Finalized Program posted

The finalized program for our annual Fall Conference, "Radical Emancipation: Confronting the Challenge of Secularism" has been posted. It now includes room numbers for all the sessions, and the names of session chairs. You can view it here.

Religious Freedom Project at the Berkely Center

The Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs in Washington, D.C. is hosting a symposium entitled "What's So Special about Religious Freedom?" on Thursday, Nov. 17, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in Copley Hall of Georgetown University. More information can be found here.

Integritas visits Catholic Worker House

Over the past couple of weeks, the Integritas program has been visiting the St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker House in South Bend to make dinner and spend time with the community. Each group has had a somewhat different experience: we've moved from eating dinner on picnic tables behind the Women's House to sheltering from the rain and wind in the dining room of the Men's House, and we've made everything from bean burritos to Shepherd's Pie; but every group of students was struck by the homey feeling of the house and the warm welcome they received from the community. Many students remarked on how apparent it is that this is a tight-knit community where people really care for one another, and also on the diversity of the gathering assembled for dinner--college students, professionals, men and women coming in off the streets, parents, children, young, old, from all backgrounds and walks of life.

The groups also met with different levels of success in the kitchen. It quickly became apparent that the primary work of mercy occurring was perhaps not 'feed the hungry' but rather 'instruct the ignorant' as the students struggled to recognize leeks, beets, and fennel, which they had never seen before. Only one group knew to peel the paper skins off the onions before chopping them up, and olive oil almost went into a batch of peanut butter cookies. As one student remarked afterwards, "The Catholic Worker House is a great place for learning life lessons!" I would add: in more ways than one. As Dostoevsky says in The Brothers Karamozov, and as Dorothy Day was fond of echoing, "love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing when compared with love in dreams." Equally, the face of Christ can be harsh and dreadful to gaze upon when seen in the face of the poor.

Fall Conference Registration closed

With registration for the Fall Conference exceeding 500, we have unfortunately had to close registration for the conference. We have exceeded the capacity of McKenna Hall. Thank you for your enthusiasm for our Fall 2011 Conference, "Radical Emancipation: Confronting the Challenge of Secularism."

St. John Cantius All Souls Day Latin High Mass

A message from Campus Ministry:

Again this year, Campus Ministry's Four:7 Catholic Fellowship is coordinating a chartered bus trip to attend the All Souls Day Latin High Mass (in the Extraordinary Form) NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, at St. John Cantius Catholic Church in Chicago (http://cantius.org).  This Mass features the parish's St. Cecilia Choir & Orchestra, which will perform Mozart's Requiem in D minor within the context of the Mass for which it was originally written.  

 What:  Latin High Mass w/ Mozart's Requiem performed by Choir & Orchestra

Where:  St. John Cantius Catholic Church, Chicago (http://cantius.org)

Date:  Next Wednesday, Nov 2

Check-in:  5:00pm at 114 CoMo

Bus Departure from ND:  5:30pm sharp

Bus Return to ND:  ~12:30-1:00am

Cost:  $20 (to help cover cost of buses)

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING…

Since we are booking CHARTERED BUSES for this event (STUDENTS: feel free to bring work/reading for the bus ride!), the deadline to sign up will be this FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 at 5:00pm.  To reserve a spot, please email me in Campus Ministry ASAP at perkins.26@nd.edu.  Once you've confirmed your interest in attending via email, your $20 (cash or check to "Campus Ministry") can be brought by anytime before the trip to the Campus Ministry office on the 1st floor of Coleman-Morse (114 CoMo) and given to Mary Olen or to the student worker at the front desk.  (If you are unable to contribute due to financial constraints, please let me know; money should never be the reason you would be unable to attend a CM event.)

Fall Conference meals oversubscribed

If you have not done so already, we would encourage you to register for our annual flagship fall conference, Radical Emancipation: Confronting the Challenge of Secularism, Nov. 10-12 in McKenna Hall at Notre Dame. However, unfortunately the meals for this conference are already oversubscribed, and we will not be able to accommodate any additional requests for meals. You can view the full conference program here.

