The Thomistic Institute

Sep 15, 2023 • 58 min

This lecture was given on July 13th, 2023, at the "Thomistic Philosophy & Natural Science Symposium" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. Thomas Davenport, O.P. is a Dominican friar, physicist, and philosopher. He joined the faculty of philosophy at the Angelicum in Rome in 2020, where he co-leads the Project for Science and Religion. Before joining the Dominican order he studied physics at the California Institute of Technology before going on to earn his doctorate in physics from Stanford University studying theoretical particle physics. The focus of his scientific research is writing and testing simulations for high energy particle colliders like the LHC at CERN. After joining the Dominicans in 2010, he studied philosophy and theology in preparation for his ordination to the priesthood in 2017. In addition, he earned a Licentiate in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America, focusing on the philosophy of science and natural philosophy. For two years he was an Assistant Professor of Physics at Providence College in Providence, RI, where he taught physics and restarted a research program in particle physics. He has written and spoken in a number of forums on the relationship between faith and science including contributions to the Thomistic Evolution project and organizing conferences on science and philosophy for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC.

Sep 14, 2023 • 55 min

This lecture was given on July 13th, 2023, at the "Thomistic Philosophy & Natural Science Symposium" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Dr. Serena Kim is an Associate Research Professor and Associate Astronomer at Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona. Dr. Kim's recent research includes star formation in the "H II" region to investigate whether or not initial mass function and circumstellar disk evolution are affected by the star forming environment. She has also recently conducted research on debris disks around sun-like stars to study whether our solar system is common or rare. Kim focuses on multi-wavelength observational studies of star forming regions using both ground-based and space telescopes. Star forming regions Kim is working on are young clusters where the triggered mode of star formation is suggested. Kim is a member of the Spitzer Legacy program Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems. She has led and participated in various projects including Kuiper-Belt analogs around sun-like stars.

Sep 13, 2023 • 1h 14m

This lecture was given on July 13th, 2023, at the "Thomistic Philosophy & Natural Science Symposium" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Dr. Daniel De Haan is a Research Fellow of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford. He is working on the Renewal of Natural Theology Project directed by Professor Alister McGrath. Before coming to Oxford, De Haan was a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge working on the neuroscience strand of the Templeton World Charity Foundation Fellowships in Theology, Philosophy of Religion, and the Sciences Project, directed by Sarah Coakley. During this postdoctoral fellowship, he conducted research on the intersections of theology, philosophy, and neuroscience in Lisa Saksida’s Translational Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory in the Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge.

Sep 12, 2023 • 54 min

This lecture was given on July 13th, 2023, at the "Thomistic Philosophy & Natural Science Symposium" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P. is a Dominican friar of the Province of St. Joseph. He was born and raised in Connecticut and studied philosophy at The Catholic University of America. He joined the Order of Preachers in 2007, making his solemn vows in 2011 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2013. Fr. Little has a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of The Catholic University of America and received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Virginia, where he completed a dissertation entitled Aristotelian Change and the Scala Naturae. He primarily works on topics of interest in Aristotelian-Thomism and natural philosophy. He has previously taught at Providence College and is now a member of the faculty of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.

Sep 11, 2023 • 1h

This lecture was given on July 13th, 2023, at the "Thomistic Philosophy & Natural Science Symposium" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Brian T. Carl earned his M.A. in Philosophy from Saint Louis University and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America. He is an assistant professor at the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on Thomistic metaphysics, philosophical theology, cognitive theory, and moral psychology.

Sep 8, 2023 • 56 min

This lecture was given on March 18th, 2023, at "The Passion & the Sacred Wounds: An Intellectual Retreat" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

Sep 7, 2023 • 42 min

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Dr. Scott Cleveland about his latest Thomistic Institute, "The Service of the Emotions in the Moral Life." The Service of the Emotions in the Moral Life w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Prof. Scott Cleveland (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://on.soundcloud.com/tDZtA For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Prof. W. Scott Cleveland is Director of Catholic Studies and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND). His research interests are in ethics, moral psychology, and philosophy of religion. He is especially interested in the study of the virtues and emotions, the relation between the two, and the role of each in the moral and intellectual life. His work has appeared in journals such as American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Res Philosophica, Religious Studies, Oxford Bibliographies Online, and the Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

Sep 6, 2023 • 50 min

This lecture was given on March 18th, 2023, at "The Passion & the Sacred Wounds: An Intellectual Retreat" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

