, visit facebook.

Global Catholic Climate Movement | sept. 2018

On September 14, 2018, Lane Center partnered with the Global Catholic Climate Movement to organize an event called Living Laudato Si' Through Climate Action. Learn more about the event from the Ignatian Solidary Network article. 

Resources and Partnerships 

Sponsored Publications & Events

Catholic Identity in Context: Vision and Formation for the Common Good

Annual event honoring Black Catholic History Month (November)

    2020 Shannen Dee Williams 
    2019 Shawnee Daniels-Sykes

Annual event honoring Women Shaping the Catholic Social Tradition (December)

This annual event honors the memory of Sr. Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U., Sr. Ita Ford, M.M., Sr. Maura Clarke, M.M., and lay missionary, Jean Donovan – four Catholic women murdered on December 2, 1980 in El Salvador. By exercising an uncompromising commitment to the poor during the Salvadoran civil war, these women embody a radical commitment to faith and social justice. This series commemorates their witness and lifts up the Catholic sisters and lay women who continue to shape the Catholic social tradition. 
    
    2020 Carolyn Woo 
    2019 Kerry Robinson 
    2018 Simone Campbell 
    2017 Eileen Markey 
 

3rd Annual Women Shaping the Catholic Social Tradition Speaking Series | Nov. 2019
 

Kerry Robinson, global ambassador for the Leadership Roundtable, is passionate about fostering gender equity in the Church and reimagining structures to promote inclusive participation and transparent leadership. Kerry spoke on the topic of Women and the Church. Watch the recording.

2nd Annual Women Shaping the Catholic Social Tradition Speaking Series | Nov. 2018

This annual event honors the memory of Sr. Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U., Sr. Ita Ford, M.M., Sr. Maura Clarke, M.M., and lay missionary, Jean Donovan – four Catholic women murdered on December 2, 1980 in El Salvador. By exercising an uncompromising commitment to the poor during the Salvadoran civil war, these women embody a radical commitment to faith and social justice. This series commemorates their witness and lifts up the Catholic sisters and lay women who continue to shape the Catholic social tradition. Sr. Simone Campbell, Executive Director of NETWORK, was the keynote speaker for this event on November 29, 2018. Watch the recording:

Black Lives do Matter |  Nov. 2019
 

Does the notion of #BlackLivesMatter have any theological relevance for the Church today? If so, why does it seem like Church leaders are so silent about what catalyzed this movement in the first place? In honor of Black Catholic History Month, Dr. Shawnee Daniels-Sykes addressed these questions. Watch the recording.

Resources and Partnerships 

Women and the Catholic Social Tradition: A Dialogue on Social Justice, Women, and Catholicism

As part of a three-year initiative and book project on women and Catholic social thought, the Lane Center has created this blog to highlight a cross-generational dialogue on gender, faith and justice.