Seton Hill University to Host Eva Fleischner Lecture Featuring Jerome Foss, Ph.D. on 10/6
The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Tuesday, October 6 at 7 p.m. in Cecilian Hall on the second floor of the Administration Building on Seton Hill's Greensburg, Pa. campus.
As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, it is important to recall that the Declaration of Independence not only announced and defended American independence from the King of Great Britain, but also signaled an opportunity for Jewish and Catholic communities to participate as fellow citizens in the noble enterprise of self-government. The Declaration itself is deeply rooted in the belief that humans are made in the image and likeness of God, and that they are invited to participate in God’s providential care of creation, including the self-care (and self-governance) of their families, neighborhoods, cities, and nations. The talk will look closely at the Declaration’s text to demonstrate the reliance of its drafters on those beliefs in making their case for political independence. A recent essay by Dr. Foss in the National Catholic Register offers a preview of his lecture.
The lecture is sponsored by the Seton Hill University National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education (NCCHE) through its Eva Fleischner, Ph.D., Endowed Lecture Fund.
The Eva Fleischner, Ph.D. Endowed Lecture Series is named for the late Eva Flesichner, a well-regarded scholar of women in the Holocaust and Jewish-Christian relations, as well as a close associate of the Seton Hill University National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education. The Fleischner family, including her late brother, Hans Fleischner, and his wife, Leslie Fleischner, established the lecture series at Seton Hill to carry on her legacy of scholarship and interreligious dialogue.
About the Speaker:
Jerome C. Foss is Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs and Core Curriculum at Saint Vincent College, where he also serves as the Director of SVC Honors and teaches in the Department of Political Science. Foss earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Dallas in Politics and his master’s and doctorate at Baylor University in Political Science. Dr. Foss arrived at Saint Vincent in 2011 as an assistant professor of political science. From 2018-2026, Dr. Foss served as the founding Director of the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture. In that role, Dr. Foss started the in-house journal Conversatio, created the Summer Institute in Rome, supported the Benedictine Leadership Studies Program, organized many conferences, reading groups, panels, and speakers. Dr. Foss began serving as Director of the Core Curriculum in 2023 and as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Core Curriculum in 2026. Dr. Foss received the SGA Faculty award in 2021, the college’s prestigious Thoburn Award for excellence in teaching in 2021, and the college’s Projektenmacher Award for his work directing the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture in 2022. He serves on the Board of the Society for Catholic Social Scientists.