Embodying Land Justice: Local Roots, Planetary Solidarity

This daylong conference aims to open a space for students, faculty, and staff of a number of higher education institutions, as well as interested people, to creatively grapple with the critical issue of land justice. We will consider how resources within the Catholic tradition, such as Catholic Social Teaching, can enter into dialogue with insights beyond the Catholic tradition, such as indigenous wisdom, in informing a collective "clarification of thought" regarding the issue of land justice. We will reflect on concrete ways that we might embody these clarified commitments in our daily lives, at our universities, and in our communities.

In our age of ecological catastrophe and profound social injustice, we are called to reflect upon the possibility of collectively inhabiting the land in just and sustainable ways. Our status quo is all too often shaped by ideologies which reduce the land to a resource to be exploited, leading many of us to lose touch with our connection to the earth. Simultaneously, historically unjust systems–from systemic racism, to colonialism, to militarism–have warped the land into a site of violence and displacement.

Inspired by the work of Pope Francis and the broader tradition of Catholic Social Teaching, as well as the pioneering work of grass roots partners such as Land Justice Futures (https://www.landjusticefutures.org/), this conference invites its participants to reflect on the possibility of reclaiming our rootedness in the land while resisting the unjust systems that weigh so heavily on human beings and the earth.

Funded in part by a grant from: Collegium: A Colloquy on Faith and the Intellectual Life.
Co-Sponsors Attending: Albertus Magnus College, Dominican University, Iona University, Manhattan University, Mount Saint Mary College, Sacred Heart University, Seton Hall University, St. John's University, University of Mount St. Vincent.

Mariandale offers both on site and online options for this event.

The on site ticket is $40 and includes the full day, 9:30 to 4pm, and the luncheon at 12noon.

The online ticket is $20 and offers Zoom access to the keynote speakers.

Keynote Presenters:

Daniel P. Castillo	Edgar Hayes	Tela Troge, Esq.

Daniel P. Castillo, Loyola University. Daniel P. Castillo is associate professor of theology at Loyola University Maryland. He earned his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2014. His work focuses on the intersections of liberation theology and environmental ethics. His first book, An Ecological Theology of Liberation: Salvation and Political Ecology (Orbis Books) earned College Theology Society’s “Best Book” award in 2020. Dan is currently writing his second monograph, Confronting the Age of Cain: Christian Faith in the “Anthropocene.” In 2020–2021, he worked as a Visiting Research Fellow at Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for Peace Studies. He currently resides in Baltimore with his family and is working to be certified as a master gardener in the state of Maryland.

Edgar Hayes: Co-Founder, Freedom Farm. Edgar Hayes is a Co-founder and executive director of Freedom Farm. He is also a CRE (Commissioned Ruling Elder) candidate in the Hudson River Presbytery of NY. After retiring from the FDNY for 20 years, he is currently doing pulpit supply preaching through the Presbyterian Church in Orange County, NY. On Freedom Farm, he assists with growing organic produce to share with people in need, teach youth and young adults sustainable agriculture practices, and how to live out one’s faith.

Tela Troge, Esq., Shinnecock Nation. Tela Loretta Troge, Esq. is a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation and a member of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Tribe. She is fighting climate change through the Indigenous women’s group Shinnecock Kelp Farmers, an intergenerational collective of water and land protectors. She recently organized the Warriors of the Sunrise Sovereignty Camp 2020 to raise awareness about the plight of the Shinnecock people. Tela graduated from Michigan State University College of Law with a Juris Doctor and certification in Indigenous Law and Policy from the Indigenous Law Program. She has been fighting for tribal sovereignty for the past 8 years as the attorney with the Law Offices of Tela L. Troge, PLLC.