Jack Downey
John Henry Newman Professor of Roman Catholic Studies, Professor of Religion and Classics | University of Rochester
Rochester, NY, UNITED STATES
Downey studies self-immolation as reistance, forms of protest, Roman Catholicism
Areas of Expertise (9)
Civil Disobedience
Social Justice
Christianity
Roman Catholicism
self-immolation
Catholic Church
Catholics
Protest Movements
North American religious history
Media
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Links (1)
Biography
Jack Downey teaches courses on contemporary justice movements, liberation theologies, North American religious history, Christianity, Buddhism, and contemplative traditions. Dr. Downey arrived at the University of Rochester from Philadelphia, where he was Associate Professor of Religion and Theology at La Salle University. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Theology at Fordham University, and is the author of The Bread of the Strong, a study of contemplative influences on Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement. His current research projects examine self-immolation, forms of protest, violence, Roman Catholicism in Alaska and Québec, and asceticism.
Education (1)
Fordham University: PhD 2012
Selected Media Appearances (4)
Native American children endured years of sexual abuse at boarding schools
Washington Post print
2024-05-30
Two researchers, Jack Downey of the University of Rochester and Kathleen Holscher of the University of New Mexico, later used that list and other Jesuit lists to map the priests’ assignments. They found 47 priests accused of abuse who had been assigned to Catholic missions in Native American communities. The Post’s investigation, which reviewed their data and other records, identified the boarding schools where those priests worked and found 75 additional abusers.
Jack Downey: Family tragedy channeled into a passion for social justice
University of Rochester online
2023-10-23
The associate professor of religion helps shape the perspectives of his undergraduates not only at the University, but also at area prisons.
The History of Self-Immolation as Political Protest
Time print
2024-02-26
A U.S. airman died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 25 in order to protest what he called a “genocide” of Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war. Aaron Bushnell’s action is part of a long and controversial history of self-immolation as political protest.
Why self-immolation has been used by political protesters for decades
NPR radio
2024-02-27
Jack Downey, a professor of religious studies at the University of Rochester who researches self-immolation protests, says there has always been a question about whether self-immolation is such an extreme form of protest that it distracts from the protest's message.
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