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Does the absurdity of life dictate death? Can one find hope—can one truly live—in an absurd universe?
These are the questions Albert Camus labors mightily to answer in his seminal work, The Myth of Sisyphus. Acknowledging the basic human impulse to seek meaning to existence, Camus nevertheless holds that existence provides us with no answer and, moreover, never will. Given this absurdity, Camus thus identifies suicide as the “one truly serious philosophical problem.” Why, Camus poses, do we bother to go on living once we recognize the absurdity of life? How, in the face of absurdity, can one embrace the struggle with meaninglessness and find happiness? In this reading course we will think seriously about these questions and closely examine the ways Camus provides for affirming life in an absurd universe.
Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (Vintage 1991)
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April 21: The Absurd Truth, [Myth, pp. 1-50]
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May 5: Absurd Freedom, [Myth, pp. 51-92]
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May 19: The Absurd Man, [Myth, pp. 93-123]
The reading group will be led by David Lyons, Assistant Instructional Professor in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division at the University of Chicago. Each week, we will meet and discuss over dinner at Gavin House (1220 E. 58th St.). Dinner is served at 6pm. Discussion begins at 6:15. The goal is to think deeply about the text, ask meaningful questions, and debate in good faith. Perhaps we’ll even touch on the meaning of life. Questions can be directed to Austin Walker.
REGISTER HERE
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Image: Vedran Stimac / Creative Commons
“We are unknown to ourselves, we knowers: and with good reason.”
The modern world tells us—and we tell ourselves—that we are enlightened and free, but it isn’t true. Our claims to knowledge are just another moral prejudice; our ostensible freedom is disguised slavery. So contends Friedrich Nietzsche in his On the Genealogy of Morality, where he punctures the self-satisfaction of socialists, democrats, reformers, the bourgeoisie, philosophers, scientists, and anyone else who claims to have it all figured out.
This three-week reading group will discuss the three treatises of the Genealogy and debate the following claims:
- February 10 Is Democracy Slavery? (First Treatise, “ ‘Good and Evil,’ ‘Good and Bad’” pp. 10-34)
- February 24 Is Justice Real? (Second Treatise, “ ‘Guilt,’ ‘Bad Conscience,’ and Related Matters, pp. 35 – 67)
- March 10 Does Science Kill Life? (Third Treatise, “What do ascetic ideals mean?” pp. 68 – 120)
The reading group will be led by David Lyons, Assistant Instructional Professor in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division at the University of Chicago. Each week, we will meet and discuss over dinner at Gavin House (1220 E. 58th St.). Dinner is served at 6pm. Discussion begins at 6:15. The goal is to think deeply about the text, ask meaningful questions, and debate in good faith. Perhaps we’ll even touch on the meaning of life. Questions can be directed to Austin Walker.
REGISTER HERE
Lumen Christi Institute receives $3.65M from John Templeton Foundation
Grant to fund national network of Catholic institutes, science and religion programming
CHICAGO — The Lumen Christi Institute has been awarded $3,648,000 from the John Templeton Foundation in support of its new three-year project that will create the first-ever national network of independent institutes of Catholic thought, located at some of the country’s top universities.
The project is called “In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on Campuses Nationwide.” The grant was announced Feb. 1.
The In Lumine Network will include six initial members:
- Lumen Christi Institute at the University of Chicago
- Nova Forum at the University of Southern California
- Collegium Institute at the University of Pennsylvania
- Saint Anselm Institute at the University of Virginia
- COLLIS at Cornell University
- Harvard Catholic Forum at Harvard University.
In Lumine will provide members with resources to grow their institutes organizationally and sustainably, as well as to develop programming and on-campus activities, focused specifically on the relationship between science and religion. The network will expand to welcome new members, including ecumenical partners, after its first year.
“The In Lumine Network sets a place at the table of the secular academy for the Catholic intellectual tradition,” says Michael Le Chevallier, acting Executive Director of the Lumen Christi Institute. “It will help established and nascent institutes for Catholic thought to scale up, deepen their engagement around faith and reason, share ideas, build on the successes of others, and amplify impact.
