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Seminar

The Thought of Rene Girard: Understanding the Faith in a Secular Age

Stanford University 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, Stanford, CA
Trevor Cribben Merrill, UCLA | Grant Kaplan, Saint Louis University

One of the most influential 20th century Catholic thinkers, René Girard transformed our understanding of culture, religion, and human behavior. His “mimetic theory" builds on the demystifying power of the Old and New Testaments to illuminate the religious history of mankind. Through an intensive reading of his more accessible works, in conjunction with the fiction of the greatest writers, this five-day seminar will explore Girard’s key insights into imitation, conflict, and scapegoating, connecting them to central themes of Christian theology. Location and Format  This seminar will be held at Stanford Univeristy. There will be two 2.5-hour sessions on Monday, Wednesday, and...

Seminar

Eudaimonia: Philosophical, Theological, and Psychological Perspectives

University of Pennsylvania 34th & Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA
Kristján Kristjánsson, University of Birmingham | Darcia Narvaez, Univerisity of Notre Dame | David Cloutier, Catholic University of America | Candace Vogler, University of Chicago | Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania

What is a good human life? What are the virtues and community types that enable us to live well?  This seminar will explore the nature of virtue and happiness by putting philosophical and theological perspectives on eudaimonia in dialogue with the empirical findings and theoretical frameworks of contemporary psychology, especially the field of positive psychology situated at Penn. Possible topics to be explored include: (1) eudaimonia and its relation to subjective well-being, (2) virtue in the context of community and social institutions, (3) the significance of religion and transcendence for human flourishing, (4) interdisciplinary perspectives on concepts like (a) freedom...

Seminar

Catholic Social Thought: A Critical Investigation

University of California, Berkeley S Hall Rd. Berkeley, CA 94720, Berkeley, CA
Russell Hittinger, Catholic University of America | Scott Roniger, Loyola Marymount University

In this seminar, students will read, analyze, and discern continuities and discontinuities in Catholic social thought from the late 19th century to the present. Lectures, seminar reports, and discussion will focus on original sources (encyclicals and other magisterial documents), beginning with Rerum novarum (1892) and concluding with Caritas in veritate (2009) and Evangelii Gaudium (2013). This intensive course is multi-disciplinary, since this tradition of social thought overlaps several disciplines in the contemporary university including political science, political philosophy, law, economics, theology, and history. LOCATION AND FORMAT The seminar will be held in Berkeley, CA. Most Meals (some on their own) and lodging will be provided for participants....

Cultural Forum

Heart Speaks to Heart: John Henry Newman on Faith, Reason, and Holiness

Gavin House 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL
Austin Walker, Lumen Christi Institute

Registration has been closed (If you would like to be put on a waitlist in case we receive a cancellation, please email mcorona@lumenchristi.org) Each year, the West Suburban Catholic Culture series presents sophisticated yet accessible lectures drawn from the treasure house of the Church's intellectual tradition. These lectures explore contemporary themes and issues by presenting faithful Catholic teaching in a way that avoids the acrimony of the culture wars. As a capstone to the 2023-2024 series on Faith and Reason, the Lumen Christi Institute will hold an intimate dinner-time lecture at its headquarters on the University of Chicago Campus. Associate Director and...

Social

Graduate Student Social

Gavin House 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL

REGISTER HERE Open to current graduate students at the University of Chicago. Advanced registration is encouraged. Hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be provided. This social is co-presented by Calvert House. Come join us over wine and cheese to celebrate the start of the new academic year. Learn more about the Lumen Christi Institute, Calvert House, and meet new and returning graduate students! The social will run from 4:00pm - 6:00pm on Thursday, October 3rd at Gavin House (1220 East 58th Street).

Reading Groups
Event Series Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages: Umberto Eco Graduate Reading Group

Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages: Umberto Eco Graduate Reading Group

5554 S. Woodlawn Ave. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

REGISTER HERE Open to current graduate students at the University of Chicago. Participants can come to whichever sessions they choose. Others interested in participating should contact Aidan Valente at valenteaidan@uchicago.edu. Books and drinks will be provided. This will be held at the LCI Residence (5554 S Wooodlawn Ave). “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” – This well-worn aphorism suggests that what we find “beautiful” relies only on subjective taste; and yet, many would agree in finding a Gothic cathedral obviously more beautiful than a brutalist library. Is there, then, an objective component to beauty, and if so, where and how can...

