One great challenge in the modern research university is the siloing of information and of knowledge. While specialized knowledge is valuable, pressing questions confronting the contemporary world require that diverse forms of knowing be integrated, both in the heart of the knower and in society. A Catholic Institute is uniquely poised to speak to this challenge since the Catholic intellectual tradition has sought to embrace and integrate five intellectual virtues as presented in Aristotle (NE, VI:3) and St. Thomas Aquinas (ST, 1a-IIae, q. 57): wisdom, science, art, prudence, and mind or understanding. The Franciscan tradition has also emphasized the importance of wonder at the beauty of creation in this synthesis. In this class, we will engage the unity of these virtues under the guidance of wonder and discuss specific applications to new technologies in artificial intelligence and ecological engineering. 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.
This masterclass will provide an engagement with topics related to the 2026 Summer Seminar “Glimpses of Wonder: Epiphanies of Beauty in the Midst of Technological Change” and will help students explore in advance related themes.
The Zoom link, reading, and syllabus will be distributed in advance of the seminar.
This program is part of the project “In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide” (Grant #63614) supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
For more information email Geoffrey Zokal at gzokal@lumenchristi.org
