Strauss '02 Continues to 'Live the Mission' Through Lilly Fellowship

Charles Strauss ’02 has been named a Lilly Postdoctoral Fellow in Humanities and the Arts at Valparaiso University in Indiana.  He is one of three scholars nationally to receive the prestigious appointment this year.

Begun in 1991, the Lilly Fellows Program provides two-year postdoctoral fellowships for exceptional teacher-scholars who seek to enrich their intellectual and spiritual lives while preparing for leadership roles in church-related higher education.

As a fellow, Strauss will teach history in Christ College, Valparaiso University’s honors college, and in its College of Arts and Sciences. He will also participate in a weekly colloquium on Christianity and the academic vocation and conduct scholarly research.

Strauss’s main research goals include turning his dissertation, titled “Catholicism, Central America, and U.S. Politics during the Cold War, 1943-1988,” into a book as well as writing an article on the religion and history of human rights in the 1970s and 80s. Strauss explains, “My dissertation explores how religion shaped U.S. foreign policy on Central America during the second half of the twentieth century by focusing on missionaries, particularly Catholic priests, brothers, and sisters of Maryknoll.”

Timothy Austin, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, said of Strauss’ appointment:  “We congratulate Charles on receiving this prestigious academic fellowship.  His scholarly work illustrates the strengths of a Holy Cross education, which encourages students to reflect on questions of meaning and purpose and to discern their own life's work, and for that we are especially proud.”

Austin says many Holy Cross alumni are connecting their career paths to their faith, in response to the opportunities they had to explore the College’s Jesuit, Catholic mission during their undergraduate years.

Strauss says he found his vocation while working on his Fenwick Scholar thesis during his senior year at Holy Cross under the direction of Edward O’Donnell, associate professor of history, and David O’Brien, professor emeritus of history and Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies.  It was O’Brien who challenged him to consider the possibility of aspiring to be a “Catholic intellectual,” and to think seriously about his vocation.

He explains, “My experiences at Holy Cross have helped me to appreciate global forces at work in United States history such as immigration and Catholic social thought. It has also guided my goals for teaching, particularly the principles of human dignity, solidarity, and call to family, community, and participation. These are principles that Holy Cross affirmed for me and that professors like David O’Brien have always modeled.”

Strauss was a history and peace and conflicts studies double major.  He earned master’s degrees in history at the University of Cape Town and the University of Notre Dame.  Strauss received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Notre Dame in May 2011.

Holy Cross is one of a group of 96 colleges and universities that make up the Lilly Fellows Program National Network.  Representing a diversity of denominational traditions, institutional types, and geographical locations, member institutions explore and discuss the relationship of Christianity to the academic vocation, and strengthen the religious nature of church-related institutions through a variety of activities and publications.

By Sara Bovat '14