Fall Conference press release

PRESS RELEASE

NOTRE DAME CENTER FOR ETHICS & CULTURE

12^TH ANNUAL FALL CONFERENCE

NOVEMBER 10-12, 2011

Radical Emancipation:

Confronting the Challenge of Secularism

The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture is proud to announce our 12^th annual flagship fall conference, Radical Emancipation: Confronting the Challenge of Secularism. Scholars, artists, professionals, laymen and students will gather November 10-12^th, 2011 in McKenna Hall to reflect on the secularization of Europe and America. Taking Pope Benedict XVI’s insight that “The real opposition that characterizes today's world is not that between various religious cultures, but that between the radical emancipation of man from God, from the roots of life, on one hand, and from the great religious cultures on the other,” as our inspiration, we seek to explore secularizing influences in the realms of philosophy, theology, law, literature, medical ethics, education, economics, film, the arts and culture.

Our aim, as always, is to bring together a large number of respected scholars representing all the main academic fields, from Catholic, Christian, and secular institutions, to engage in a spirited discussion of this theme from many different perspectives.   A full schedule, which includes over one hundred and twenty-five presentations and thirteen invited lectures, is available online at ethicscenter.nd.edu. 

            Rev. Robert Barron, of Word on Fire Ministries, will inaugurate the conference with the Josef Pieper Keynote Lecture entitled, “Evangelizing the Secular Culture,” on Thursday evening, November 10^th, at 7:30 p.m., in the main auditorium of McKenna Hall.  This lecture is sponsored by the Jacques Maritain Center of the University of Notre Dame.

            On Friday evening, November 11^th, at 7:30 p.m., in the main auditorium of McKenna Hall, Alasdair MacIntyre, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Contemporary Aristotelian Studies in Ethics and Politics, London Metropolitan University, will give a lecture entitled “On Being a Theistic Philosopher in a Secularized Culture.” 

            Other invited speakers at the conference include:

Ø  Michael Baxter, DePaul University, who will present a paper entitled “Beyond Secular Reason and Back Again: A Memoir in Theory and Practice”

Ø  Lucy Beckett, Independent Scholar and Author, who will present a paper entitled “Radical Emancipation and the Teaching of English Literature”

Ø  Jean Bethke Elshtain, University of Chicago, who will present a paper entitled “Forgetting Jerusalem: Has the West Lost Its Way?”

Ø  H. Tristram Engelhardt, Rice University, who will present a paper entitled “After Metaphysics: Taking Hegel Seriously”

Ø  David Lyle Jeffrey, Baylor University, who will present a paper entitled “Translating Scripture in a Secular Age”

Ø  Daniel McInerny, Baylor University, who will present a paper entitled “Christians and Aliens: Making Movies in a Culture of Death”

Ø  Timothy Shah, Georgetown University, who will present a paper entitled “March of the Jacobins: The Global Rise and Decline of Political Secularism”

Ø  Robert Sloan, President of Houston Baptist University, Stephen Minnis, President of Benedictine College, and Br. John Paige, CSC, President of Holy Cross College, who will present a panel entitled “Christian Universities and Secularizing Forces in the Culture”

Ø  Christian Smith, University of Notre Dame, who will present a paper entitled “Sociological Perspectives on Secularism”

Additional Information

The cost of the conference ($250) includes all receptions, and on Friday and Saturday, a continental breakfast and a served lunch and dinner.  All conference sessions and meals will be held at Notre Dame’s McKenna Hall. Conference talks are free and open to the public, but those wishing to participate in the meals and receptions must register.

For more information on Radical Emancipation: Confronting the Challenge of Secularism, please visit our website at http://ethicscenter.nd.edu.  Our site also offers the full conference program, and descriptions of papers.  You can register for Radical Emancipation: Confronting the Challenge of Secularism online now by visiting http://conferences.nd.edu.  Registration questions should be addressed to the Notre Dame Conference Center by telephone at (574) 631-6691, by e-mail to conferences@nd.edu, or by facsimile to (574) 631-8083.  Any questions related to the conference itself should be directed to ndethics@nd.edu.

The Center is grateful to the Maas Family Excellence Fund, the Strake Foundation, and the Jacques Maritain Center for supporting Radical Emancipation: Confronting the Challenge of Secularism.

