The Thomistic Institute

Professor Thomas Hibbs discusses the importance of beauty in contemporary culture, drawing upon Emily Dickinson, Charles Taylor, Iris Murdoch, and Jacques Maritain to explore how beauty can unself us, enhance our understanding of truth, and connect us to something transcendent.

This lecture was given on September 12th, 2024, at University of Pittsburgh.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served for 16 years as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College.  At Baylor he was also the inaugural director of Baylor in Washington, D.C. where he currently runs a summer program on Religion and Social Life.   He has served as department chair at Boston College and as president of the University of Dallas.

Hibbs has published more than thirty scholarly articles, the most recent of which is “Aquinas and Black Natural Law.”

He has published eight books, the most recent of which is Theology of Creation: Ecology, Art, and Laudato Si’ (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023).  He has also published two books on film and philosophy and one book on art. He has published more than 100 reviews and discussion articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues including First Things, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review.  He writes regularly for The Dallas Morning News. 

Hibbs’ lectures have been protested by nihilists at Boston University and by communists in Palermo, Sicily.

Keywords: Aesthetics, Anscombe, Beauty, Charles Taylor, Emily Dickinson, Iris Murdoch, Jacques Maritain, Maritain, Murdoch, Thomas Aquinas

Why do human beings desire knowledge? Why should YOU care about philosophy? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Therese Cory about the role of wonder in philosophy, the right temperament with which to approach philosophy, how philosophy educators can awaken the desire to understand in their students, how to create space for healthy discourse, and what the future of philosophical conversations could look like.

You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfCuyMjWa2Q.

About the speaker:

Therese Scarpelli Cory is the John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Her work focuses on medieval theories of mind, cognition, and personhood, with special focus on the thought of Thomas Aquinas and his thirteenth-century interlocutors. She serves on the executive committee of the "Aquinas and the Arabs Project" and is also a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, appointed by Pope Francis in 2019.

This project/publication was made possible through the support of Grant 63391 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Keywords: Aristotle, Curiositas, Desire To Know, Intellect, Philosophy, Saint Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Therese Cory, Wonder

This lecture was Fr. Philip Neri Reese explores truth and goodness in fantasy literature through a Thomistic lens, paying special attention to the difference between classical fantasy and the "grimdark" subgenre (epitomized by Game of Thrones).

This lecture was given on November 2nd, 2024, at Thomistic Institute in Limerick.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Philip-Neri Reese, O.P. is a Dominican Friar of the Province of St. Joseph and a professor of philosophy at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (the Angelicum), where he also serves as the assistant director of the Angelicum Thomistic Institute. Though his scholarly research mainly focuses on metaphysics (especially the scholastic metaphysics of St. Thomas and his later interpreters), he has also published on ethics, economics, Christology, and philosophical anthropology.

Keywords: Fantasy Literature, Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin, Glenn Cook, Goodness, Grimdark, J.R.R. Tolkien, Literature Subgenres, Thomistic Philosophy, Truth

This lecture was given on October 22nd, 2024, at University of North Texas.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served for 16 years as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College.  At Baylor he was also the inaugural director of Baylor in Washington, D.C. where he currently runs a summer program on Religion and Social Life.   He has served as department chair at Boston College and as president of the University of Dallas.

Hibbs has published more than thirty scholarly articles, the most recent of which is “Aquinas and Black Natural Law.” He has published eight books, the most recent of which is Theology of Creation: Ecology, Art, and Laudato Si’ (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023).  He has also published two books on film and philosophy and one book on art. He has published more than 100 reviews and discussion articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues including First Things, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review.  He writes regularly for The Dallas Morning News. 

Hibbs’ lectures have been protested by nihilists at Boston University and by communists in Palermo, Sicily.

This lecture was given on February 24th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Michael Gorman is professor of philosophy at The Catholic University of America. He has doctorates in philosophy and theology. He has authored over thirty academic papers and a book entitled Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Hypostatic Union (Cambridge University Press, 2017). His main interests are metaphysics, human nature, and ethics.

This lecture was given on April 20th, 2024, St. Albert's Priory.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, O.P. is a Dominican friar of the Western Province. Originally from Oregon, he converted to the Catholic faith in high school. He went on to study applied physics for seven years before joining the Dominican Order. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2009, and was then sent by the Order to study philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. In 2019 he moved to Houston and now teaches philosophy at the University of St. Thomas.

