There will be a keynote speaker on friday, and one main speaker each day to cover the areas of MIND, BODY and SPIRIT.
The Planning team has spent time finding the right speakers for the conference.
The Speakers are:
For Mind
Dr. Michael W. Higgins
Dr. Higgins is President of St. Jerome's Univeristy in Waterloo, Ontario and is a Professor of English and Religious Studies.
He also was the editor of Grail: An Ecumenical Journal for 12 years and co-edited and co-authored numerous books including
Portraits of Canaian Catholicism; Women and the Church; The Jesuit Mystique and his own award winning biography
and study Heretic Blood: The Spiritual Geography of Thomas Merton. His most recent book is The Muted Voice: Religion and the Media
which was based on his 1998 Seton Lectures delivered at Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax. Michael has also published articles and reviews in many
scholarly publications as well as being a monthly religious columnist for The Toronto Star for the last 15 years. He has also broadcast and written for CBC Radio,
CTV and TVO television.
For Body
Dr. Cristina Vanin
Dr. Vanin, is the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at St. Jerome's University, and was recently appointed Director of the Studies in Sexuality, Marriage and
the Family program there. This Program was established in the 1970's to train teachers in the areas of family life and sex education. It has expanded into a interdisciplinary
program which helps students to think critically about this central human reality. Dr. vanin received her doctorate from Boston College and teaches courses in the areas of Christian
ethics, including sexual ethics, Roman Catholicism, Christian feminism, and ecological spirituality. Her areas of research include theology, religion and ecology, women and the Church,
and ethics.
For Spirit
Fr. Jim Link C.R.
Fr. Jim is a member of the Congregation of the Resurrection and was ordained in 1976. Jim is a St. Jerome's graduate, with a B.A. in Psychology which he completed in 1972. His theological
studies were completed at St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario. He was Associate Pastor for almost five years at St. Pius X in Brantford, followed by three years as Resurrectionist Vocation
Director and Associate Rector at Resurrection College Seminary. In 1983 Fr. Jim became Associate Pastor at St. Francis Assisi Parish in Kitchener. In 1986 he became Chaplain at St. Jerome's
High School. When the High School closed in 1990, he took a two year study leave to complete an M.A. in Homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. Fr. Jim has been one
of the Chaplains and the Director of Campus Ministry at St. Jerome's since 1992.