TONIGHT: Healing after Abortion

Lisa Everett, co-director of the diocesan Office of Family Life, will speak on Project Rachel: A Path to Hope and Healing After Abortion on Wednesday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m at St. Pius X parish, Granger, , in the Holy Cross Room. This presentation is intended for anyone interested in understanding the aftermath of abortion and the process of healing and reconciliation for women, men and other family members. It will also explain the Catholic Church's pastoral outreach to all those involved in abortion through the Project Rachel program. Sponsored by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and St. Pius X Parish.

American Maritain Association Conference Oct. 13-15

The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture is co-sponsoring the 35th Annual American Maritain Association International Conference, entitled "Ransoming the Time: Human Nature, Earthly Destiny, and Christian Wisdom" to be held Oct. 13-15 at the Gillespie Center on the campus of St. Mary's College.

Registration is through the Notre Dame Conference Center. Here is the full schedule:

35^th ANNUAL AMERICAN MARITAIN ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

“Ransoming the Time: Human Nature,

Earthly Destiny, and Christian Wisdom”

OCTOBER 13 – 15, 2011

==============THURSDAY EVENING, October 13, 2011============

All Thursday Events at The Gillespie Center

6:30 pm: Opening Mass – Notre Dame A & B:

·         Rev. Msgr. James B. Anderson, University of St. Thomas, TX, Celebrant & Homilist

7:30 – 9:30 pm: Concurrent Sessions #1

[1.1] The Nature of the Human Person – Fleur de Lis C ·         Chairperson: John G. Trapani, Jr., Walsh University ·         James Capehart, University of St. Thomas, Houston, “Incarnate Spirit: Proper Thomistic Definition of the Human Being or Merely a Description of the Human Soul?” ·         Analisia Gutierrez, St. Mary’s University, Texas, “Between Body and Soul: Forgiveness as the Redeemer of Sinful Time” ·         Lian Giangan, St. Louis University/Philippine Military Academy, “‘Two-halves of Humanity’ in an Integral Humanism: Framework for a Christian Philosophy of a Human Being – Man and Woman”

[1.2] Cognition: Sensation, Concepts and Analogy – Fleur de Lis D ·         Chairperson: Giuseppe Butera, Providence College ·         James Kintz, Loyola Marymount University, “The Necessity of Virtue in Aesthetic Experience: A Phenomenological and Metaphysical Account of the Apprehension of Beauty” ·         Domenic D’Ettore, University of St. Thomas, Houston, “The Thomism of Capreolus’ Doctrine of Concepts in Analogy” Daniel De Haan, University of St. Thomas, Houston, “Sensation and Intentions in the Medium: Yves Simon, Thomistic Transcendentals, and James Gibson’s Ambient Energy”

9:30 – 10:30 pm: Reception – Gillespie Lobby

 

===============FRIDAY MORNING, October 14, 2011=============

All Friday Events at The Gillespie Center

8 – 10 am: Concurrent Sessions #2

[2.1] Sign and Symbol – Fleur de Lis C ·         Chairperson: Richard Cain, Wheeling Jesuit University ·         Rev. John J. Conley, S.J., Loyola University Maryland, “Sign and Symbol in a Sacramental Key” ·         Gregory Kerr, De Sales University, “Maritain’s Magical Seduction” ·         Dutton Kearney, Hillsdale College, “Myth as Metaphysics: Maritain’s Importance for Literary Studies”

[2.2] Issues in Christology – Fleur de Lis D ·         Chairperson: Travis Dumsday, Livingstone College ·         Heather M. Erb, Lock Haven University, “Aquinas and Maritain on Levels of Contemplation, Paradox, and Christ: Points of Entry into the Core/Contextualist Debate” ·         Roger Nutt, Ave Maria University, “Esse Secundarium: Interpreting St. Thomas on the Metaphysical Status of Christ’s Human Nature”

[2.3] Love, Desire and Happiness – Fleur de Lis E ·         Chairperson: Siobhan Nash-Marshall, Manhattanville College ·         Herb Hartmann, Our Lady of Thornwood, “Eros and Amor” ·         Brandom Dahm, Baylor University, “Distinguishing Desire and Parts of Happiness: A Reply to Germain Grisez” ·         Denis Scrandis, St. John’s University, NY, “Maritain’s Immanent Dialectic of the First Act of Freedom”

