Name: Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s <i>Silmarillion</i>
Start: 2026-02-05T19:30:00-06:00
End: 2026-02-05T21:00:00-06:00
Location: Gavin House

List
Month

January 2026
ONLINE

January 9th, 2026 @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Virtual Masterclass: The Thought of John Henry Newman

Stephen Fields, Georgetown University

Newly named Doctor of the Church, Saint John Henry Newman was a theologian, philosopher, educator, preacher, and writer. Remarkably, in each of these areas Newman produced works that have come to be recognized as classics: An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, The Grammar of Assent, The Idea of a University, and the Apologia Pro Vita Sua. Providing a glimpse of the 2026 intensive summer seminar on Newman’s thought, this virtual masterclass will engage adjacent texts on Newman on Faith and Reason. The Zoom link, reading, and syllabus will be distributed in advance of the seminar. This program is restricted to graduate students from any...
Non-Credit Courses

January 13th, 2026 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm The Miraculous and the Supernatural

The Miraculous and the Supernatural

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

Fr. Peter Bernardi, SJ, Lumen Christi Institute

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”…or acknowledged by materialistic naturalism!

This 5-session course will study the miraculous and the supernatural. Topics include the miracles of Jesus, Eucharistic miracles, mystical experiences of the saints, exorcisms and the demonic, and near-death experiences. Dinner will be provided at 6pm and the course itself runs from 6:30pm - 7:30pm. No advance preparation is required.
Reading Groups

January 14th, 2026 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Why Think? Hannah Arendt and the Life of the Mind

Why Think? Hannah Arendt and the Life of the Mind

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

REGISTER BELOW Meets Bi-Weekly on Wednesdays: Jan. 14, Jan. 28, Feb. 11, Feb. 25 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org). The question of ‘thinking’ attracts Arendt’s attention in her later works. Though Arendt claims that thinking is utterly without purpose and leaves no trace behind, she also proposes that it can provide a protective effect against certain forms of evil-doing in our time. What is the practical relevance of thinking,...
Reading Groups

January 15th, 2026 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm [Title Needed] Silmarillion – NF

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s Silmarillion

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

REGISTER BELOW Meets Weekly on Thursdays: Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org). There are few figures as foundational to the epic fantasy genre as J.R.R. Tolkien, and few works as wide-ranging in that genre as The Silmarillion. Written over the course of nearly 60 years and inspired by the folk traditions of northern Europe, Greece, and the personal ethical and...
Non-Credit Courses

January 20th, 2026 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm The Miraculous and the Supernatural

The Miraculous and the Supernatural

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

Fr. Peter Bernardi, SJ, Lumen Christi Institute

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”…or acknowledged by materialistic naturalism!

This 5-session course will study the miraculous and the supernatural. Topics include the miracles of Jesus, Eucharistic miracles, mystical experiences of the saints, exorcisms and the demonic, and near-death experiences. Dinner will be provided at 6pm and the course itself runs from 6:30pm - 7:30pm. No advance preparation is required.
Reading Groups

January 22nd, 2026 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm [Title Needed] Silmarillion – NF

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s Silmarillion

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

REGISTER BELOW Meets Weekly on Thursdays: Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org). There are few figures as foundational to the epic fantasy genre as J.R.R. Tolkien, and few works as wide-ranging in that genre as The Silmarillion. Written over the course of nearly 60 years and inspired by the folk traditions of northern Europe, Greece, and the personal ethical and...
ONLINE

January 23rd, 2026 @ 9:00 am - 10:30 am

Virtual Masterclass: Epiphanies of Beauty in the Midst of Technological Change

Virtual Event

Sr. Damien Marie Savino, University of Notre Dame | Peter Casarella, Duke Divinity School

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...
Non-Credit Courses

January 27th, 2026 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm The Miraculous and the Supernatural

The Miraculous and the Supernatural

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

Fr. Peter Bernardi, SJ, Lumen Christi Institute

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”…or acknowledged by materialistic naturalism!

This 5-session course will study the miraculous and the supernatural. Topics include the miracles of Jesus, Eucharistic miracles, mystical experiences of the saints, exorcisms and the demonic, and near-death experiences. Dinner will be provided at 6pm and the course itself runs from 6:30pm - 7:30pm. No advance preparation is required.
Reading Groups

January 28th, 2026 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Why Think? Hannah Arendt and the Life of the Mind

Why Think? Hannah Arendt and the Life of the Mind

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

REGISTER BELOW Meets Bi-Weekly on Wednesdays: Jan. 14, Jan. 28, Feb. 11, Feb. 25 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org). The question of ‘thinking’ attracts Arendt’s attention in her later works. Though Arendt claims that thinking is utterly without purpose and leaves no trace behind, she also proposes that it can provide a protective effect against certain forms of evil-doing in our time. What is the practical relevance of thinking,...
Reading Groups

January 29th, 2026 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm [Title Needed] Silmarillion – NF

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s Silmarillion

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

REGISTER BELOW Meets Weekly on Thursdays: Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org). There are few figures as foundational to the epic fantasy genre as J.R.R. Tolkien, and few works as wide-ranging in that genre as The Silmarillion. Written over the course of nearly 60 years and inspired by the folk traditions of northern Europe, Greece, and the personal ethical and...
February 2026
Non-Credit Courses

February 3rd, 2026 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm The Miraculous and the Supernatural

The Miraculous and the Supernatural

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

Fr. Peter Bernardi, SJ, Lumen Christi Institute

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”…or acknowledged by materialistic naturalism!

This 5-session course will study the miraculous and the supernatural. Topics include the miracles of Jesus, Eucharistic miracles, mystical experiences of the saints, exorcisms and the demonic, and near-death experiences. Dinner will be provided at 6pm and the course itself runs from 6:30pm - 7:30pm. No advance preparation is required.
Reading Groups

February 5th, 2026 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm [Title Needed] Silmarillion – NF

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s Silmarillion

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

REGISTER BELOW Meets Weekly on Thursdays: Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org). There are few figures as foundational to the epic fantasy genre as J.R.R. Tolkien, and few works as wide-ranging in that genre as The Silmarillion. Written over the course of nearly 60 years and inspired by the folk traditions of northern Europe, Greece, and the personal ethical and...

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ONLINE

Virtual Masterclass: The Thought of John Henry Newman

Non-Credit Courses

The Miraculous and the Supernatural

Reading Groups

Why Think? Hannah Arendt and the Life of the Mind

Reading Groups

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s Silmarillion

Non-Credit Courses

The Miraculous and the Supernatural

Reading Groups

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s Silmarillion

ONLINE

Virtual Masterclass: Epiphanies of Beauty in the Midst of Technological Change

Non-Credit Courses

The Miraculous and the Supernatural

Reading Groups

Why Think? Hannah Arendt and the Life of the Mind

Reading Groups

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s Silmarillion

Non-Credit Courses

The Miraculous and the Supernatural

Reading Groups

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien’s Silmarillion

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