“Greater than the sum of its parts, In Lumine will provide enduring bonds of collaboration between institutes that will extend well past the duration of this grant,” adds Le Chevallier, who is a project lead on the grant, along with his colleague Peter Tierney.
David Albertson, director of the Nova Forum, notes the new grant will assist in opening up new dialogues between faith and the life sciences, social science, medicine and engineering on the USC campus.
Deacon Tim O’Donnell, program director of the Harvard Catholic Forum, says the grant will allow his institute to “enter with confidence into a new phase of growth, expanding our impact on present and future leaders in science, scholarship and the professions.”
For more information or media inquiries: Peter Tierney, project co-director of the In Lumine Project, inlumine@lumenchristi.org (773) 955-5887
Lumen Christi Institute receives $3.65M from John Templeton Foundation
Grant to fund national network of Catholic institutes, science and religion programming
CHICAGO — The Lumen Christi Institute has been awarded $3,648,000 from the John Templeton Foundation in support of its new three-year project that will create the first-ever national network of independent institutes of Catholic thought, located at some of the country’s top universities.
The project is called “In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on Campuses Nationwide.” The grant was announced Feb. 1.
The In Lumine Network will include six initial members:
- Lumen Christi Institute at the University of Chicago
- Nova Forum at the University of Southern California
- Collegium Institute at the University of Pennsylvania
- Saint Anselm Institute at the University of Virginia
- COLLIS at Cornell University
- Harvard Catholic Forum at Harvard University.
In Lumine will provide members with resources to grow their institutes organizationally and sustainably, as well as to develop programming and on-campus activities, focused specifically on the relationship between science and religion. The network will expand to welcome new members, including ecumenical partners, after its first year.
“The In Lumine Network sets a place at the table of the secular academy for the Catholic intellectual tradition,” says Michael Le Chevallier, acting Executive Director of the Lumen Christi Institute. “It will help established and nascent institutes for Catholic thought to scale up, deepen their engagement around faith and reason, share ideas, build on the successes of others, and amplify impact.
“Greater than the sum of its parts, In Lumine will provide enduring bonds of collaboration between institutes that will extend well past the duration of this grant,” adds Le Chevallier, who is a project lead on the grant, along with his colleague Peter Tierney.
David Albertson, director of the Nova Forum, notes the new grant will assist in opening up new dialogues between faith and the life sciences, social science, medicine and engineering on the USC campus.
Deacon Tim O’Donnell, program director of the Harvard Catholic Forum, says the grant will allow his institute to “enter with confidence into a new phase of growth, expanding our impact on present and future leaders in science, scholarship and the professions.”
For more information or media inquiries: Peter Tierney, project co-director of the In Lumine Project, inlumine@lumenchristi.org (773) 955-5887
At the top of the agenda for Lumen Christi’s new director of development is seeking funding for the radical growth plan the institute’s founding director, Thomas Levergood, had communicated months before his untimely death in August.
John W. Buchmann, named development director Aug. 1, said securing Levergood’s vision and legacy is among his priorities for the coming year. A former Lumen Christi staffer, Buchmann returned to Lumen Christi earlier this year at Levergood’s invitation.
Buchmann had worked for Lumen Christi for four years during his graduate studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School. During that time, Buchmann said Levergood grounded him in the vision of the institute and trained him in all facets of the organization.
However, upon completing his doctorate in ethics and Catholic social thought, Buchmann sought positions at institutes modeled on Lumen Christi in his home state of Pennsylvania. He served as associate director and scholar-in-residence at the Collegium Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture at the University of Pennsylvania (2017-2019). He was then executive director of the Beatrice Institute in Pittsburgh (2019-2020).
