A thought-provoking series for people seeking a learning community dedicated to exploring life's meaning and purpose. The series engages the religious, sociopolitical, and scientific issues of our time to identify the best of human values and stimulate thoughtful, creative responses for the enrichment of all peoples and stewardship of our earth.
Sunday, March 1, 2026 • 3 p.m. • Otto Shults Center Forum
Free and Open to the Public
About Sister Eilis McCulloh
Sister Eilis McCulloh, HM, JD is a Sister of the Humility of Mary and serves as the Grassroots Education and Organizing Coordinator with NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Westminster College, PA and a Master’s in Theology and Religious Studies from John Carroll University, OH. She earned her Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Akron School of Law, bringing legal expertise to her advocacy and education work.
Sr. Eilis’ ministry is deeply rooted in building relationships with those on the margins, nurturing community, and translating faith-based values into action for the common good. Before joining NETWORK in 2020, Sister Eilis spent more than a decade ministering in refugee resettlement and immigration services in Minnesota and Ohio. She also studied Spanish in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala and ministered in Port au-Prince and Fondwa, Haiti, experiences that shaped her lifelong commitment to accompaniment and justice.
Beyond her work at NETWORK, Sister Eilis serves on her religious community’s Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) and Racial Justice Committees and accompanies/advocates for refugees and immigrants. She co-hosts Just Politics, a podcast produced in collaboration with NETWORK and U.S. Catholic magazine, exploring the intersections of faith, policy, and justice.
Friday, February 27 - Saturday, February 28, 2026 • Notre Dame Retreat House, Canandaigua
Together We Rise: Rest, Resillience, Courage and Action is an interfaith retreat for college students who are longing for connection, meaning, and hope in challenging times. Whether you feel energized by social justice work, exhaused by it, or unsure where you belong, this retreat is a place to pause, breathe, and be held in community.
Come as you are. Bring your hopes, your doubts, your weariness, and your desire to make a difference. Together, we’ll explore what it means to rise not alone, but side by side—sustained by community and inspired to carry this work forward.
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 • 7 p.m. • Otto Shults Center Forum
Free and Open to the Public
About Dr. Carol Zinn, SSJ
Dr. Zinn earned a BS in Education from Chestnut Hill College, PA; a Master’s in Theology from St. Bonaventure University, NY; and a Doctorate in Curriculum Development and Education Foundations from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. She was also a research fellow at Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard University on the topic: Leadership and Transformation.
Dr. Zinn's work has a local, national, and international scope, involving grassroots-based movements, such as the United Religions Initiative and the Earth Charter, and non-governmental organizations, such as Global Education Associates, working to further global systemic change. She also served as the main representative for the Congregations of St. Joseph, an NGO in General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council at the United Nations. In this capacity she participated in UN meetings on the topics of Human Rights, Eradication of Poverty, Environment, Peace and Disarmament, Education, Sustainable Development, Women, Children and Healthcare.
Dr. Zinn served on her Congregation’s leadership team and in the Presidency of LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious) for a 3 year term, 2012-2015. Currently Carol serves as the LCWR’s Executive Director.
"Give us the courage to seek paths of dialogue, to respond to conflict with gestures of fraternity, to open our hearts to others without fear of differences. Make us builders of bridges, able to overcome borders and ideologies, able to see others through the eyes of the heart, recognizing in every person an inviolable dignity."
— Pope Leo XIV "August Prayer Intention: Mutual Coexistence" July 2025
Pope Leo XIV begins his papacy with a clarion call: God's desire for humanity and all of creation is a future of peace and of respect for the dignity of all. He declares that God's desire will find its fulfillment in partnership with every people and culture without exception. This partnership asks something both simple and profound: to nurture a desire for this future in our hearts, with intention and trust.
Leo XIV's vision is timely and transformative. It summons us to cultivate the habits of a courageous heart so that we might respond to both the pain and the beauty of our interconnected world. Pope Francis offered three words - see-judge-act - to guide our process. Together, they are a "review of life," enabling us to recognize, understand, and respond to the realities of our world, always with a deep concern for the most vulnerable among us. Leo XIV presses forward, calling for dialogues that consciously share a view of the world in which justice, mercy, and integrity are honored and that courageously choose actions consistent with our human dignity.
We are grateful to Fr. Thomas Florek, S.J. for sharing what migrant farm and factory workers are teaching him about our theme. There will be opportunities for continued dialogue throughout the semester.
Information about the spring 2026 program will be forthcoming.