November 10, 1982

Irish philosopher, theologian and translator John Joseph O’Meara from University College Dublin, the Blegen Visiting Distinguished Research Professor, lectured on “St. Augustine’s Understanding of the Creation and Fall,” focusing on books eleven through thirteen of Confessions, in Taylor Hall. “Augustine’s text,” reported Catherine Lee ’83, “speaks of man, homo, or human beings as genus, rather than man, vir, the male sex…. O’Meara stressed Augustine’s sympathy for women, which made him exceptional in the context of his Roman upbringing.

“Professor O’Meara’s The Creation of Man in St. Augustine’s De Genesi Ad Literam was published by the Augustinian Institute in 1980.

The Blegen visiting professorship was established in 1975 in honor of Elizabeth Pierce Blegen ’10 and association with Vassar College by a bequest from her husband, classicist and archeologist Carl Blegen.