This lecture was given on March 21st, 2024, at University of Virginia.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Kevin Hart is the Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Theology at the University of Virginia. He has given the Gifford Lectures at Glasgow University (2019-23), the Gilson Lectures at the Institut Catholique de Paris (2019), and the Thomas Aquinas Lecture at the University of Dallas (2019). Among his many books are Kingdoms of God (Indiana UP, 2014) and Poetry and Revelation (Bloomsbury, 2017), Lands of Likeness: For a Poetics of Contemplation (Chicago UP, 2023) and Contemplation: The Movements of the Soul (Columbia UP, 2024). He is the editor of The Bible and Western Christian Literature, vol. 5 (T. and T. Clark, 2024).

This lecture was given on April 30th, 2024, at University of Oxford.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. (Dominican House of Studies) is from Pennsylvania and graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He previously served as the Assistant Director of Campus Outreach for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC, and associate pastor of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught at Bellarmine University. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies and an Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He is a contributor on the Pints with Aquinas show and a co-host of the Catholic Classics podcast.

Fr. Gregory is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022) and co-author with Matt Fradd of Marian Consecration With Aquinas: A Nine Day Path for Growing Closer to the Mother of God (TAN Books, 2020).

This lecture was given on April 4th, 2024, at United States Military Academy.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017).

This lecture was given on September 23rd, 2024, at University of Edinburgh.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017).

This lecture was given on April 26th, 2024, at University of California, Berkeley.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Tomás Bogardus earned his BS in biology at UC San Diego, his MA in philosophy at Biola University, and his PhD in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He works mainly in metaphysics and epistemology, and is most interested in the mind-body problem, the rationality of religious belief, and the nature of gender.

This lecture was given on October 11th, 2024, at Thomistic Institute in New York City.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Gabriel Torretta was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, the youngest of four children. He was raised Presbyterian and converted to Catholicism in high school. He attended Arizona State University, where he earned a B.A. in Japanese, after which he entered a PhD program at Columbia University in pre-modern Japanese literature. He joined the Dominicans after three years there, having earned an M.A. and an M.Phil. “I entered the Order of Preachers because of Dominicans I met at Columbia University, who showed me the face of Christ as I had never known Him; ever since then I have believed that God is calling me to do the same for others.”

This lecture was given on October 15th, 2024, at Mississippi State University.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. John Mark Solitario is from St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in West Springfield, MA and the eldest of four children. After attending Catholic schools through high school, he earned his bachelor of arts from Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. Desiring to contribute to Catholic education, he was admitted to the PACT (Providence Alliance of Catholic Teachers) Program at Providence College where he completed a Masters of Education and taught high school in Lowell, MA for two years. He credits his growth in the Catholic Faith and inspiration to live it fully to outstanding teachers and role models, among them not a few Dominicans—priests, sisters, and lay. “From the time I met the Order, I aspired to the Dominican ideal of contemplation followed by a generous sharing of the fruits of that encounter with God. I have found this ideal realized and sustained within the fraternal life of the Province of St. Joseph.”

This lecture was given on October 9th, 2024, at Universidad Panamericana Campus Mixcoac.

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About the Speaker:

Robert C. (“Rob”) Koons is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, M. A. Oxford, Ph.D. UCLA. He is the author or co-author of five books, including The Atlas of Reality with Timothy H. Pickavance (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017) and Is Thomas’s Aristotelian Philosophy of Nature Obsolete? (St. Augustine Press, 2022). He is the co-editor of four anthologies, including The Waning of Materialism (OUP, 2010) and Classical Theism (Routledge 2023).  He has been working recently on an Aristotelian interpretation of quantum theory, on defending and articulating hylomorphism in contemporary terms, and on interpreting and defending Thomas's Five Ways.

This lecture was given on April 11th, 2024, at University of North Texas.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Raymond Hain is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of the Humanities Program at Providence College in Providence, RI. Educated at Christendom College, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Oxford, he is the founder of the PC Humanities Forum and Humanities Reading Seminars and is responsible for the strategic development of the Humanities Program into a vibrant, world class center of teaching, research, and cultural life dedicated to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. His scholarly interests include the history of ethics (especially St. Thomas Aquinas), applied ethics (especially medical ethics and the ethics of architecture), Alexis de Tocqueville, and philosophy and literature (especially Catholic aesthetics). His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Templeton Foundation, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Charles Koch Foundation. His essays have appeared in various journals and collections including The Thomist, International Journal of Applied Philosophy, and The Anthem Companion to Tocqueville. He is the editor of Beyond the Self: Virtue Ethics and the Problem of Culture and is currently working on a monograph titled The Lover and the Prophet: An Essay in Catholic Aesthetics. He joined Providence College in 2011 and lives just across the street with his wife Dominique and their five children.

