MISSION AND MINISTRY | Visitors to the third floor of the William H. Hannon Library between now and May will be greeted by several works of art created as final projects by several semesters’ worth of students enrolled in Professor Cecilia González-Andrieu’s theological studies course “Meeting Christ in Faith and Art.” The heart of the course is a discussion of the theological field of Christology, which seeks to understand the identity and nature of Jesus Christ. The complicated questions raised by this theology — Who is the historical Jesus? How do the divine and the human come together in the person of Jesus? What does it mean for Jesus to suffer on the cross for the sake of humanity? — have also inspired centuries of artists, including many LMU students, to seek answers through the creative process. Some of those answers are on display in Hannon Library.
For Outreach and Communications Librarian John Jackson, the current exhibition speaks to the importance of fostering creativity and interdisciplinarity at a Catholic university:
“At our core, librarians work to bring people and information together in a shared space of exploration; and how we do that at the William H. Hannon Library is grounded firmly in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions of discernment and imagination. Hosting an exhibition like “Meeting Christ in Faith and Art” provides students, most notably our undergraduates, with a creative experience that could only happen at an institution like Loyola Marymount University. We invite students to interact with unique objects of cultural and historical significance that help to stimulate their intellectual – and in this case spiritual — growth.”
Students enrolled in the fall 2017 section of Professor González-Andrieu’s course also produced a video that documents their journey.
The William H. Hannon Library’s spring 2018 exhibition, “Meeting Christ in Faith and Art,” will be on display on the library’s third floor during regular opening hours through May 4.
