Albertus Magnus College Continues Conversations of Faith, Life, and Justice
Blue Notes of Hope: A Reflection on the Blues
New Haven, Conn., January 23, 2023 – Albertus Magnus College strives to be on the cutting edge of conversations that matter most to the community. The Aquinas Lecture Series continues January 30 with Blue Notes of Hope: A Reflection on the Blues and the Imagination of Possibility in Black Atlantic and Modern Colonial Worlds. This event is part of Albertus’ Black Excellence 365, an ongoing commitment to the contributions of Black-Americans that promotes diversity, inclusion, acceptance, and belonging.
Who: Dr. Rufus Burnett, Jr., Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Fordham University.
What: Connects the musical genre of the Blues as an option of hope and possibility in the modern world.
When: Monday, January 30 from 5:30-6:45pm.
Where: Behan Community Room in the Hubert Campus Center; 831 Winchester Ave., New Haven. The event will also be livestreamed. RSVP at http://www.albertus.edu/eckhart/events.
The Blues have often been associated with suffering, bad luck, and hard times. In this lecture, Dr. Burnett considers the Blues as an alternative way of thinking – about hope and possibility – presented through the lens of the Black Atlantic and Modern/Colonial Worlds.
Dr. Burnett earned his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University and his Master’s in Religious Studies from Loyola University New Orleans. He has previously taught at the University of Notre Dame. His area of studies focuses on the sonic, spatial, and embodied realities of the Christian imagination.
About Albertus Magnus College
Founded in 1925, Albertus is a coeducational Catholic College in the Dominican tradition. Albertus' values- and liberal arts-based education is recognized by external rankings such as US News & World Report, Money, and The New York Times, and has been named a Top 10 Military Friendly School. For ten consecutive years, at least 95% of Albertus graduates have attained employment or gone on to graduate studies within six months of completing their degrees. The College has an enrollment of approximately 1,300 students across its traditional undergraduate, accelerated adult undergraduate, and graduate program levels. Proud to enroll a student body where nearly half of its undergraduate students receive Federal Pell Grants and are first-generation college goers, Albertus is known for its innovative curricular offerings, recently launching new Bachelor's degree programs in Nursing, including BSN and Connecticut's first LPN-to-BSN; General Health Sciences; Interdisciplinary Studies; and Public Health.
Among its graduate offerings is the State of Connecticut's only Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling program, and it is just one of three schools to offer a Master of Science in Human Services. In 2025-26, Albertus is celebrating its historic 100th Anniversary and completing implementation of the Albertus 2025: Lighting the Way to a Second Century strategic plan, with a bold vision to "be a destination liberal arts-based college, distinguished in its interdisciplinary and experiential approach to education, rooted in Dominican values, that prepares students for lifelong civic engagement and success." To learn more, please visit albertus.edu.