[2.4] Liberal Education and Virtue – Notre Dame C ·         Chairperson: James Hanink, Loyola Marymount University ·         Anne Wiles, James Madison University, “Maritain on Education” ·         Samantha Bertrand, Franciscan University of Steubenville, “Aristotle’s Gentleman” ·         Gavin T. Colvert, Assumption College, “Redeeming Liberal Education”

 

10:15 am – 12:15 pm: Plenary Session #1 – Notre Dame A & B

• Chair:  John Hittinger, Ph.D. – University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX

• Randall Smith, Ph.D. – 2011-12 Myser Fellow, Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture; and Associate Professor of Theology, University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX

            “Hope and Human History”

• Bernard E. Doering, Ph.D. – Emeritus Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Notre Dame, IN

            “Jacques Maritain and Charles Journet on Humanae Vitae"

12:15 – 1:45 pm: Lunch

(On your own – Recommended: Bistro 933, Hilton Garden Inn; special menu for the AMA)

=============FRIDAY AFTERNOON, October 14, 2011=============

1:45 – 3:45 pm: Plenary Session #2 – Notre Dame A & B

• Chair: Raymond Dennehy, Ph.D. – University of San Francisco, San Francisco

• John F. X. Knasas, Ph.D. – Professor of Philosophy, Center for Thomistic Studies, University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX

            “Being and the Twenty-first Century Thomist.”

• W. David Solomon, Ph.D. – W.P. & H.B. White Director, Notre Dame Center for Ethics & Culture, University of Notre Dame, IN

            “Maritain's ‘Human Equality’ and the Dignity Wars in Contemporary Bioethics”

4 – 6 pm: Concurrent Sessions #3

[3.1] Topics in Metaphysics: Ontology – Fleur de Lis C ·         Chairperson: Heather M. Erb, Lock Haven University ·         Siobhan Nash-Marshall, Manhattanville College, “Boethius on Essences” ·         Travis Dumsday, Livingstone College, “How is a Substantial Form Related to its Propria? ·         Steven Long, Ave Maria University, “Odd Bedfellows and the Negation of Negation: Frege and Maritain”

[3.2] Virtues: Moral and Theological – Fleur de Lis D ·         Chairperson: Herb Hartmann, Our Lady of Thornwood ·         Christopher Klofft, Assumption College, “Being Truthful with My Neighbor: Maritain and Dominus Iesus” ·         Richard Cain, Wheeling Jesuit University, “Ransoming Rhetoric: Character, Passion and Human Destiny”

[3.3] Questions on Equality I -- Fleur de Lis E ·         Chairperson: Giuseppe Butera, Providence College ·         James Hanink, Loyola Marymount University: “Equality, Rights and Deep Humanism” ·         James Jacobs, Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans, LA: “American Thought and the Problem of Equality” ·         Thomas Rourke, Clarion University, “Moral Problems in Economic Organization in the Work of Yves R. Simon: Unequal Exchange and Man as the Principle of Integration”

[3.4] Maritain on Politics – Notre Dame C ·         Chairperson: Nikolaj Zunic, St. Jerome’s University, Canada ·         Mario Ramos Reyes, Kansas City College, “Revolution vs. Reform: Would Maritain Qualify as a ‘Chavista’?” ·         Jesse Russell, Louisiana State University, “Redeeming Time: An Examination of Jacques Maritain’s Political Sea-Change and Its Consequences for Thomism”

6 – 7:30 pm: Dinner

(On your own – suggestions provided)

==============FRIDAY EVENING, October 14, 2011===============

7:30 – 9:30 pm: Concurrent Sessions #4

[4.1] Book Discussion: Natura Pura: On the Recovery of Nature in the Doctrine of Grace, By      Steven Long – Fleur de Lis C ·         Moderator: Peter Pagan, Aquinas College, TN ·         Panelists: o   John Hittinger, University of St. Thomas, Houston, “Rights and the secular stalking horse” o   Br. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P., Dominican House of Studies, “Natura Pura, Obediential Potency, and Sacra Doctrina" o   Paul Gondreau, Providence College, “Nature as Vacuole for Grace: Marriage in the Evangelical Mission of the Church” o   James Madden, Benedictine College, “Nature without Substance?  On the Possibility of an Analytic Handmaiden for Theology” ·         Respondent: Steven Long, Ave Maria University

