Virtue, Moral Formation, and the University
Jonathan BrantUniversity of Oxford
John W. BoyerUniversity of Chicago
Sarah SchnitkerBaylor University
Open to students and faculty. For more information, contact gzokal@lumenchristi.org.
This event is made possible through the support of ‘In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on Campuses Nationwide’ (Grant #62372) from the John Templeton Foundation.
As scholars such as Julie Reuben have documented, there has been a decline in the mission of moral formation of students over the history of US higher education and this role of the university is no longer to be taken for granted. What role, if any, does the university play in the moral formation of its students? Is moral formation beyond the bounds of its mission or is it inescapable? What virtues are formed in the modern university? This public panel, part of the Annual Meeting of the In Lumine Network, will serve to provide a broad conversation about the role of the university in regard to virtue and moral formation.
Image courtesy of: Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Jonathan Brant is the Dean for Research and Culture at Wycliffe Hall at the Univeristy of Oxford. His research in theology of culture and the arts includes: his monograph, Paul Tillich and the Possibility of Revelation through Film (OUP, 2012) which draws on systematic theology, film theory, and qualitative research to consider the religious impact of contemporary Latin American cinema; plus, published chapters and articles on the director Terrence Malick and on the theology of Documentary Film. With respect to virtue ethics, he has co-edited Cultivating Virtue in the University (OUP, 2022) and co-authored several articles in the Journal of Moral Education, Journal of Character Education, and International Journal of Ethics Education. He is the Dean for Research and Culture, and the Director of the Renaissance Project, at Wycliffe Hall. And is an Associate Fellow with the Oxford Character Project where, from 2014 to 2023, he served as the Founding Director.
John W. Boyer is Senior Advisor to the President and the Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of History. He served as Dean of the College from 1992 through June 2023.
Prof. Boyer received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1975 and joined the faculty in the same year. He is the author of several books, including The University of Chicago: A History and Culture and Political Crisis in Vienna: Christian Socialism in Power, 1897-1918.
In 2004 Prof. Boyer was awarded the Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class, by the Republic of Austria. He received the 2006 Austrian State Prize for Modern History. He is a Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Vienna in 2015, in recognition of his scholarly work on the Habsburg Empire.
Dr. Sarah Schnitker is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University. She holds a Ph.D. and an MA in Personality and Social Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and a BA in Psychology from Grove City College. She has published more than 75 peer-review articles and edited chapters, and she has procured more than $10 million in funding as a principal investigator on multiple research grants. Schnitker is an Associate Editor for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, an Editorial Board member for the Journal of Research in Personality, and a co-editor of the forthcoming Handbook of Positive Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality.