Throughout this period, Levergood accompanied Buchmann as a trusted friend and mentor, eventually inviting him to return to Lumen Christi. Buchmann quickly noted how his old colleagues had mastered their respective spheres of responsibility since his departure, branched out into new areas, and perfected the planning, funding and execution of online and in-person events.
“Lumen Christi is the strongest I’ve ever seen it,” said Buchmann. “It definitely punches above its weight.”
Like Levergood, Buchmann embraced the Catholic faith as a young man and he found at the University of Chicago the opportunity to grow in his faith.
Thanks to Lumen Christi, said Buchmann, “I was given the opportunity to study the Catholic intellectual tradition with the greatest Catholic minds available, despite the fact that I was at a secular school.”
“Thomas is the reason I am doing this work and not working as a professor,” Buchmann added about his mentor’s formidable influence.
Buchmann understands his new role as inviting others to connect their values and their desire to do good with Lumen Christi’s programming that is both concrete and impactful in promoting the Catholic intellectual tradition at the national and international levels.
“You’re giving people the opportunity to live within their values in a very concrete way,” he said. “That’s important work, and I’m grateful to be able to do it.”
At the top of the agenda for Lumen Christi’s new director of development is seeking funding for the radical growth plan the institute’s founding director, Thomas Levergood, had communicated months before his untimely death in August.
John W. Buchmann, named development director Aug. 1, said securing Levergood’s vision and legacy is among his priorities for the coming year. A former Lumen Christi staffer, Buchmann returned to Lumen Christi earlier this year at Levergood’s invitation.
Buchmann had worked for Lumen Christi for four years during his graduate studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School. During that time, Buchmann said Levergood grounded him in the vision of the institute and trained him in all facets of the organization.
However, upon completing his doctorate in ethics and Catholic social thought, Buchmann sought positions at institutes modeled on Lumen Christi in his home state of Pennsylvania. He served as associate director and scholar-in-residence at the Collegium Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture at the University of Pennsylvania (2017-2019). He was then executive director of the Beatrice Institute in Pittsburgh (2019-2020).
Throughout this period, Levergood accompanied Buchmann as a trusted friend and mentor, eventually inviting him to return to Lumen Christi. Buchmann quickly noted how his old colleagues had mastered their respective spheres of responsibility since his departure, branched out into new areas, and perfected the planning, funding and execution of online and in-person events.
“Lumen Christi is the strongest I’ve ever seen it,” said Buchmann. “It definitely punches above its weight.”
Like Levergood, Buchmann embraced the Catholic faith as a young man and he found at the University of Chicago the opportunity to grow in his faith.
Thanks to Lumen Christi, said Buchmann, “I was given the opportunity to study the Catholic intellectual tradition with the greatest Catholic minds available, despite the fact that I was at a secular school.”
“Thomas is the reason I am doing this work and not working as a professor,” Buchmann added about his mentor’s formidable influence.
Buchmann understands his new role as inviting others to connect their values and their desire to do good with Lumen Christi’s programming that is both concrete and impactful in promoting the Catholic intellectual tradition at the national and international levels.
“You’re giving people the opportunity to live within their values in a very concrete way,” he said. “That’s important work, and I’m grateful to be able to do it.”
The Lumen Christi Institute’s Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network and the Catholic Social and Political Thought Initiative of the UW-Madison Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy are proud to present Catholic Perspectives on Criminal Justice Reform: a Scholarly Colloquium. This three-day public lecture and workshop series (Feb 10 – Feb 12) gathers a diverse array of legal scholars and ethicists to explore how Catholic tradition and social thought can inform the many challenges confronting today’s American criminal justice system. This event is the second of two academic gatherings on this topic (the first held at Seattle University October 7-9, 2021). The papers from both colloquia will be published as an edited volume.
The full colloquium is invite-only. The keynote event on Thursday, Feb 10, is open to the public, both online and in-person. To register for the keynote event, see the event page HERE.
