Schemel Forum Collaborative Programs Slated for March and April

The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum has two engaging Collaborative Programs planned for the spring semester.

On Thursday, March 21, the Schemel Forum will partner with the Gail and Francis Slattery Center for the Ignatian Humanities for a presentation on “Contemporary Christian Nationalism and Its Historical Antecedents: Beyond the Nazis of Copley Square” by Charles R. Gallagher, S.J., professor of history at Boston College. He was the William J. Lowenberg Memorial Fellow on America, the Holocaust, and the Jews, at the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.  The event, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Weinberg Memorial Library’s Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room, will include a reception and is free and open to the public.

Father Gallagher is the author of the acclaimed book, “Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten History of the Christian Front,” which tells the story of the Christian Front, a group of American terrorists who, in the name of God, conspired to overthrow the U.S. government and form an alliance with Hitler. Members of the self-proclaimed anti-Semitic and anti-Communist group were arrested for seditious conspiracy, the same charge leveled against the leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers for their alleged roles on Jan. 6, 2021. In his presentation, Father Gallagher will explore the historical precursors of Christian Nationalism and introduce new concepts, actors and impulses that seem to be circulating again today.

Then, on Thursday, April 25, the Schemel Forum and Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) will present the concert lecture “Ragtime: The Mind and Music of Scott Joplin.” Presented by Richard Kogan, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and artistic director of Weill Cornell Music and Medicine, the event will begin at 6 p.m. at GCSOM, 525 Pine St., Scranton. Admission to the event, which includes a reception, is $40 for the general public and free for Schemel Forum members and University of Scranton and GCSOM employees and students.

Dr. Kogan will provide an insightful look into the life and music of Scott Joplin, the son of a slave who grew up playing the piano in minstrel shows, saloons and houses of prostitution, eventually becoming the preeminent practitioner of the ragtime genre. He makes the case that the Joplin rag is a uniquely American innovation – an original dance form clothed in sophisticated syncopated rhythms and bright harmonic colors that render it the New World's equivalent to a Mozart Minuet or a Chopin Mazurka. Dr. Kogan will intersperse his engaging narrative with performances of “Maple Leaf Rag,” “The Entertainer,” and other ragtime classics.

To register for the programs, or for more information on the Schemel Forum, call 570-941-4740 or email schemelforum@scranton.edu.

The Dean of The University of Scranton’s Weinberg Memorial Library, George Aulisio, spoke about the spring Schemel Forum schedule of events with WVIA’s Erika Funke on ArtScene.

Additional Schemel Forum events can be found on the Schemel Forum’s webpage.