This lecture was given on November 2nd, 2024, at St. Albert's Priority.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Heereman was born and raised in Germany. Originally trained to become a lawyer and after completing her bar exam, she experienced a deep encounter with the Lord which led her to consecrate her life to the study and teaching of the Word of God. She subsequently attended the ICPE school of Evangelization in India, Banglore, and studied theology in Frankfurt and Rome. She received an STB from the Pontifical Gregorian University, an SSL from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and the SSD from the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem and the Université de Fribourg. She has taught as a visiting professor at the Collège des Bernhardins in Paris, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, the DSPT in Berkley, and is currently Associate Professor for Sacred Scripture at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University. Her scholarly interests include a reintegration of Exegesis with Systematic and Spiritual Theology. She is the author of Behold King Solomon on the Day of His Wedding (Leuven: Peeters, 2021), and Athirst for the Spirit (Steubenville: Emmaus Press, 2023).

Fr. Jordan Schmidt discusses the importance of embodying wisdom according to Proverbs and Sirach, emphasizing that wisdom is not an individual pursuit but a communal endeavor that involves sharing and disseminating wisdom within the community.

This lecture was given on November 2nd, 2024, at St. Albert's Priority.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events

About the Speaker:

Fr. Jordan Schmidt graduated with a BA in English and Philosophy from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN in 2002. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2005 and after completing his theological studies (STL and Mdiv), he was ordained a priest in 2012. Fr. Jordan initially served as associate pastor of St Mary’s parish in New Haven, CT, and subsequently returned to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC to pursue doctoral studies at CUA, ultimately earning his PhD in biblical studies in 2018. He is currently an assistant professor of Sacred Scripture at the PFIC where he teaches various Old Testament courses, including survey courses on the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Wisdom literature as well as seminar courses on biblical inspiration, eschatology and apocalyptic literature, theological history, and creation theology.

Father Jordan Schmidt discusses the concept of wisdom in Catholic theology, focusing on its definition, its relationship to knowledge, and how it can be acquired and exercised through the study of scripture, particularly wisdom literature in the Bible.

This lecture was given on November 1st, 2024, at St. Albert's Priority.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Jordan Schmidt graduated with a BA in English and Philosophy from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN in 2002.  He entered the Order of Preachers in 2005 and after completing his theological studies (STL and Mdiv), he was ordained a priest in 2012. Fr. Jordan initially served as associate pastor of St Mary’s parish in New Haven, CT,  and subsequently returned to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC to pursue doctoral studies at CUA, ultimately earning his PhD in biblical studies in 2018.  He is currently an assistant professor of Sacred Scripture at the PFIC where he teaches various Old Testament courses, including survey courses on the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Wisdom literature as well as seminar courses on biblical inspiration, eschatology and apocalyptic literature, theological history, and creation theology. 

Professor Nina Sophie Heereman explores the tradition of using wisdom texts, such as Proverbs 8 and Sirach 24, in Marian devotion, tracing this practice back to the patristic age. She argues that these texts, which describe wisdom as a pre-existent figure closely associated with God, are applied to Mary because she is seen as embodying the virtues and attributes of divine wisdom.

This lecture was given on November 2nd, 2024, at St. Albert's Priority.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Heereman was born and raised in Germany. Originally trained to become a lawyer and after completing her bar exam, she experienced a deep encounter with the Lord which led her to consecrate her life to the study and teaching of the Word of God. She subsequently attended the ICPE school of Evangelization in India, Banglore, and studied theology in Frankfurt and Rome.  She received an STB from the Pontifical Gregorian University, an SSL from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and the SSD from the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem and the Université de Fribourg. She has taught as a visiting professor at the Collège des Bernhardins in Paris, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, the DSPT in Berkley, and is currently Associate Professor for Sacred Scripture at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University. Her scholarly interests include a reintegration of Exegesis with Systematic and Spiritual Theology. She is the author of Behold King Solomon on the Day of His Wedding (Leuven: Peeters, 2021), and Athirst for the Spirit (Steubenville: Emmaus Press, 2023).