Catholic Perspectives on Criminal Justice Reform: a Scholarly Colloquium
Thursday, February 10 | Feast of St. Scholastica
12:05 pm Mass, Most Rev. Donald Hying, Celebrant (Chapel, St. Paul’s University Student Center, 723 State Street, Madison, WI 53703)
12:45 – 2:00 pm Lunch and Fellowship Time (Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706)
2:00 – 2:30 pm Gathering, Opening Prayer, & Introductions (Pyle Center)
2:30 – 4:00 pm Opening Seminar for Students and Scholars: Understanding Punishment in the Catholic Tradition (Pyle Center)
Most Rev. Donald Hying, Barbara Sella, John Stinneford, Marc DeGirolami
4:30 – 5:45 Opening Reception (Fluno Center, 601 University Ave, Madison, WI 53715)
6:00 – 7:15 pm (Keynote event, open to public) Redeeming Punishment: Catholic Approaches to Criminal Justice Reform (Fluno Center, Auditorium)
Dean Strang, Cecelia Klingele, Rev. Javier del Castillo, Secretary Kevin Carr; Moderator: Hon. Thomas Donnelly
To register for the keynote event, see the event page HERE.
Friday, February 11 | Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
7:30 am Morning Prayer (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Chapel)
9:00 – 10:00 am Chapter Workshop: John Stinneford & Marc DeGirolami – The Common Law, the Catholic Tradition, and the Criminal Law (Pyle Center)
10:00 – 11:00 am Chapter Workshop: Rev. Gregory O’Meara, S.J. – Continually Coming to Oneself in a Dark Wood: Catholic Anthropology and Criminal Law (Pyle Center)
11:00 – 12:00 pm Chapter Workshop: Patrick Brennan – Punishment Among Friends (Pyle Center)
12:05 p.m. Mass (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Chapel)
2:00 – 3:00 pm Chapter Workshop: Maria Hawilo & Mark Osler – Clemency: Where Mercy Meets the Constitution (Pyle Center)
3:00 – 4:00 pm Chapter Workshop: Michael O’Hear – Jubilee: Catholic Social Doctrine and Lengthy Prison Sentences (Pyle Center)
4:00 – 4:15 pm Break
4:15 – 5:15 pm Chapter Workshop: Stephen Pope – Criminal Justice, Restorative Justice, and Catholic Social Teaching (Pyle Center)
Saturday, February 12 | Feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius
8:00 am Mass, Rev. Greg O’Meara, S.J., Celebrant (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Chapel)
9:00 – 10:00 am Chapter Workshop: Herschella Conyers – The Quality of Mercy: Ending the Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Library)
10:00 – 11:00 am Chapter Workshop: Cecelia Klingele – Hearing the Cry of the Poor: How the Principle of Subsidiarity Can Amplify the Voices of Those with Lived Experience of Crime and its Consequences (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Library)
11:00 – 11:15 am Closing Prayer
Special thanks to the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy for hosting this colloquium of the Lumen Christi Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network (CCJRN), and to the following people and institutions for making this colloquium possible:
Most. Rev. Donald Hying, Rev. Eric Nielsen, St. Paul’s University Student Center, Professor Richard Avramenko, University of Wisconsin Law School, and Badger Catholic
Other cosponsors of the Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network include:
Georgetown University Law Center, Notre Dame Law School, Boston College Law School, Fordham University School of Law, Loyola University Chicago Law School, University of St. Thomas School of Law, The Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, The Institute on Religion, Law, and Lawyer’s Work at Fordham University School of Law, Center on Race, Law, and Justice at Fordham University School of Law, Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, Catholic Prison Ministry Coalition, Kolbe House Jail Ministry
The Lumen Christi Institute’s Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network and the Catholic Social and Political Thought Initiative of the UW-Madison Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy are proud to present Catholic Perspectives on Criminal Justice Reform: a Scholarly Colloquium. This three-day public lecture and workshop series (Feb 10 – Feb 12) gathers a diverse array of legal scholars and ethicists to explore how Catholic tradition and social thought can inform the many challenges confronting today’s American criminal justice system. This event is the second of two academic gatherings on this topic (the first held at Seattle University October 7-9, 2021). The papers from both colloquia will be published as an edited volume.
