Jan. 27, 2024
C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
Jan. 22, 2024 Public Lecture: Tyler VanderWeele
Monday, January 22nd
6:30 - 8:00pm ET
Join us for this online lecture on human flourishing by Prof. Tyler J. VanderWeele, Ph.D., John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director of the Human Flourishing Program and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Religion and Spirituality at Harvard University.
Many empirical studies in the social and biomedical sciences focus narrowly on individual outcomes like income or subjective feelings of happiness. Prof. VanderWeele, however, contends that human well-being or flourishing includes a broader range of conditions and outcomes, including sets of goods produced by and within communities. In fact, new empirical research indicates that participation in religious communities yields a range of health and well-being outcomes including longevity, mental health, happiness, meaning in life, marital stability, and others. Online registration is available here.
St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation Reading Group (Fall 2023)
For the past 2,000 years, Christians not only freely believe things and order their lives in ways that others likely may not, they also have a habit of asking questions and thinking seriously about things that others certainly do not. In honor of this tradition, this reading group returns to an early classic 4th century Christian text On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius of Alexandria (c.296-373), who asks and answers why God became one of us and dwelt among us. A light lunch will be provided and UVA students and faculty will receive a free copy of the text. There's always room for someone new, so register today!
November 9, 2023 Public Lecture
Gavin Flood
University of Oxford Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion
"Evolutionary Science, Religion, and Our Human Future"
The questions Why are we here? and What is the meaning of my life? are as fresh today as when they first were asked by our human ancestors thousands of years ago. Unlike modern secular accounts that sputter or leave us anesthesized, religious narratives have and continue to offer time-tested frameworks within which life's larger answers emerge and unfold in still surprising ways. But how can recent scientific developments, especially in evolutionary biology and cognitive neuroscience, deepen our understanding and appreciation of these religious narratives and their capacities to help us understand who we are and our shared human future? We've invited Prof. Flood back to UVA to guide our inquiry through and beyond these important questions.
All are invited to attend this free public lecture, so invite a friend or colleague or come to meet someone new.
This event is made possible through the support of grant #62372 from the John Templeton Foundation, “In Lumine: Promoting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on Campuses Nationwide." Cosponsored with the UVA Department of Religious Studies.
November 10, 2023 Seminar
Join us for a special seminar on:
"Bare Life, the Resurrection of the Body and Evangelium Vitae (1995) with Gavin Flood"
Although with different methods and evidentiary resources, traditional Catholic doctrine and the modern sciences of genetics and medicine both teach the special dignity and fragility of human life and the inherent care and justice due each human person. Both traditions of learning, however, have failed to stem the ever darkening distemper of our secularist age that routinely delimits personhood while wildly raging against life itself. How humanity entrapped ourselves in this sad, secular cul-de-sac and how we might begin to consider the philosophical, theological and political resources needed to find our way out is precisely what this seminar discussion aims to ask.
Interested participants are asked to register to ensure a seat and to read two common texts. EVERYONE is invited to attend—including “just listeners.”
Faith & Science Minicourse: Catholic Engagement with the Modern Sciences (Fall 2023)
Faith and Reason in the Modern University Minicourse (Fall 2023)
(Free!) Local Field Trip for UVA students
Holy Women of the Americas Lunch Discussion Series
September 17, 2023 (Online Public Lecture)
Bishop Robert Barron
"The Catholic Intellectual Tradition"
Missed this Event: watch it here.
The Catholic Intellectual Tradition offers an immensely rich, 2,000-year-old way of thinking about God, Nature, Society, and the Human Person. This tradition invites us to appreciate the historical continuity of the Church's beliefs and practices as well as the reality of the communion of holy men and women who have aided the Church in Her thinking across the ages. The Catholic intellectual tradition is not today's fleeting and disjointed stream of TikTok videos, but a fuller and more integrated way of seeking answers to our enduring questions about the Source and existence of all things visible and invisible as well as the meaning of our experiences and the purposes of our lives. The tradition's way of thinking flows from its Christology--that is, our understanding of who Jesus Christ is. As St. Bonaventure once summarized this central point: the Church began with the powerful experiences and wisdom of "simple fishermen, and it was enriched by distinguished and wise teachers" who carried the tradition forwarded, but it is Christ who was and is at the center of all knowledge, learning and wisdom, including every academic interest pursued within the modern university. In our highly fragmented world defined by its chaotic and ever-changing set of expressions, the Catholic intellectual tradition distinguishes itself from the alienation, disjointedness and popular noise of today by maintaining there is a common, unifying Source of every truth. This Source, as revealed in the Gospel of John, is Christ the Logos Who was “In the Beginning,” Who is the “Life” and “the Light that shines in the darkness” for “all humankind."
Co-sponsored with the Harvard Catholic Forum, the Collegium Institute @ UPenn, COLLIS Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture @ Cornell University, Nova Forum for Catholic Thought @ University of Southern California, and the Lumen Christi Institute @ University of Chicago.
June 5-11, 2023: Monastic Wisdom Seminar, "The Schola Caritatis"
The Lumen Christi Institute, the St. Anselm Institute and Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, a Trappistine monastery located near Crozet, Virginia are partnering for the first time to organize a retreat that explores the monastic wisdom tradition. The Trappistine Community at Crozet, Virginia lives according to a continual tradition of Christian monasticism with its roots in the Cistercian Tradition. This seminar will offer the possibility of not only learning the guiding principles that foster a good and balanced life according to the monastic tradition, but of putting them into practice, since it is experience alone that leads not only to correct understanding but to real wisdom.
After reading some core texts in the monastic tradition in advance, participants will then spend a week praying, working, reading, and learning from the Sisters during two daily conferences and other times of sharing and mutual exchange.
May 25, 2023 Seminar
We know we live in a world dominated by technology, big data, and predictive algorithms that few understand and even fewer design or control. Contemporary secular ethics has litte to say about our lack of agency, understanding or the collective and individual responsibilities we bear for the consequences of our modern world. Is Christianity and its life-affirming purposes simply mute about all of this, as if there's nothing for us to see or to consider about present or future conditions? Join us as we engage invited Catholic University of America Professor Paul Scherz on the most significant topic of his latest book. Tomorrow's Troubles: Risk, Anxiety, and Prudence in an Age of Algorithmic Governance.
Interested in joining this seminar, email Dr. Charles Kromkowski (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
This seminar is made possible through the support of ‘In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on Campuses Nationwide’ (Grant #62372) from the John Templeton Foundation.
2023 Catholic Novel Reading Group
Javier Herrero (1926-1923)
April 14, 2023: Holy Women of the Americas Lunch Discussion
St. Théodore Guérin (1798-1851)
Bring a friend and come to meet someone new as everyone is invited to join us for friendly conversation, a free lunch, and an introduction to the educational pioneer St. Theodore Guerin, a holy example of perseverance, ingenuity and missionary zeal despite family tragedies, personal health difficulties, and the resentful political, social and even ecclesiastical forces of her times.
Help us with the lunch order by registering today. We'll meet In UVA Bryan Hall-Room 235 on Friday, April 14 at 12:30pm for lunch, with discussion of Guerin's life and works beginning @ 1:00pm.
Questions? Please email Meaghan Brennan (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).