Sep 5, 2023 • 1h 9m

This lecture was given on March 18th, 2023, at "The Passion & the Sacred Wounds: An Intellectual Retreat" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. Michael O'Connor, O.P.(Dominican House of Studies) was raised in Illinois and did his undergraduate studies at St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota, where he earned a B.A. in music performance and philosophy. He worked as a church musician and as an editor of the St. Michael Hymnal for a few years before entering the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2006. He was ordained a priest in 2012 and completed the S.T.L. at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in 2013. Fr. O’Connor was then assigned to Providence College, where he taught courses in Theology and the Development of Western Civilization for three years. In 2016, he moved to Rome to begin doctoral studies (S.T.D.) in moral theology at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, where he completed a dissertation on a Thomistic understanding of the orientation of human sexuality.

Sep 1, 2023 • 55 min

This lecture was given on March 17th, 2023, at "The Passion & the Sacred Wounds: An Intellectual Retreat" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. Michael O'Connor, O.P.(Dominican House of Studies) was raised in Illinois and did his undergraduate studies at St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota, where he earned a B.A. in music performance and philosophy. He worked as a church musician and as an editor of the St. Michael Hymnal for a few years before entering the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2006. He was ordained a priest in 2012 and completed the S.T.L. at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in 2013. Fr. O’Connor was then assigned to Providence College, where he taught courses in Theology and the Development of Western Civilization for three years. In 2016, he moved to Rome to begin doctoral studies (S.T.D.) in moral theology at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, where he completed a dissertation on a Thomistic understanding of the orientation of human sexuality.

Aug 31, 2023 • 1h 13m

This lecture was given on July 1st, 2023, at the Thomistic Institute Student Leadership Conference at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Dr. Paige Hochschild is a professor of historical and systematic theology at Mount St. Mary's University (MD), specializing in Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and the early Church. She also teaches philosophy courses at the Seminary at Mount St. Mary's. She has written a book on the place of memory in Augustine's theological anthropology and publishes on the Church, education, tradition, 20th c. theological debates within the Church (Scripture, history; marriage).

Aug 30, 2023 • 1h 13m

This lecture was given on June 30th, 2023, at the Thomistic Institute Student Leadership Conference at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information about upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Dr. Paige Hochschild is a professor of historical and systematic theology at Mount St. Mary's University (MD), specializing in Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and the early Church. She also teaches philosophy courses at the Seminary at Mount St. Mary's. She has written a book on the place of memory in Augustine's theological anthropology and publishes on the Church, education, tradition, 20th c. theological debates within the Church (Scripture, history; marriage).

Aug 29, 2023 • 1h 15m

This lecture was given on June 30th, 2023, at the Thomistic Institute Student Leadership Conference at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. James Dominic Brent, O.P. was born and raised in Michigan. He pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies in Philosophy, and completed his doctorate in Philosophy at Saint Louis University on the epistemic status of Christian beliefs according to Saint Thomas Aquinas. He has articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Natural Theology, in the Oxford Handbook of Thomas Aquinas on “God’s Knowledge and Will”, and an article forthcoming on “Thomas Aquinas” in the Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology. He earned his STL from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, and was ordained a priest in the same year. He taught in the School of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America from 2010- 2014, and spent the year of 2014-2015 doing full time itinerant preaching on college campuses across the United States.

Aug 28, 2023 • 1h 16m

The lecture was given on June 29th, 2023, at the Thomistic Institute Student Leadership Conference at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming events Speaker Bio: Fr. James Dominic Brent, O.P. was born and raised in Michigan. He pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies in Philosophy, and completed his doctorate in Philosophy at Saint Louis University on the epistemic status of Christian beliefs according to Saint Thomas Aquinas. He has articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Natural Theology, in the Oxford Handbook of Thomas Aquinas on “God’s Knowledge and Will”, and on “Thomas Aquinas” in the Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology. He earned his STL from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. He taught in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America from 2010-2014, and spent the year of 2014-2015 doing full-time itinerant preaching on college campuses across the United States. Since then, he has been an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies.

