Elms College to Host Mary Dooley Lecture on Oct. 18

CHICOPEE — On Wednesday, Oct. 18, the Institute for Theology and Pastoral Studies at Elms College will host the fall 2023 Mary Dooley Lecture at 4 p.m. in the Alumnae Library Theater on the Elms College campus. This free lecture is open to the public.

The featured speaker at the Mary Dooley Lecture will be Katherine Schmidt, associate professor and chair of Theology and Religious Studies at Molloy University in Rockville Centre, N.Y. In her remarks, “Faith in a Digital Age,” she will speak on how faith has been transformed in current society and provide her thoughts on identifying faith in the digital culture.

Schmidt’s research focuses on the relationship of theology and culture, specifically digital culture and technology. She is the author of Virtual Communion: Theology of the Internet and the Catholic Sacramental Imagination.

This lecture is named after the late Sr. Mary Dooley ’44, who served as president of Elms College from 1979 to 1994. Prior to her presidency, she was a member of the Elms faculty and served as chair of the Language Department.