Sr. Elinor Gardner begins by examining Clarence Darrow's essay "The Myth of the Soul," which argues that belief in the soul is neither necessary nor desirable. She then delves into what Plato and Aristotle have to say about the soul, contrasting their different understandings on the nature of the soul and its fate after death. Sr. Gardner concludes by discussing the Christian understanding of the soul, evidenced by the testimony of the apostles regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This lecture was given on September 21st, 2024, at University of South Florida.

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About the Speaker:

Sister Elinor Gardner, O.P., is Affiliate Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dallas. Prior to arriving at UD, she taught at Aquinas College (Nashville, TN) and at The Catholic University of America, and spent one year assisting in formation at her Congregation’s Novitiate. She has a PhD from Boston College with a doctorate titled “St Thomas Aquinas on the Death Penalty.” Besides the ethical and political philosophy of Aquinas, her other research interests include the Christian anthropology of Robert Spaemann and Edith Stein.

What does it really mean to say the world is "created," according to St. Thomas Aquinas? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Dr. William Carroll about what "creation" really means, St. Thomas Aquinas on creation and time, cosmology, understanding science and creation, the harmony of science and faith, and more!

You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mZIcosauUU.

About the speaker: Professor William E. Carroll has recently retired from research and teaching at the Aquinas Institute of Blackfriars in the University of Oxford. For the past two years he has been a Visiting Professor at the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (Wuhan, China), and at the Hongyi Honor College of Wuhan University. He is a European intellectual historian and historian of science whose research and teaching concern: 1) the reception of Aristotelian science in mediaeval Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and the development of the doctrine of creation, and 2) the encounter between Galileo and the Inquisition. He has also written extensively on the ways in which mediaeval discussions of the relationship among the natural sciences, philosophy, and theology can be useful in contemporary questions arising from developments in biology and cosmology.

He is the author of four books: Aquinas on Creation; La Creación y las Ciencias Naturales: Actualidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino; Galileo: Science and Faith; and Creation and Science (with translations in Slovak, Spanish, and Chinese). His published work has appeared in 12 languages.

Over many years he has written more than 25 op-ed pieces for Public Discourse, the web site of the Witherspoon Institute at Princeton.

This project/publication was made possible through the support of Grant 63391 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Fr. Gregory Pine discusses the pitfalls of undisciplined thinking, advocating for a return to structured thought guided by the Catholic intellectual tradition, particularly the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas. He highlights how Aquinas offers a coherent and organized approach to reality that integrates faith and reason, helping Catholics make sense of their experiences and choices.

This lecture was given on October 3rd, 2024, at University of Michigan.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. (Dominican House of Studies) is from Pennsylvania and graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He previously served as the Assistant Director of Campus Outreach for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC, and associate pastor of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught at Bellarmine University. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies and an Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He is a contributor on the Pints with Aquinas show and a co-host of the Catholic Classics podcast.

Fr. Gregory is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022) and co-author with Matt Fradd of Marian Consecration With Aquinas: A Nine Day Path for Growing Closer to the Mother of God (TAN Books, 2020).

Dr. R.J. Snell explores the contemporary Western world's struggle with disenchantment, loneliness, and lack of purpose, exemplified through Elena Ferrante's fiction. He contrasts this with the Christian concept of personhood, derived from Trinitarian theology, which emphasizes communion and the diffusion of goodness. Snell suggests practical ways to recover a sense of communion and meaning, particularly through observing the Sabbath and engaging in study and storytelling.

This lecture was given on October 18th, 2024, at Thomistic Institute in New York City.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

R. J. Snell is Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, NJ. He has been a visiting instructor at Princeton University, where he is also executive director of the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Life. He's written books and articles on Natural Law, Education, Bernard Lonergan, Boredom, Subjectivity, and Sexual Ethics for a variety of publications.

Professor Candace Vogler examines Thomas Aquinas' approach to virtue, highlighting how it differs from Aristotle's while still building upon his work. She explains the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, courage, and temperance) and their role in correcting human flaws. The lecture also delves into the distinction between acquired virtues, which are cultivated through human effort, and infused virtues, which are divinely bestowed.

This lecture was given on November 6th, 2023, at The University of Texas at Austin.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Candace Vogler is the David B. and Clare E. Stern Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago. Her primary area of research is moral philosophy, with special emphasis on virtue and practical reason.  She draws extensively from work by G. E. M. ('Elizabeth') Anscombe, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant, and sometimes she teaches work by John Stuart Mill.  She also works on psychoanalysis (primarily Freudian work and the work of Jacques Lacan), and at the intersections of philosophy and literature and philosophy and film.  Vogler is interested in questions about the highest good, about sin, and about moral self-improvement. 

