“Given the strengths of our faculty and the interests of our students, Catholic Studies is the kind of program where the whole can be so much more than the sum of the parts,” Collins says. “I am really looking forward to building on the foundations laid by my predecessors to make a program that contributes substantially to the dialogue — crucial to the Jesuit mission — between the world and the church.”

About Father David Collins

Collins has twenty years of training as a Jesuit, which has taken him to cities like Philadelphia, Boston, Munich and Chicago. He returned to DC in 2004 to join the history department at Georgetown, where his teaching and research concentrate on the cultural and intellectual history of the late Middle Ages. 

He has published extensively on the cult of the saints, Renaissance humanism and learned magic, especially in Germany. Collins earned his B.A. in history from the University of Virginia, a B.Ph. in philosophy from Hochschule fĂĽr Philosophie in Munich, a S.T.L. in theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University. 

Collins entered the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit Order, in 1987 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1998. 

Soyica Diggs Colbert, interim dean of Georgetown şŁ˝ÇÂŰĚł, notes that “Father David Collins is an accomplished scholar and cultural historian of the medieval and Renaissance periods whose work delves into the complicated overlaps of magic, religion and science, shedding new light on humanism’s development.”  
“Having served as the director of Doctoral Studies in the history department and as chair of the University’s , Fr. Collins has now agreed to serve as the director of Catholic Studies,” she continues. “His leadership will allow us to continue to grow Catholic Studies and cultivate new areas of inquiry that will flourish at Georgetown.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON MARCH 28, 2018

Georgetown Hosts A Day with Mary Magdalene Symposium
April 5 event to feature scholarly presentations, film screening, panel discussion

Washington, D.C. — The presents , a daylong symposium on the life of Mary Magdalene, to be held Thursday, April 5 at Georgetown University’s .

The event was planned in conjunction with the celebration of the Easter season and the upcoming release of the feature film , starring Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix. The film’s trailer will be screened at the symposium.

“From the repentant prostitute to the Apostle to the Apostles, the riddle of Mary Magdalene has intrigued artists, filmmakers, theologians, and scholars for centuries,” said , Haub Director of the Catholic Studies Program. “A variety of these opinions will be considered throughout A Day with Mary Magdalene, including the contemporary scriptural and feminist scholarship that influenced Rooney Mara, the most recent actress to be filmed in this role.”

The two-session symposium will feature four research presentations on Mary Magdalene from scholars at Catholic universities from across the country. The last hour of the symposium will be devoted to a plenary panel featuring presenters from throughout the day.

Presenters and subjects are as follows:

“The Earliest Magdalene: Varied Portrayals in the Early Gospel Narratives”

Loyola University of Chicago

“A Saint for All Seasons: The Versatility of Mary Magdalen in the Early Medieval Period”

Loyola University of Chicago

“The Medieval Magdalen: Then and Now”

Catholic University of America

“The Magdalene from Canvas to the Silverscreen”

Georgetown University

There is no cost to attend this event. Lunch and coffee will be served. Please RSVP on . Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by Thursday, March 29, by emailing nkg31@georgetown.edu. A good faith effort will be made to fulfill requests.