Science, Creation, & the Catholic Imagination
Fr. John KartjeMundelein Seminary/University of Saint Mary of the Lake
Michael P. MurphyLoyola University Chicago
Meghan SullivanUniversity of Notre Dame
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Faith and Reason
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Creation and Cosmology
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The Catholic Imagination
Listen to the lectures as podcast episodes. You can subscribe to the Lumen Christi Institute Podcast via our Soundcloud page, iTunes channel, Stitcher, TuneIn, ListenNotes, Podbean, Pocket Casts, and Google Play Music.
To view photos of the conference, visit Lumen Christi's Facebook page.
Have you ever wondered if science and religion can co-exist? Or whether it is rational (or irrational) to believe in God? How can the story of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis be reconciled with the Big Bang? Or with evolution? What does The Lord of the Rings have to do with Jesus? And what exactly is hillbilly thomism?
The intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church has been asking (and answering!) questions of this kind for two thousand years. If you are interested in discussing these questions with college professors, graduate students, and other high schoolers from all over Chicagoland, register below.
Sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute, the Archdiocese of Chicago Vocation Office, Relevant Radio, St. Ignatius College Prep, the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, Fenwick High School, and the Theology Club. This program is made possible by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
Open to current high school students. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are included. For any parents and chaperones who will be present, an optional lunchtime event will be held nearby at Gavin House (1220 East 58th Street) at 12:00pm. Lunch will be provided. If you are interested in participating in this lunchtime event, please indicate it on the registration page. Need-based scholarships are available upon request. Please contact us with any questions about this program.
A day-long conference for high school students to provide an introduction to the Catholic vision of intellectual life and culture. Students will listen to lectures by expert scholars, participate in break-out group discussions, meet and socialize with other high school students, and attend mass. More info, including a detailed schedule will be available soon.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
9 - 9:45 | Registration and Breakfast in Swift Common Room
9:45 – 10 | Opening Prayer
10 - 11 | Session 1: Lecture on Faith and Reason with Prof. Meghan Sullivan
11 - 11:15 | Break
11:15 - 12:15 | Session 2: Lecture on Cosmology and Creation with Fr. John Kartje
12:30 - 1:15 | Lunchtime discussion session
1:30 - 2:30 | Session 3: Lecture on the Catholic Imagination with Prof. Michael Murphy
2:45 – 3:15 | Scavenger Hunt*
3:15 – 4:15 | Afternoon discussion session
4:30 - 5:30 | Mass in Bond Chapel (this anticipatory mass fulfills the Sunday obligation)
5:30 - 6:30 | OPTIONAL closing reception
Parents and chaperones are invited to a lunchtime discussion with Dr. Chris Baglow of Notre Dame's Mcgrath Institute for Church Life, to be held at Gavin House (1220 E. 58th St).
Father John Kartje was appointed as rector/president of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in 2015. A native of East Chicago, Indiana, Father Kartje was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2002. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1987 from the University of Chicago. In 1995, the University of Chicago’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics conferred a Ph.D. degree on Father Kartje. In addition, he earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of America’s Department of Biblical Studies in 2010. Father Kartje has served as a faculty member at both the seminary and the Institute for Priestly Formation since 2009. He previously served as the director and chaplain of the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University from 2009 to 2013, at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Washington, D.C. from 2004 to 2009, and as associate pastor at St. Benedict Parish in Chicago from 2002 to 2004
Michael Murphy is Director of Catholic Studies and Director of Loyola’s Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage. He earned his doctorate in Theology, Literature, and Philosophy from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, an MA in English from San Francisco State University, and undergraduate degrees in English and Great Books from the University of San Francisco. His research interests are in Theology and Literature, Sacramental Theology, and the socio-political cultures of Catholicism, but he also writes about issues in eco-theology and social ethics. Dr. Murphy, an Advanced Lecturer in the Theology Department, is a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow. His first book, A Theology of Criticism (Oxford), was named a "Distinguished Publication" in 2008 by the American Academy of Religion.
Meghan Sullivan is a Professor of Philosophy and the Rev. John A. O’Brien Collegiate Chair at the University of Notre Dame. She also serves as the Director of the University Philosophy Requirement. Her research focuses on philosophical problems concerning time, modality, rational planning and religious belief. She teaches courses at all levels, including large introductory courses like "God and the Good Life" and specialized graduate seminars on metaphysics, philosophical logic, and rationality. She holds a PhD from Rutgers University, a BPhil from the University of Oxford, and a BA from University of Virginia. Sullivan is author Time Biases: A Theory of Rational Planning and Personal Persistence (Oxford University Press, 2018), and has written for The Huffington Post, Commonweal, and First Things.