Professor Thomas Hibbs and Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau discuss the importance of friendship and social life from a Thomistic perspective, highlighting the decline in friendships in modern society and the philosophical insights of Aristotle and Aquinas on the nature of human relationships.

This lecture was given on June 29th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served for 16 years as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College. At Baylor he was also the inaugural director of Baylor in Washington, D.C. where he currently runs a summer program on Religion and Social Life. He has served as department chair at Boston College and as president of the University of Dallas.

A native of Louisiana, Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P., entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2005. After several years of pastoral work in New York City, Fr. Guilbeau began doctoral studies in moral theology at the University of Fribourg, where he completed a dissertation on St. Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of the common good. Currently, Fr. Guilbeau serves as the University Chaplain and Vice President for Ministry and Mission at The Catholic University of America.

Professor Michael Foley discusses how to "drink like a saint" by outlining five principles: moderation, gratitude, memory, merriment, and ritual.

This lecture was given on March 9th, 2024, at Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Michael Foley is a Catholic theologian, a Professor of Patristics at Baylor University, and the author of over 400 articles and seventeen books, including the Politically Incorrect Guide to Christianity, Drinking with the Saints, and Dining with the Saints. He can speak on a wide variety of topics touching upon Catholicism, culture, and liturgy.

Professor Michael Foley examines the idea of honorable festivity, demonstrating how human culture elevates the basic act of eating into a dramatic, artistic experience. He then explores how Catholic tradition further transforms this cultural practice, particularly through the Eucharist and traditional feast days. Finally, he addresses modern complications to honorable festivity, including the decline of family dinners, socio-economic segregation, and the moralization of food choices, offering potential solutions to these challenges.

This lecture was given on March 8th, 2024, at Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Michael Foley is a Catholic theologian, a Professor of Patristics at Baylor University, and the author of over 400 articles and seventeen books, including the Politically Incorrect Guide to Christianity, Drinking with the Saints, and Dining with the Saints. He can speak on a wide variety of topics touching upon Catholicism, culture, and liturgy.

Fr. Andrew Hofer discusses the significance of the Psalms in fostering a friendship with God, highlighting teachings from St. Athanasius and St. Thomas Aquinas on how the Psalms serve as a mirror to our souls and a means to experience divine friendship through prayer and contemplation.

This lecture was given on November 4th, 2023, at The Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics and ancient languages at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies where he serves as the director of the doctoral program. He authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (Catholic University of America, 2023). He co-authored A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life (Vianney Vocations, 2019). Editor-in-chief of the academic journal The Thomist, Hofer is editor or co-editor of several volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, and Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers. He enjoys speaking with students about their theological and spiritual questions.

Professor Michael Dickson examines the relationship between beauty and music, tracing the development of aesthetic theories from ancient Greek philosophers to modern thinkers. He critiques modernist approaches that dismiss beauty in art and architecture and advocates for a return to the "great theory of beauty" which emphasizes proportion, clarity, and integrity.

This lecture was given on February 20th, 2024, at University of South Carolina.

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About the Speaker:

Professor Michael Dickson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina. His research interests are in the philosophy of music, philosophy of psychiatry, and medieval philosophy. He has also worked in the philosophy of physics, especially quantum theory. He is the author of Quantum Chance and Nonlocality (1998).

Professor Michael Root delves into the theological debate surrounding justification by grace, a pivotal issue during the Protestant Reformation, emphasizing the differing interpretations between Protestant reformers like Martin Luther and Catholic theologians. After examining the historical perspectives and highlighting the differences he also discusses efforts to reconcile these views such as the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification signed by Lutherans and Catholics.

This lecture was given on February 3rd, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Michael Root is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. Earlier in life, he was a Lutheran, teaching at various Lutheran seminaries and serving ten years as a Research Professor at the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France. He was received into the Catholic Church in 2010. His particular theological interests lie in grace and justification, eschatology (death, heaven, hell, etc.), and Protestant-Catholic relations. 

This lecture was given on December 16th, 2023, at The Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.  He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017).

This lecture was given on March 13th, 2024, at New York University.

