[Expositions 4.1&2 (2010)]  Expositions (online) ISNN: 1747-5376 

 

 

Editors’ Preface 

John A. Doody, Gregory Hoskins, John Paul Spiro 

With the publication of Vol. 4, Nos. 1 and 2, we mark the successful transition of Expositions 

from a print publication to an on-line journal. The all-electronic format will allow us to provide 

more of those features that make Expositions a unique presence in the world of academic 

publishing: a forum for work that is broadly interdisciplinary and more experimental, 

conversational, and timely than the typical academic journal. In this volume and those to come, 

readers will find the features that have helped define us – Overheard in the Academy, Academic 

Roundtable, Notes & Insights – as well as new features, such as Interviews. Our inaugural 

Interview subject is the eminent historian John Lukacs. 

 

We are pleased to announce now that with Vol. 5, No. 1 we will inaugurate a new regular feature 

of the journal, Teaching the Great Books, with the publication of “Teaching the Analects” by 

William Theodore de Bary, John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University and Provost 

Emeritus of Columbia University. Contributions to Teaching the Great Books will offer 

pedagogical insights as well as personal reflections on the enduring – and sometimes neglected – 

core texts of the Humanities. 

Our current issue’s Overheard in the Academy addresses the Supreme Court’s 1980 Yeshiva 

decision denying university faculty collective bargaining rights under the National Labor 

Relations Act. The focus of this Overheard is not so much the decision itself; instead our 

contributors reflect on current conditions of “collegiality” in the American university. Our 

articles, “Avignon vs. Rome: Dante, Petrarch, Catherine of Siena” by Thomas Renna and “Gods 

and Friends: C. S. Lewis on Divination” by Francis Caponi, O. S. A., bring together history, 

literature, and theology.  Our Academic Roundtable considers The Monstrosity of Christ, itself a 

debate between philosopher Slavoj Žižek and theologian John Milbank. In her reflection “Of 

Virgins and Vampires,” in Notes & Insights, Noël Falco Dolan ponders a young woman’s 

apparent eagerness to give up her immortal soul. Book Reviews consider selected recent works 

in art history, philosophy, and theology.  

We gratefully acknowledge the Falvey Memorial Library of Villanova University and its 

Director, Joseph Lucia, for hosting the journal and the work of Darren Poley, Stephen Spatz, and 

the entire Outreach Team for assisting us through this period of transition. We also offer our 

deepest gratitude to Dr. Peter Busch, the first Managing Editor of Expositions, for his efforts and 

commitment to the success of the journal.