April 23, 2026
Providence College's Student-Run Newspaper Since 1935
On Wednesday, March 4, founder and president of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, Dr. Karen Korematsu, gave a talk in…
The month of February celebrates Black History Month, which recognizes the lived realities, progress, and resilience of African Americans. Its…
The United States holds primary elections every four years to determine which candidates from each political party will run in…
by Sarah McCall ’26 on April 23, 2026
On Friday, April 17, the Humanities Forum invited Alec Ryrie of Durham University to present on his most recent book: The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It. Ryrie is a historian of Protestant Christianity and specializes in early modern England and Scotland, specifically how beliefs and values impact the social world. His most recent book is a deviant from his normal research, as it has much less to do with religion. However, it is similar to his field of research in its focus on how human values impact the social world in which we live. Ryrie acknowledged the current relevance of Christianity and politics at the beginning of his talk, mentioning the discourse surrounding the United States’ President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, saying, “It is very interesting to talk about this on a Catholic campus this week.”
Ryrie started by citing ABC’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, which began broadcasting in 1947. At the time, the title did not need any further context; it was very clearly about Jesus. Even if individuals were not traditionally religious, they still viewed Jesus as the greatest moral figure. He was the baseline for what it meant to be a good person.
By 1965, however, no one cared for the story anymore. The baseline for genuine good and evil had shifted. For thousands of years people had viewed Jesus as the determinant for what it meant to be good. Yet, a new figure was determining the baseline for evil in social contexts. That person, Ryrie argues, is Adolf Hitler. After World War II, people used Hitler to define evil. The narrative no longer was about becoming Jesus-like through good deeds, it was instead about not becoming Hitler-like through evil acts. Ryrie’s concern with this is that it “teaches us what to hate, but not what to love.”
Ryrie also analyzed the larger impact of this shift. Hitler is a secular individual, therefore he believes that this represents a societal turn away from religion. Ryrie additionally cites examples within the U.S. of a turn away from religion. For example, civil rights organizations played down their religious origins in order to appeal to a larger group of people. Additionally, no one had the same emotional response to Christ that they once did. Instead, cultural empathy was placed towards individuals impacted by World War II.
This shift was not accidental, Ryrie argued, saying that “the appetite for this story has not gone away.” Dozens of movies and films have been made about World War II, even more with indirect messaging. Schindler’s List, Inglorious Bastards, and Fury were all examples of direct representation of World War II, while Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings were examples with indirect messaging. Nazis and Hitler have become a staple image in the media and society of pure evil. Godwin’s Law about internet discussion cites Nazi as the ultimate insult. “Grammar Nazis” and “Little Hitler” are phrases used consistently. Ryrie argued that Nazis come as readily to our mind as the devil did in the Middle Ages.
However, in recent history WWII has been losing its moral centrality. The societal realization that racism is the consistent evil, and Naziism was just a part of this has become a much larger narrative. This has become evident through countries grappling with colonialism, slavery, and exploitation. Ryrie, however, argues that this move away from WWII as our basis for moral centrality is not entirely productive. People have begun to forget the messages that we learned from WWII. He conceded that the focus on Naziism was overdone, but millions died for humanity to learn this lesson and it cannot be so easily forgotten.
Ryrie ended his talk by emphasizing the importance of remembering this message, but also a need to bring back deeper tradition. Catholics and Christians have long developed a basis for what good should look like. This needs to be revived, he argues. The past and its tradition cannot be erased. Society has to move forward and find authentic good once more.
There are two more Humanities Forums occurring this semester. The first will be “This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark,” presented by Craig Fehrman on Friday, April 24 at 3:30 p.m. in the Ruane Center for the Humanities, room 105. The last Humanities Forum of the semester will be “Human Dignity in the Algorithmic Society” by Paolo Carozza on Friday, May 1, at 3:30 p.m. in Ruane 105.
by Chris Sama ’27 on February 12, 2026
The athlete of the week is Jason Edwards ’G26, who made his return against DePaul University on Saturday, Feb. 8. The Friars desperately needed a true point guard to run the offense and struggled without Edwards’ presence. It was unclear whether he would return at all for the rest of the Friars’ season, but fortunately, he is back and playing extremely well. He scored 25 points on efficient shooting, going five for eight from three and eight for13 from the field overall. He also had two assists and four rebounds, which is especially impressive considering his role as a guard.
