Name: The Turn to Tradition in American Law and Culture
Start: 2026-04-22T17:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-22T19:30:00-05:00
Location: Jenner & Block, 45th Floor

List
Month

April 2026
Master Classes

April 10th @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

On Learned Ignorance: Nicolas of Cusa and the Wonder of the Cosmos

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

David Albertson, University of Southern California

REGISTER BELOW 2:00-5:00 (Detailed Schedule Below) | Refreshments Provided This event is designated for current graduate & advanced undergraduate students and faculty from the University of Chicago & regional colleges and universities. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. 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. Description: Is measuring the natural world a secular activity, or does wonder enliven faith in the mystery of God? Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) was...
Reading Groups

April 13th @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm The Cloud of Unknowing

The Cloud of Unknowing

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

REGISTER BELOW 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the text. You may pick up your copy any time during business hours from Gavin House. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. Description: The Cloud of Unknowing, a gem of English mysticism, is both a guide and a warning to the spiritual seeker. Written anonymously in the 14th century, the Cloud troubles the relation between man and God, making spirituality an antidote to the secular world and despair the path...
Non-Credit Courses

April 14th @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm History of Monasticism

History of Monasticism

Fr. Peter Funk, OSB, Monastery of the Holy Cross

REGISTER BELOW 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. 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. Description: Monasticism is the form of religious life common to the Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Coptic churches. This course will examine its development...
Reading Courses

April 15th @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm What is a “Uni-versity”? Revisiting Newman’s “Idea of a University”

What is a “Uni-versity”? Revisiting Newman’s “Idea of a University”

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

Fr. Peter Bernardi, SJ, Lumen Christi Institute

REGISTER BELOW 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. | Refreshments Provided This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. The book may be picked up any time during business hours from Gavin House. Description: The crisis of the university has been frequently remarked. Mortimer Adler, onetime University of Chicago professor, decades ago prophetically sounded the tocsin regarding the fragmentation of the modern university. Battles over core curricula, distribution of limited resources, and arguments over research and...
Reading Groups

April 15th @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Attention and Grace: Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead or An Ordinary Life Well Lived: Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead

An Ordinary Life Well Lived: Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead

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

REGISTER BELOW 6:00 - 7:30 | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago graduate students. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. Description: “Love is holy because it is like grace–the worthiness of its object is never really what matters.” – Marilynne Robinson, Gilead Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead tells the story of Congregationalist minister John Ames, who, with the knowledge that the end of his life is near, decides to pen a testament to his seven-year old son, something for his son to keep close as he grows up without his father. Ames’ reflections...
Reading Groups

April 16th @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

The Master and Margarita

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

REGISTER BELOW Meets Weekly on Thursdays: April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14, 21 7:00 - 8:30 (the time has changed) | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. You may pick up your copy any time during business hours from Gavin House. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org). A city whose citizens refused to believe in the existence of Jesus, God or Satan. A certain Satan who arrived in this city—Moscow—with his retinue, on a hot spring day. A nameless...
Reading Groups

April 17th @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am Greek New Testament

Greek New Testament (Spring)

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

Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a number of student-led reading groups. The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text.

This quarter, the Greek New Testament reading group will take up the Letter to the Hebrews. All levels of Greek proficiency are encouraged to join. Advance preparation is recommended but not required.
Nicklin Fellowship

April 17th @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

What Does Empathy Require? Maximilian Kolbe and Triumph of the Heart

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

REGISTER BELOW 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. | Dinner Served This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. Please contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org with any questions. Description: Triumph of the Heart tells the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest who volunteered to take the place of another prisoner in the starvation bunker at Auschwitz. Set in one of the darkest moments of the twentieth century, the film invites viewers to reflect on how compassion and solidarity can appear even in extreme suffering. This screening will explore the idea of empathy not as a...
Reading Groups

April 20th @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm The Cloud of Unknowing

The Cloud of Unknowing

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

REGISTER BELOW 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the text. You may pick up your copy any time during business hours from Gavin House. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. Description: The Cloud of Unknowing, a gem of English mysticism, is both a guide and a warning to the spiritual seeker. Written anonymously in the 14th century, the Cloud troubles the relation between man and God, making spirituality an antidote to the secular world and despair the path...
Non-Credit Courses

April 21st @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm History of Monasticism

History of Monasticism

Fr. Peter Funk, OSB, Monastery of the Holy Cross

REGISTER BELOW 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. 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. Description: Monasticism is the form of religious life common to the Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Coptic churches. This course will examine its development...
Reading Courses

April 22nd @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm What is a “Uni-versity”? Revisiting Newman’s “Idea of a University”

What is a “Uni-versity”? Revisiting Newman’s “Idea of a University”

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

Fr. Peter Bernardi, SJ, Lumen Christi Institute

REGISTER BELOW 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. | Refreshments Provided This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. The book may be picked up any time during business hours from Gavin House. Description: The crisis of the university has been frequently remarked. Mortimer Adler, onetime University of Chicago professor, decades ago prophetically sounded the tocsin regarding the fragmentation of the modern university. Battles over core curricula, distribution of limited resources, and arguments over research and...
Downtown Lectures

April 22nd @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm

The Turn to Tradition in American Law and Culture

Jenner & Block, 45th Floor

Richard W. Garnett | Marc DeGirolami | Jennifer Martin, University of Notre Dame

Many are familiar with an "Originalist" interpretation of American law, one which is seen to shield us from the capricious wills of those in power. But can Originalism inadvertently give us a hollow understanding of law? In this panel, Marc DeGirolami gives us a different way of interpreting the law: Traditionalism. Richard W. Garnett and Jennifer Newsome Martin will provide responses in this panel discussion.

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Master Classes

On Learned Ignorance: Nicolas of Cusa and the Wonder of the Cosmos

Reading Groups

The Cloud of Unknowing

Non-Credit Courses

History of Monasticism

Reading Courses

What is a “Uni-versity”? Revisiting Newman’s “Idea of a University”

Reading Groups

An Ordinary Life Well Lived: Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead

Reading Groups

The Master and Margarita

Reading Groups

Greek New Testament (Spring)

Nicklin Fellowship

What Does Empathy Require? Maximilian Kolbe and Triumph of the Heart

Reading Groups

The Cloud of Unknowing

Non-Credit Courses

History of Monasticism

Reading Courses

What is a “Uni-versity”? Revisiting Newman’s “Idea of a University”

Downtown Lectures

The Turn to Tradition in American Law and Culture

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