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Glimpses of Wonder: Epiphanies of Beauty in the Midst of Technological Change
Sister Damien Marie Savino, University of Notre Dame
Peter J. Casarella, Duke University
Eugene Wigner, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1963, was not only a celebrated scientist but also defended the “unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics” in aesthetic terms. The beauty of the natural realm and the capacity of mathematical reason not only to measure the world but to see beyond its own finitude and look for a whole in the midst of parts is both mysterious and ubiquitous. In times of technological change, those parts move at an accelerated pace. True human flourishing is not necessarily about slowing down or accelerating the advance of progress as finding a new measure that allows one to see epiphanies of beauty and learn from them about oneself, the world, and the creator of the beauty of the world.
The point of this seminar will be to compare ancient visions of the wonder and beauty of creation, above all in the Augustinian and Franciscan intellectual tradition, with the challenges of technological revolutions, medieval and modern. The idea of the mechanical arts predates Newtonian mechanism and is already a theme in 13th century Paris, as can be found in distinct realms of technological advancement ranging from the motion of mechanical clocks to the engineering of the Gothic cathedral. The point is not to vindicate ancients, moderns, or contemporaries but to create a fruitful dialogue between ancient grammars of wonder and the intellectual, moral, spiritual, and everyday challenges that arise in the midst of rapid and accelerating technological change.
Instructor: Dr. Damien Marie Savino, FSC,
author of Learning the Language of Creation: Catholic Social Teaching and Integral Ecology, forthcoming in the spring of 2026 with Liturgical Press.
Other presenters from Duke:
Peter Casarella,
author of The Song of Creation: Saint Bonaventure’s Franciscan Pilgrimage into God, forthcoming, Word on Fire Academic.
Matthew Whelan, author of Christianity and Agroecology, Cambridge UP, 2025.
Norman Wirzba, author of Love’s Braided Dance, Yale UP, 2024.
Reinhard Huetter, Duke Divinity School and International Theological Commission
Kevin Hart, author of Lands of Likeness: For a Poetics of Contemplation. Chicago, 2023.
Public Event:
Lecture and Panel Discussion at W.B. Duke Inn with Dr. Santiago Schnell, Professor of Mathematics; Editor-in-Chief, Mathematical Biosciences; and Provost, Dartmouth College on the challenge in the contemporary university of conveying the “unity of knowledge.”
Co-Sponsors:
In Lumine Network
Fons Vitae
LOCATION AND FORMAT:
The seminar will take place at Duke University in Durham, NC. Admitted students will be required to arrange their own travel to and from the seminar.
Admitted students will be granted a stipend of $350 to offset travel costs in addition to having their lodging and meals covered for the duration of the seminar.
Participants will arrive in Durham, NC on Sunday, June 14 and depart on Saturday, June 20. The seminar will take place from Monday to Friday, with a lecture and discussion session each morning and afternoon.
Participants will be required to read the assigned materials in preparation for the seminar.
In order to receive the $350 stipend, students must participate fully in all seminar activities and complete a survey at the end of the seminar.
Open to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in STEM fields, medicine, the history of science, philosophy, theology, and relevant fields.
Applicants must submit an online application, including details on their course of study, a statement of interest, and a letter of recommendation (optional).
Make application inquiries to Dr. Peter Tierney at ptierney@lumenchristi.org
15 applicants will be admitted to the seminar.
This project is made possible through the support of In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide (grant #63614) from the John Templeton Foundation and the generous support of our donors.
The Application Deadline is February 2, 2026.
Contact us with any questions at seminars@lumenchristi.org.