Non-Credit Courses
Event Series Non-Credit Course | Science and Religion: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives

Non-Credit Course | Science and Religion: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives

Gavin House 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL
Peter Harrison, University of Queensland Emeritus

REGISTER HERE This event is in-person only. Intended for university students, faculty, and staff. Others interested in attending please contact dstrobach@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. Registrants are free to attend as many sessions as they choose. Sessions do not presuppose previous attendance or prior knowledge of the subject. It is often assumed, on the basis of contemporary controversies, that science and religion have always been in an oppositional relationship, and that conflict between them is inevitable.  In this course we...

Social

Undergraduate Student Social

Gavin House 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL

REGISTER HERE Open to current undergraduate students at the University of Chicago. Advanced registration is encouraged. Pizza will be provided.  Come join us over pizza to celebrate the start of the new academic year. Learn more about the Lumen Christi Institute and meet new and returning undergraduate students! The social will run from 6:00pm - 8:00pm on Wednesday, October 9th at Gavin House (1220 East 58th Street). Undergraduate Only Events Fundamental Questions Seminar: Civilization on the Brink? Modern Philosophy and the Abolition of Man Poverty, Injustice, Liberation: Class Conflict in Latin America and The Theology of Gustavo Gutierrez The Brothers Karamazov Reading Group

Downtown Lectures

An Inquiry into the Value of Work: A Discussion of Matt Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft

University Club of Chicago 76 E Monroe St Chicago, IL 60603, Downtown, IL
Elisa Rubbo, University of Chicago | Matthew Crawford, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies and Culture | Kirk Doran, University of Notre Dame

REGISTER HERE 5:30 Cocktail and Hors d’Oeuvres  |   6:30 Opening Remarks   |   6:45 Dialogue and Q&A   |   7:30 End   Through the generosity of LCI's donors, undergraduate and graduate students are able to attend this event for free. Interested students should email Marial Corona at mcorona@lumenchristi.org to register. This event is cosponsored at The Point Magazine. Published in 2009, Matthew Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft became an unexpected best-seller.  Written by a University of Chicago PhD and motorcycle mechanic, the book explored the value of craftsmanship and manual work in a world increasingly dominated by technology and abstract thinking. Drawing on his own experiences as...

Reading Groups
Event Series Dante’s Divine Comedy Graduate Reading Group

Dante’s Divine Comedy Graduate Reading Group

Gavin House 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL

REGISTER HERE Open to current graduate students at the University of Chicago. Participants can come to whichever sessions they choose. Others interested in participating should contact Kristóf Oltvai at oltvai@uchicago.edu. Books and dinner will be provided.  In what is perhaps the literary triumph of the European imagination, Dante Alighieri’s Commedia offers a vision of unforgettable cosmic and spiritual grandeur. Join us on this journey from the horrors of Hell, along Mount Purgatory’s breathtaking vistas, all the way into the bosom of the eternal Church Triumphant as our poet-protagonist discovers the meaning of sin, love, virtue, and redemption in conversation with his guides, Virgil and...

Lectures & Symposia

The Boldness of Belief and Timidity of Technology: A Symposium on Gratitude, Creation, and the Technological Mindset

Social Sciences, Tea Room 1126 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL
Melanie Barrett, University of St. Mary of the Lake | Matthew Crawford, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies and Culture | Mark Shiffman, Saint Patrick’s Seminary and University

REGISTER HERE FOR ZOOM LIVESTREAM REGISTER HERE FOR IN-PERSON Open to students and faculty. For more information, contact dstrobach@lumenchristi.org. This event is cosponsored and supported by the University of Chicago John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought. It is also cosponsored by The Point Magazine. 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. In his Introduction to Christianity, Joseph Ratzinger saw that at the root of the “technological mindset” was an anxiety about how man can come to know the world.  Ratzinger contrasted...

Master Classes

Is Christianity a Slave Morality? Max Scheler on Ressentiment

Gavin House 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL
Matthew Crawford, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies and Culture | Mark Shiffman, Saint Patrick’s Seminary and University

REGISTER HERE Open to current graduate students and faculty. Advanced undergraduates and others interested in participating should contact dstrobach@lumenchristi.org. This event is in-person only. All registrants will receive copies of the selected readings, which should be read in advance of the class. An optional wine and cheese reception will follow.  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. In his book Ressentiment, the German philosopher Max Scheler deepens Nietzsche's account of ressentiment, the life-denying disposition of spite, envy and revenge. Nietzsche finds this spiritual sickness to be...