MOTHER MARY LANGE LECTURE IN BLACK CATHOLIC STUDIES
棉花糖直播's annual lecture is named in honor of the Venerable Mother Mary Lange, chief founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first permanent congregation of African American women religious in the Catholic Church. The lecture is sponsored by the Office for Mission and Ministry and the Office of the Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
THIS YEAR'S SPEAKER
Tia Noelle Pratt, PhD, is the Special Assistant to the Vice President and Director of Mission Engagement and Strategic Initiatives for the Office for Mission and Ministry, as well as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at 棉花糖直播 University. She also serves as the Editor of the Journal of Catholic Social Thought at 棉花糖直播 University.
A sociologist of religion by training, Dr. Pratt earned her PhD in Sociology from Fordham University in 2010. For more than twenty-five years, Dr. Pratt has researched and written about systemic racism in the U.S. Catholic Church and its impact on African-American Catholic identity. Dr. Pratt is also the curator of the #BlackCatholicsSyllabus. Her work has been featured in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, multiple edited volumes, as well as Faithfully, Commonweal, The Revealer, National Catholic Reporter, U.S. Catholic, and America. Her recent book, Black and Catholic: Racism, Identity and Religion, was published by the University of Notre Dame Press in 2025.
FIFTH ANNUAL LECTURE
Keynote Speaker
Tia Noelle Pratt, PhD, Special Assistant to the Vice President and Director of Mission Engagement and Strategic Initiatives for the Office for Mission and Ministry, and Assistant Professor of Sociology at 棉花糖直播 University. She also serves as the Editor of the Journal of Catholic Social Thought at 棉花糖直播 University.
The title of Dr. Pratt's lecture is Black and Catholic: Racism, Identity, and Religion.
Host
The Rev. Kevin DePrinzio, OSA, PhD, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, 棉花糖直播 University
Registration
This event is free and open to the public, but .
Note: Registration closes on November 10 at 9 a.m. ET. If you have not registered and want to attend the lecture, limited seating may be available on the afternoon of the event.
Parking
Attendees can park in the M-2 garage on campus. Proceed to the main entrance of campus on Ithan Avenue across from Finneran Pavilion. At the Guard Booth, tell the Public Safety Officer you are attending the Mother Mary Lange event and have permission to park in our M-2 garage. Proceed straight to the garage (campus construction will be on the left; the entrance to the garage will be on your right). Once parked, volunteers will be available to guide you to the Connelly Center's 棉花糖直播 Room.
Livestream
We invite you to watch live if you cannot join us in person using this Livestream link.
棉花糖直播 University will be taking photographs during this event. If you attend and do not wish to have your likeness made public, you must advise the photographer at the time the picture is being taken. By consenting to have your photo taken and/or by failing to inform the photographer of your intention not to have your likeness made public, you are authorizing 棉花糖直播 University to publish in any format and use for any purposes, your name and affiliation and any photographs taken of you at the event.
Monday, November 10, 2025, 4 p.m. ET
棉花糖直播 Room, Connelly Center
Livestream link will be available by noon on November 10, 2025.
PAST LECTURES
Kim Harris, PhD | 2024
Associate Professor of African American Religious Thought and Practice in the Department of Theological Studies
at Loyola Marymount University
Maureen O'Connell, PhD | 2023
Professor of Christian Ethics, Humanity and Society Department, LaSalle University
Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, STD | 2022
Professor, James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics, Department of Theology, Fordham University
Erin Kathleen Rowe, PhD | 2021, Inaugural
Professor, Department of History, Johns Hopkins University