On the season, Edwards is averaging 17.6 points, three rebounds and 3.2 assists on 43.9 field goal percentage, showing his efficiency. He has an extremely quick release that, despite his size, allows him to get shots up from anywhere, even with defenders closing him out. He is also extremely quick and drives to the basket well. The Friars need him if they want any chance at winning the Big East Tournament, let alone making it to March Madness, as he is their only true point guard. Before joining the Friars in the Big East, Edwards played at Vanderbilt University, where he averaged 17.0 points, 1.3 assists, and two rebounds. He made the All-SEC Third team and scored in double figures in 29 of 31 games. He has shown significant improvement in his passing game from his time at North Texas University to Providence College, going from a 1.4 assist average to 3.2.
Without Edwards’ impact, PCwas playing noticeably worse; it felt like something was missing. While the Friars have a great back court consisting of talented players like Stefan Vaaks ’29, Jaylin Sellers ’26G, and Jamier Jones ’29, none of them fit the point guard role; they function better as shooting guards or small forwards. It’s clear from the games where he was present that Edwards was recruited by coach Kim English to run the offense and be a leader on the court.
by Ian Gualtiere ’27 on April 23, 2026
There is a saying that tends to unite generations with varying degrees of success: “What’s old isnew again.” Obviously, gone are the days of actual disco venues where one could spend theirweekends trying to look as effortless as John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977).Nonetheless, certain forms of art tend to cycle after many years; every moment in the chronologyis given a new moment to shine, which every generation tries to add in its own special flair,resulting in a culmination of eclectic and unique art that somehow pays homage to its originswhile remaining accessible into the future. Generation Z’s use of disco has had a wide array ofresults, spanning from new TikTok dance trends to Instagram story ambiance.
These modern-day uses continue the legacy of a musical genre once considered on the outskirtsof musical acceptance; thus, the notion was that it only attracted those who were alsomarginalized. Individuals who resided in the subcultures of New York City, San Francisco, andPhiladelphia—African-American, Italian-American, Latinx, and LGBTQ+—supported a seriesof nightclubs and artists who employed this newly emerging form of music. Disco was seen as arevival of the communal dance of the 1940s, but instead of the big bands, there was a solo bandwith a funky beat. It was also a reaction against the 1960s counterculture movement, the acousticfolk music that defined the hippie generation, and the mainstream acceptance of rock as the onlyform of music. Nightclubs such as Le Club, Studio 54, The Loft, and Paradise Garage onlyfueled the emerging culture of nightlife that seemed like an endless supply of dancing, drinking,and drugs. This was all very much to the frustration of parents whose kids snuck out to the discoand city officials who had to deal with the nights that never ended. Bands like KC and theSunshine Band, ABBA, The O’Jays, The Commodores, Village People, and Bee Geescapitalized on this frustration with early 1970s stagnant music and sought to revolutionize agenre of music that had yet to find its identity.
Various factors eventually drove the acceptance of disco to the edge of mainstream and tried toerase it from history. With the popularity of disco defining the sound of mid to late 1970s music, its oversaturation and constant parodies drove many people away from the trend. The mostfamous movement against disco came in the United States by the ardent supporters of rock,which resulted in many fans wearing “Disco Sucks” shirts and accusing rock artists of selling outif they incorporated disco. The most famous event that validated the anti-disco movement was“The Day Disco Died;” July 12, 1979. Disco Demolition Night was a promotional event held bythe Chicago White Sox during an evening game, where a collection of disco records and albumswas brought to center field and blown up.
But, as the aforementioned saying goes: “What’s old is new.” In the past 47 years, disco has beenvalidated and accepted as a stable form of dance music; it is sometimes played as a reactionagainst the recent emergence of house and trap music. Proponents claim that the cleanness ofdisco makes it a unifying form of music that people can all dance to, without the use of explicitlyrics.
Interestingly enough, there are frequent instances of “Lay All Your Love On Me” blasting out ofthe windows of Eaton Street houses; the basements of club formals singing along to “Don’t GoBreaking My Heart;” and student bands who try to play “September” onstage at McPhail’s.What’s old will always be new; it is with the cyclical qualities of music that genres that werewidely hated, misunderstood, and rejected during their eras are always justified by the groove oftime.
Maybe this is a larger reflection on how the 2020s can be seen as a parallel to the 1970s:stagflation concerns, social polarization, bellbottom jeans in vogue, geopolitical instability,people on the moon, energy dependence, distrust in government, consumer exhaustion, and anew Star Wars movie being released in May. Who knows how our history will be told. If there isany incentive for a better decade, we only have four more years to come up with a dance that canrival The Watergate.
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