The full colloquium is invite-only. The keynote event on Thursday, Feb 10, is open to the public, both online and in-person. To register for the keynote event, see the event page HERE.
Catholic Perspectives on Criminal Justice Reform: a Scholarly Colloquium
Thursday, February 10 | Feast of St. Scholastica
12:05 pm Mass, Most Rev. Donald Hying, Celebrant (Chapel, St. Paul’s University Student Center, 723 State Street, Madison, WI 53703)
12:45 – 2:00 pm Lunch and Fellowship Time (Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706)
2:00 – 2:30 pm Gathering, Opening Prayer, & Introductions (Pyle Center)
2:30 – 4:00 pm Opening Seminar for Students and Scholars: Understanding Punishment in the Catholic Tradition (Pyle Center)
Most Rev. Donald Hying, Barbara Sella, John Stinneford, Marc DeGirolami
4:30 – 5:45 Opening Reception (Fluno Center, 601 University Ave, Madison, WI 53715)
6:00 – 7:15 pm (Keynote event, open to public) Redeeming Punishment: Catholic Approaches to Criminal Justice Reform (Fluno Center, Auditorium)
Dean Strang, Cecelia Klingele, Rev. Javier del Castillo, Secretary Kevin Carr; Moderator: Hon. Thomas Donnelly
To register for the keynote event, see the event page HERE.
Friday, February 11 | Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
7:30 am Morning Prayer (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Chapel)
9:00 – 10:00 am Chapter Workshop: John Stinneford & Marc DeGirolami – The Common Law, the Catholic Tradition, and the Criminal Law (Pyle Center)
10:00 – 11:00 am Chapter Workshop: Rev. Gregory O’Meara, S.J. – Continually Coming to Oneself in a Dark Wood: Catholic Anthropology and Criminal Law (Pyle Center)
11:00 – 12:00 pm Chapter Workshop: Patrick Brennan – Punishment Among Friends (Pyle Center)
12:05 p.m. Mass (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Chapel)
2:00 – 3:00 pm Chapter Workshop: Maria Hawilo & Mark Osler – Clemency: Where Mercy Meets the Constitution (Pyle Center)
3:00 – 4:00 pm Chapter Workshop: Michael O’Hear – Jubilee: Catholic Social Doctrine and Lengthy Prison Sentences (Pyle Center)
4:00 – 4:15 pm Break
4:15 – 5:15 pm Chapter Workshop: Stephen Pope – Criminal Justice, Restorative Justice, and Catholic Social Teaching (Pyle Center)
Saturday, February 12 | Feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius
8:00 am Mass, Rev. Greg O’Meara, S.J., Celebrant (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Chapel)
9:00 – 10:00 am Chapter Workshop: Herschella Conyers – The Quality of Mercy: Ending the Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Library)
10:00 – 11:00 am Chapter Workshop: Cecelia Klingele – Hearing the Cry of the Poor: How the Principle of Subsidiarity Can Amplify the Voices of Those with Lived Experience of Crime and its Consequences (St. Paul’s University Student Center, Library)
11:00 – 11:15 am Closing Prayer
Special thanks to the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy for hosting this colloquium of the Lumen Christi Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network (CCJRN), and to the following people and institutions for making this colloquium possible:
Most. Rev. Donald Hying, Rev. Eric Nielsen, St. Paul’s University Student Center, Professor Richard Avramenko, University of Wisconsin Law School, and Badger Catholic
Other cosponsors of the Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network include:
Georgetown University Law Center, Notre Dame Law School, Boston College Law School, Fordham University School of Law, Loyola University Chicago Law School, University of St. Thomas School of Law, The Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, The Institute on Religion, Law, and Lawyer’s Work at Fordham University School of Law, Center on Race, Law, and Justice at Fordham University School of Law, Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, Catholic Prison Ministry Coalition, Kolbe House Jail Ministry