The Lumen Christi Institute follows St. Paul’s injunction to attend to whatever is true, noble, right, admirable, and lovely (Phil 4:8), and believes truth may be found in all places. LCI supports this endeavor by sponsoring a number of graduate student reading groups that may explore any genre, theme, time, and place.
Reading groups are rooted in friendship, hospitality, and the pursuit of truth. They do not claim to offer a definitive reading or teaching of the text nor do they need to be explicitly Catholic. A successful reading group approaches a text with humility, reading a work on its own terms, uncovering its meanings and what is at stake. Groups must follow LCI’s guiding principles, which may be found below.
LCI provides space, hospitality, and books. The Institute also provides a modest stipend for the graduate student who leads and organizes the groups.
Previous groups have studied and discussed:
- Prominent theologians and philosophers throughout church history such as Ignatius of Antioch, Dionysius the Areopagite, Thomas Aquinas, Henri de Lubac, and more.
- A series of short stories from the likes of Leo Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, and James Joyce
- Full novels including The Brothers Karamazov and A Confederacy of Dunces
- Language groups who translated parts of Scripture from Greek and Latin
If you are interested in leading a reading group, please write a description (maximum of 300 words) of what you would like to read, your vision for the group (why you chose the work, ideal format and time slot) and how it fits the mission of the Lumen Christi Institute. In addition, please offer a sentence or two on how you would successfully promote the group.
In order to be considered for a reading group, you must have participated in at least one LCI event and have a list of ten possible participants for your group.
Our best practices guide may be an aid to you as you think about your prospective group.
Program proposals should…
- Affirm the intellectual life as good in itself
- Ask questions animated by the principle that “all knowledge forms one whole”
- Transcend the ideological / political divide (i.e., programs should not be partisan in nature)
- Welcome religious perspectives as part of the intellectual life (i.e., programs need not be theological in nature but conversations should be open to religious insights)
- Nurture friendships, to support the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness (i.e., programs should have a social component)
Send an email to awalker@lumenchristi.org with your proposal by August 31st. Proposals received by August 1st will receive priority.