Thomas Fraatz, assistant professor of practice in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies, will give the talk, "What Happens to Those Who Lived a 'Good Life'?", at 5:00 p.m. Sept. 8 in the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center's Ubuntu Room (Room 202).
The event is free and open to the public and will be livestreamed on Zoom. Register for the link. His talk opens this academic year's CAS Inquire series, "The Future of the Good Life".
Subtitled "The Invention of Afterlife and Its Alternatives in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity," this lecture explores a question: What happens when people who lived a good life die, especially if their deaths are seen as unjust or underserved? This question has animated and perplexed religious and philosophical thinkers for millennia. The development of afterlife in Jewish religious thought and the legacy of this development within early Christianity will be discussed.
Four additional talks scheduled throughout the academic year will come from faculty members in biological sciences, geography, history, and communication studies, culminating in a panel discussion with the speakers in March 2027.
Students in the CAS Inquire program connect with college thought leaders and other inquisitive students to discuss ideas, using a college-wide series of public lectures as a focal point. The series launched in September of 2019, and themes have included the rise of the machines, finding common ground, and pain and pleasure. During the three-year program, CAS Inquire students take specialized courses, help with facilitating the program, and enjoy additional benefits. They can apply, or be nominated by faculty, for the program as freshmen.
