Cathleen Kaveny, longtime Commonweal contributor and board member, was appointed as a Phi Beta Kappa Society Visiting Scholar for the 2023-2024 year. Professor Kaveny is the Darald and Juliet Libby Professor at Boston College, where she has dual appointments in the Law School and the Theology Department.

This new appointment will take her around the country visiting more than 100 colleges and universities where there is a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. At each campus, she will be present to exchange ideas, participate in classroom discussions and seminars, experience campus culture, and offer public lectures. 

The press release from Boston College indicates that “Kaveny is expected to lecture on topics such as the connection between nostalgia for the 1950s and American nationalism and the tension between civil discourse and 'call-out' culture in American public life. In the classroom, she will address religious liberty and freedom of conscience after Dobbs v. Jackson.”

“I am sure that I will learn so much from talking with undergraduates and others at different schools across the country about the challenges facing our nation and our world,” said Kaveny.

Phi Beta Kappa Society is considered to be one of the nation’s most prestigious academic honor societies. Its mission is to champion education in the liberal arts and sciences, foster freedom of thought, and recognize academic excellence.