Aug 25, 2023 • 1h 1m

This lecture was given on March 31st, 2023, at a Thomistic Institute Intellectual Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies with North Carolina State University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Sr. Maria Kiely, O.S.B. (Dominican House of Studies)is a Benedictine of the Congregation of Solesmes. She specializes in Christian thought and Scriptural exegesis in the early Church and in the rise and development of monasticism. She has studied in depth the life and writings of Ambrose of Milan and his use and adaptation of Origen and Plotinus. Her current research focuses on the development of the tradition of hymnody in the early Church through the Middle Ages. She is currently participating in a major commentary on the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours. In addition to her work at Catholic University, she teaches Greek and Latin at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies. She is also on the Editorial Committee for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).

Aug 24, 2023 • 39 min

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. about his latest Thomistic Institute, "St. Thomas Aquinas on Love in the Incarnation of God." St. Thomas Aquinas on Love in the Incarnation of God w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://on.soundcloud.com/f9Wve For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

Aug 23, 2023 • 1h 10m

This lecture was given at a Thomstic Institute Intellectual Retreat at The Dominican House of Studies w North Carolina State University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. Speaker Bio: Fr. O’Donnell grew up in Syracuse, New York. After two years as a student at Providence College, he entered the Order of Preachers in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1970. In 1971 he earned an MA in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and in 1980 earned an STD degree in the area of Liturgical Spiritual Theology from the Pontifical Faculty for Spirituality, the Teresianum, in Rome. He has previously taught at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, PA and the Angelicum in Rome. In addition to teaching, he currently serves as a vice-postulator for the cause for sainthood of Father Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus, and as vice-postulator for the cause of Rose Hawthorne, founder of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, NY. He previously survived as postulator for the cause of canonization of Father Paul of Graymoor, which has also been submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. With Robin Mass, Ph.D., Fr. O’Donnell is the author of Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church and has contributed to A Love That Never Ends: A Key to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Aug 22, 2023 • 1h 2m

This lecture was given at a Thomistic Institute Intellectual Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies with North Carolina State University on March 31st, 2023. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Sr. Maria Kiely, O.S.B. (Dominican House of Studies)is a Benedictine of the Congregation of Solesmes. She specializes in Christian thought and Scriptural exegesis in the early Church and in the rise and development of monasticism. She has studied in depth the life and writings of Ambrose of Milan and his use and adaptation of Origen and Plotinus. Her current research focuses on the development of the tradition of hymnody in the early Church through the Middle Ages. She is currently participating in a major commentary on the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours. In addition to her work at Catholic University, she teaches Greek and Latin at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies. She is also on the Editorial Committee for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).

Aug 21, 2023 • 1h 3m

This lecture was given on March 31st, 2023, at a Thomistic Institute Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. O’Donnell grew up in Syracuse, New York. After two years as a student at Providence College, he entered the Order of Preachers in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1970. In 1971 he earned an MA in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and in 1980 earned an STD degree in the area of Liturgical Spiritual Theology from the Pontifical Faculty for Spirituality, the Teresianum, in Rome. He has previously taught at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, PA and the Angelicum in Rome. In addition to teaching, he currently serves as a vice-postulator for the cause for sainthood of Father Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus, and as vice-postulator for the cause of Rose Hawthorne, founder of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, NY. He previously survived as postulator for the cause of canonization of Father Paul of Graymoor, which has also been submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. With Robin Mass, Ph.D., Fr. O’Donnell is the author of Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church and has contributed to A Love That Never Ends: A Key to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Aug 18, 2023 • 1h 7m

This lecture was given on May 16th, 2023, at the University of Oregon. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Robin Jensen’s research and publication focuses on the relationship between early Christian art and literature and examines the ways that visual images and architectural spaces should be regarded as modes of theological expression. Her published essays and books contend that, in addition to interpreting sacred texts, visual images enhance liturgical settings, reflect the nature and content of devotional piety, and explicate ritual practices. She teaches courses on the character of late antique Christian and Jewish art, the history and evolution of Christian architecture, the iconography of the cross and crucifix, depictions of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and the place and controversies over images and idols in ancient and early medieval Christianity. Additionally, she has researched the practices, distinctive character, and material evidence of Christianity in ancient Roman North Africa. Her current project, tentatively titled "From Idols to Icons" (under contract with the University of California Press) examines the emergence of a Christian material piety in the fourth and fifth centuries. This work discusses the perceived danger of visual representations of divine beings, early controversies over the miraculous power of saints' shrines and relics, the sacralization of structures and geographical places, and the belief that images may facilitate the presence of holy persons in their absence.