Photo of Fall '24 Colloquium
Colloquium Panel
This colloquium, bringing together undergraduate scholars from Loyola University Chicago, seeks to provide an opportunity for theological reflection rooted in worship and the Catholic intellectual tradition, and oriented outward in loving service to our world.
William Wade
Senior, Psychology
Paper Title:
Conversations in Convalescence: Living the Jesuit Mission Globally
Billy Wade is a Senior at Loyola University Chicago majoring in Psychology and minoring in Catholic Studies. As a two-time Mulcahy Scholar, he currently leads two research projects in the Memory and Neuromodulatory Mechanisms Lab. He has presented numerous times in academic journals clubs, at various conferences such as the Society for Neuroscience meeting. He recently gave a talk at the URES research symposium, and for the north-side District 2433 Chicago Police Department. Outside the lab setting, Billy leans into his Catholic faith in the liturgy, reading of the Saints, and a restlessness for pilgrimage. Billy spends his spare time mountaineering in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Jonathan Esser
Sophomore, Litgurgical Music & Philosophy
Paper Title:
Domenico Zipoli, S.J.: An Embodiment of Ignatian Humanism Through Worship, Music, And Service
Jonathan is a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago majoring in liturgical music and philosophy with minors in Catholic studies and theology. His academic interests include sacred music, theology, and the ways artistic and intellectual traditions shape religious and cultural understanding
Dr. Michael P. Murphy
Professor, Director of The Hank Center
Moderator
Michael Murphy is Director of Loyola’s Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage. He earned his doctorate in Theology, Literature, and Philosophy from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, an MA in English from San Francisco State University, and undergraduate degrees in English and Great Books from the University of San Francisco. His research interests are in Theology and Literature, Sacramental Theology, Systematic Theology, and the socio-political cultures of Catholicism-- but he also writes about issues in eco-theology, media ecologies, and social ethics.
Dr. Murphy, a Senior Lecturer in the Theology Department, is a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow. His first book, A Theology of Criticism (Oxford), was named a "Distinguished Publication" in 2008 by the American Academy of Religion. His current scholarly project is a monograph, The Humane Realists: Catholic Fiction, Poetry, and Film 1965 - 2025.
Marie Khouzam
Senior, Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience
Paper Title:
Emptying of Self That One Might Be Filled
Marie is a Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience major with minors in Psychology and Catholic Studies. Through her interdisciplinary studies, she is interested in the ways that interior movements of the heart and faith-based spirituality inform engagement with the world. She seeks to bridge scientific study with faith to highlight the complexities of interpersonal connection and an orientation toward transcendence.
Camden Frank
Junior, Political Science & French
Paper Title:
Ignatian Contemplation and Lectio Divina
Camden Frank is a junior in the interdisciplinary honors program studying Political Science and French. He is an active member at the Episcopal Church of the Atonement, serving as an altar server and in the Green Team, and works as a French tutor at the Lycée Français de Chicago and at the Loyola Language Learning Resource Center. He is also the first violinist in a chamber group on campus. Camden studied in Nantes, France, during the fall semester of 2024, and hopes to return to France to earn a masters degree in international relations or French language after graduating in 2027.
Dr. T. Derrick Witherington
Professor, Director of Sacramental Life
Moderator
Dr. Derrick Witherington is the Assistant Director of Campus Ministry for Sacramental Life. In this role he acts as the administrator of Madonna della Strada Chapel and supervises Campus Ministry programming directly serving the university’s Catholic community including the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), Confirmation, and liturgical ministry. Derrick also serves as the advisor to the AMDG Catholic Students’ Organization.
Derrick is also an adjunct faculty member of Loyola’s Theology Department where he teaches classes in Systematic, Historical, and Sacramental Theology. Additionally, he is an associate editor for the Maryknoll School of Theology Review, an international journal of pastoral and academic theology
