�Ļ�ӰԺ

Fall 2024

Talk to Explore Maternity Care Deserts

Hospitals have increasingly been closing maternity departments around the country, including in California. Stephanie Curtis, a certified nurse midwife and �Ļ�ӰԺ instructor of nursing, examines the issue of maternity care deserts in a �Ļ�ӰԺ Downtown Lecture, “Delivering in the Desert: The Impact of Maternity Ward Closures,” on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 5:30 p.m. at the, 631 Garden St., in downtown Santa Barbara. The talk is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations required. is available on the streets surrounding CAW or in nearby city parking lots. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051.

Curtis, who earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Florida, will draw from her personal experiences as a midwife in Central and Southern California. She’ll explore how these populations have been affected and the factors that may contribute to the suspension or termination of inpatient maternity care. She has been an instructor at �Ļ�ӰԺ Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing since 2023. 

“This growing problem is a symptom of major issues in health care delivery affecting several facilities that provide maternity services,” she says. “It contributes to health care disparities and often leaves those in marginalized communities with even less access to care — some having to drive 30-40 miles to get to a safe place to deliver their babies.”

�Ļ�ӰԺ Downtown: Conversations �Ļ�ӰԺ Things That Matter is a free lecture series sponsored by the �Ļ�ӰԺ Foundation, which also sponsors the annual �Ļ�ӰԺ President’s Breakfast in late February.

Talk Offers ‘Faith-Based Principles for Pluralist Democracy’

Jesse Covington, whose research explores the interrelation of religion and government, takes a step away from the current electoral matchup to look at enduring challenges Christians face in a context like the United States. He discusses “Hopeful Realism: Faith-Based Principles for Pluralist Democracy” at a �Ļ�ӰԺ Downtown Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden St., in downtown Santa Barbara. 

The talk is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations required. Free parking is available on the streets surrounding CAW or in nearby city parking lots. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051.  

“Christian citizens can experience tension in their political activity, particularly when their moral commitments seem at odds with the tenets of a pluralist democracy — at times to such an extent that they feel they have to choose between the two,” says Covington, professor of political science and director of �Ļ�ӰԺ’s Augustinian Scholars Program. “But this need not be the case,” he contends.

The talk will draw on a forthcoming book by Covington, Bryan McGraw and Micah Watson that explores how the Christian intellectual tradition can help with this tension. “Hopeful Realism: Evangelical Natural Law and Democratic Politics,” which will be available for purchase in January, shows how the insights of St. Augustine of Hippo, in concert with the Christian natural law tradition, can provide vital guidance for Christians in politics today.

Covington earned a master’s and doctorate in political science from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in religion from Westminster Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University.

He contributed to the book “Concepts of Nature: Ancient and Modern” and co-edited “Natural Law and Evangelical Political Thought.”

�Ļ�ӰԺ Downtown: Conversations �Ļ�ӰԺ Things That Matter is a free lecture series sponsored by the �Ļ�ӰԺ Foundation, which also sponsors the annual �Ļ�ӰԺ President’s Breakfast in late February.