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About the Speaker:

Nathaniel Peters is the Director of the Morningside Institute. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College in linguistics, with a focus on French and Latin, his M.T.S. from the University of Notre Dame, and his Ph.D. in theology from Boston College. He has published articles and reviews on many topics in historical theology and ethics and serves as a contributing editor at Public Discourse.

This lecture was given on December 16th, 2023, at The Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.  He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017).

This lecture was given on December 15th, 2023, at The Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Thomas Joseph White is the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. Originally a native of southeastern Georgia in the US, Fr. White studied at Brown University, where he converted to Catholicism. He did his doctoral studies in theology at Oxford University, and is the author of various books and articles including Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology (Sapientia Press, 2011), The Incarnate Lord, A Thomistic Study in Christology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015) Exodus (Brazos Press, 2016), The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism (Catholic University Press, 2017), and The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (Catholic University Press, 2022). He is co-editor of the journal Nova et Vetera, a Distinguished Scholar of the McDonald Agape Foundation, and a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. 

This lecture was given on June 10th, 2024, at the Catholic University of America.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics and ancient languages at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies where he serves as the director of the doctoral program. He authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (Catholic University of America, 2023). He co-authored A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life (Vianney Vocations, 2019). Editor-in-chief of the academic journal The Thomist, Hofer is editor or co-editor of several volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, and Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers. He enjoys speaking with students about their theological and spiritual questions.

This lecture was given on September 15th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Stephen Meredith (University of Chicago) is a professor of Pathology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Neurology. He is also an associate faculty member in the University of Chicago Divinity School. He has published more than 100 journal articles, focusing on the biophysics of protein structure. Much of his work has been the application of solution and solid-state NMR to the study of amyloid proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease. His teaching includes courses to graduate students in biochemistry and biophysics, medical students, and undergraduates and graduate students in the humanities, including courses on James Joyce’s Ulysses, St. Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Dostoevsky (focusing on Brothers Karamazov), Thomas Mann and David Foster Wallace. He is currently working on a book examining disease and the theological problem of evil. Other current writing projects include a study of James Joyce and the problem of evil.

This lecture was given on October 4th, 2024, at Johns Hopkins University.

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About the Speaker:

Steven J Jensen, who holds the Bishop Nold Chair in Graduate Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas, Houston, teaches in The Center for Thomistic Studies. His fields of research include bioethics, moral psychology, the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, human nature, and natural law. He is the author of several books, including Living the Good Life: A Beginner’s Thomistic Ethics and The Human Person: A Beginner’s Thomistic Psychology.

This lecture was given on September 6th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Kevin L. Flannery, S.J., is professor of the history of ancient philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University and serves as a consultor of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. His main publications include Ways into the Logic of Alexander of Aphrodisias (Brill, 1995) and Acts Amid Precepts: the Aristotelian Logical Structure of Thomas Aquinas’s Moral Theory (Catholic University of America Press; T & T Clark, 2001).

This lecture was given on October 25th, 2024, at Virginia Military Institute.

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About the Speaker:

Dr. Trabbic is an associate professor of philosophy at Ave Maria University in Florida where he has taught since 2006. His areas of interest include metaphysics, moral philosophy, philosophy of religion, the relationship between religion and politics, Aquinas, Heidegger, and postmodern philosophy. He has published articles on these topics in various academic and popular journals.

This lecture was given on March 3rd, 2024, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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About the Speaker:

Sister Elinor Gardner, O.P., is Affiliate Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dallas. Prior to arriving at UD, she taught at Aquinas College (Nashville, TN) and at The Catholic University of America, and spent one year assisting in formation at her Congregation’s Novitiate. She has a PhD from Boston College with a doctorate titled “St Thomas Aquinas on the Death Penalty.” Besides the ethical and political philosophy of Aquinas, her other research interests include the Christian anthropology of Robert Spaemann and Edith Stein.

What exactly is just war theory? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Joseph Capizzi about the criteria for just war, the complexity of forgiveness in war, and post-war reconciliation and healing.

You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/TlumHTSOFjU.

About the speaker:

Joseph E. Capizzi is Dean of Theology at the Catholic University of America. He teaches in the areas of social and political theology, with special interests in issues in peace and war, citizenship, political authority, and Augustinian theology. He has written, lectured, and published widely on just war theory, bioethics, the history of moral theology, and political liberalism.

This lecture was given on November 8th, 2023, at Ave Maria University

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events

About the Speaker:

Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.  He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017).

