Brandon Bruce

Carpe diem.

Cast Your Vote in "My Next Journey" Contest

My mom, Kathryn Bruce, is a finalist in Tauck's "My Next Journey" vacation contest.  Tauck recently invited readers of The New Yorker magazine to write about their dream vacation journey. The contest attracted more than 400 entries from readers who wrote about a journey they would like to take. Here is my mom's poignant and beautifully written entry:

"I was a child armchair-traveler. Not that I preferred it that way. I dreamed of flying off to Africa to see firsthand Thika’s flame trees and the thrilling hordes of exotic animals. But a first flight at sixteen, Omaha to Chicago, and study abroad in Europe, were all a Midwest girl of modest means could manage. And so I became an adult armchair-traveler. Marriage, work, children, all conspired to make life fulfilling but stationary. I contented myself to soar with Isak Dinesen and only dream of Africa. Then, oh so suddenly, I became a late-middle-aged armchair-traveler. Empty nest, young widowhood, and early retirement bequeathed a bittersweet promise of renewed wanderlust. Yet, the future provides all but certainty. A routine test forged the crucible for every dream I had nurtured. Staring down a year’s treatment for breast cancer, I grasped at any reward that might help me endure. Africa. My successful treatments completed, time came to book the trip. I balked. Hairlessness, fatigue, emotional vulnerability—could I count on being free from these? Six months have passed: I will not be an armchair-traveler! Africa beckons. In every way, I am ready for my next journey."

Cast your vote for my mom, Kathryn Bruce.

Faithful Revolution: How Voice of the Faithful is Changing the Church

Faithfulrevolution

Faithful Revolution: How Voice of the Faithful is Changing the Church by Tricia Colleen Bruce is scheduled to be published by Oxford University Press in February 2011.  It is my wife's first book!  

It is available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Oxford University Press.

Here is a brief description:

In January 2002, investigative reporting at the Boston Globe set off a wave of revelations regarding child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and the transferring of abusive priests from parish to parish. Public allegations against clergy reached unprecedented levels; one Bishop would later refer to the period as ''our 9/11.'' Reeling from a growing awareness of abuse within their Church, a small group of Catholics gathered after Mass in the basement of a parish in Wellesley, Massachusetts to mourn and react. They began to mobilize around supporting victims of abuse, supporting non-abusive priests, and advocating for structural change in the Catholic Church so that abuse would no longer occur. Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) built a movement by harnessing the faith and fury of a nation of Catholics shocked by reports of abuse and institutional complicity. Some 30,000 around the United States formally joined the VOTF movement to reform the Catholic Church.

Faithful Revolution offers an in-depth look at the development of Voice of the Faithful and their struggle to challenge Church leaders, advocate for internal change, and be accepted as legitimately Catholic while doing so. In a study based on three years of field observation and interviews with VOTF founders, leaders, and participants in settings throughout the U.S., Bruce shows the contested nature of a religious movement operating within a bounded institutional space. Guided by the stories of individual participants, this book brings to light the intense identity negotiations that accompany a challenge to one's own religion. Faithful Revolution offers a meaningful and accessible way to learn about Catholic identity, intra-institutional social movements, and the complexity of institutional structures.

Faithful Revolution makes a critical contribution to scholarship on social movements by furthering and clarifying the literature on social movements operating within institutions.  It shows how culture can shape collective identities, influence tactical choices, and enhance or stifle the effectiveness of a movement.  

Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter One: The Beginning 
Chapter Two: Banned
Chapter Three: Supporting Survivors
Chapter Four: Moving Beyond Abuse
Chapter Five: Collective Memories
Chapter Six: On Being Catholic
Chapter Seven: The Salience of Culture
Chapter Eight: A Bounded Repertoire
Chapter Nine: Social Movements, Institutions, and Religion
Conclusion
Appendix: Methodology
Notes
Works Cited

240 pages; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4;
ISBN13: 978-0-19-538584-7
ISBN10: 0-19-538584-5

Tricia Bruce holds a BA in sociology from Southwestern University and PhD in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).  She is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Maryville College.  She was previously a Research Assistant Professor at Georgetown University at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).  

The New Yorker: "The Big Secret"

The September 13, 2010 issue of The New Yorker magazine features a letter written by my mom, Kathryn Bruce, titled "The Big Secret."  It is a response to Nancy Franklin's review of the new TV series "The Big C" on Showtime.  I'm very proud of you, Mom!

The Big Secret
A letter in response to Nancy Franklin’s article (August 16 & 23, 2010)
by Kathryn Bruce

Old Mortality
Laughing, a little, at death, in “The Big C.”
by Nancy Franklin

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