This lecture was given on November 13th, 2023, at East Carolina University.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events

About the Speaker:

Farr Curlin is the Josiah C. Trent Professor of Medical Humanities and CoDirector of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative (TMC) at Duke University. Dr. Curlin’s ethics scholarship takes up moral questions that are raised by religion associated differences in physicians’ practices. He is an active palliative medicine physician and holds appointments in both the School of Medicine and the Divinity School, where he is working with colleagues to develop a new interdisciplinary community of scholarship and training focused on the intersection of theology, medicine, and culture.

This lecture was given on January 9th, 2024, at North Carolina State University.

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About the Speaker:

Sister Elinor Gardner, O.P., is Affiliate Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dallas. Prior to arriving at UD, she taught at Aquinas College (Nashville, TN) and at The Catholic University of America, and spent one year assisting in formation at her Congregation’s Novitiate. She has a PhD from Boston College with a doctorate titled “St Thomas Aquinas on the Death Penalty.” Besides the ethical and political philosophy of Aquinas, her other research interests include the Christian anthropology of Robert Spaemann and Edith Stein.

This lecture was given on April 5th, 2024, at University of South Carolina.

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About the Speaker:

Paul Gondreau is professor of theology at Providence College, where he has taught for 26 years. He received his doctorate in theology from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, doing his dissertation on Christ's full humanity (Christ's human passions/emotions) under the renowned Thomist scholar Jean-Pierre Torrell. He specializes in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and has published widely in the areas of Christology (focusing on Christ’s full humanity and his maleness), Christian anthropology, the moral meaning and purpose of human sexuality and sexual difference, the biblical vision of Aquinas' theology, the theology of disability, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the priesthood, and the Catholic vision of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. 

This lecture was given on October 19th, 2023, at Georgetown University.

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About the Speaker:

Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel is a member of the St. Cecilia Congregation of Dominican Sisters of Nashville, Tennessee. She has been active in her religious community’s teaching apostolate for over fifteen years and assists with the theological formation of the newest members of her religious congregation, serving as Associate Professor of Theology at Aquinas College. In addition to contributing articles to a number of journals and magazines, including the Vatican newspaper (L’Osservatore Romano), The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, The Linacre Quarterly, and the Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, her favorite projects have been serving as editor-in-chief of her Congregation’s book, Praying as a Family, directing a television series of the same title with EWTN, co-directing the documentary Undivided Heart, and serving as the creator and founding Director of the University of Dallas Studies in Catholic Faith & Culture Program.

This lecture was given on February 20th, 2024, at Regent University.

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About the Speaker:

Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at Boston College. He loves his five grandchildren, four children, one wife, one cat, and one God.  He has written over 100 books including: Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Christianity for Modern Pagans, and Fundamentals of the Faith.

This lecture was given on March 20th, 2024, at University of Texas at El Paso.

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About the Speaker:

Robert C. (“Rob”) Koons is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, M. A. Oxford, Ph.D. UCLA. He is the author or co-author of five books, including The Atlas of Reality with Timothy H. Pickavance (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017) and Is Thomas’s Aristotelian Philosophy of Nature Obsolete? (St. Augustine Press, 2022). He is the co-editor of four anthologies, including The Waning of Materialism (OUP, 2010) and Classical Theism (Routledge 2023).  He has been working recently on an Aristotelian interpretation of quantum theory, on defending and articulating hylomorphism in contemporary terms, and on interpreting and defending Thomas's Five Ways.

This lecture was given on April 4th, 2024, at Fordham University.

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About the Speaker:

Patrick Callahan is director of the Newman Institute for Catholic Thought & Culture as well as Assistant Professor of English and Humanities at St. Gregory the Great Seminary. There he directs and teaches in a Great Books Catholic program for students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and other regional colleges. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Dallas and his graduate work at Fordham University in Classics. He lives in Lincoln, NE with his wife and 5 children.

This lecture was given on January 29th, 2024, at Oxford University.

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About the Speaker:

Valentina Duca (1980) is a postdoctoral reseacher at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, where she is a member of the Research Unit Biblical Studies and LOCEOC (The Louvain Centre for Eastern and Oriental Christianity).

Her research mostly focuses on 7-8th century East-Syriac mysticism, explored through the original Syriac sources. Her research interests include Syriac and Eastern Christian monastic literature, Syriac translations of Greek spiritual authors, but also Biblical reception in mystical sources and ascetic reflection in Eastern and Western Christian texts.