[4.2] Anti-Semitism, The Mystery of Israel and Redeeming American Culture – Fleur de Lis D ·         Chairperson: Gavin T. Colvert, Assumption College ·         Jose Yulo, Academy of Art University, “Anti-Semitism and Christophobia: A Material and Immaterial Study” ·         Cornelia Tsakiridou, LaSalle University, “Jacques Maritain and the Mystery of Israel” Jude Dougherty, Catholic University of America, “The Loss of Maritain’s America”

[4.3] Questions on Equality II – Fleur de Lis E ·         Chairperson: Nikolaj Zunic, St. Jerome’s University ·         Mario D’Souza, Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto Canada, “Philosophy of Education and Human Equality: The Contribution of Jacques Maritain” ·         Raymond Dennehy, University of San Francisco, “Maritain’s Ontology of Human Equality and His Mis-ontology of the Fetus: Reflections on Human Equality in Ransoming the Time.” Bernadette O’Connor, University of the Incarnate Word, “Two False Theories of Human Equality Identified by Maritain and Applied to Contemporary Feminist Concerns”

[4.4] Issues in Moral Philosophy and Theology – Notre Dame C ·         Chairperson: John G. Trapani, Jr., Walsh University ·         Steven Jensen, University of St. Thomas, Houston, “Double Effect, Proportionality and Allowing Harm” ·         Dominic Colucy, Walsh University, “Maritain and the Problem of Universal Salvation” Matthew McWhorter, Ave Maria University, “Aquinas, The Universality of Moral Life, and Intrinsic Moral Evils”

9:30 – 10:30 pm: Reception – Gillespie Lobby

=================SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2011================

Saturday AM and PM Sessions at The Gillespie Center

8 – 10 am: Concurrent Sessions #5

[5.1] Issues in Cognition – Fleur de Lis C ·         Chairperson: Heather M. Erb, Lock Haven University. ·         Rev. Msgr. James B. Anderson, University of St. Thomas, Houston, “Maritain's Schema of Knowings by Connaturality as Proposed in Ransoming the Time” ·          Stephen Chamberlain, Rockhurst University, “A Thomist Ontology of Signs: Concepts, Words, and Things,” ·         John Deely, University of St. Thomas, Houston, “Uninstantiability”

[5.2] Maritain and Literature – Fleur de Lis D ·         Chairperson: Herb Hartmann, Our Lady of Thornwood ·         John Dunaway, Mercer University, “Maritain’s Influence on American Literature” ·          Joshua Hren, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, “The Sound and the Fury, Symbolizing Something: Maritain and Percy on the Paradoxical Miracle at the Limits of Language” Thomas Woods, “The Genius of Poetry in Dryden's ‘Preface to Fables, Ancient and Modern’”

[5.3] Book Discussion: Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology by Thomas Joseph White, O.P. – Fleur de Lis E ·         Moderator: Roger W. Nutt, Ave Maria University ·         Panelists o   John O'Callaghan, University of Notre Dame, IN o   Steven Long, Ave Maria University o   Fred Freddoso, University of Notre Dame, IN ·         Respondent: Rev. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., Dominican House of Studies, Washington, DC

[5.4] Christian Wisdom and the Search for Peace – LeMans Room, Inn at St. Mary’s ·         Chairperson: James Hanink, Loyola Marymount University ·         Giuseppe Butera, Providence College, “Word and Deed: Living the Vocation of the Catholic Philosopher” ·         James Keating, Providence College, “The Credibility of Christian Wisdom in a Secular Time” ·         Nikolaj Zunic, St. Jerome’s University, Canada, “Philosophy and the Search for Peace”

10:15 am – 12:15 pm: Presidential Address & Plenary Session #3 – Notre Dame

• Chair: John G. Trapani, Jr.  – Walsh University

• John G. Trapani, Jr., Ph.D. – Professor of Philosophy, Walsh University; and President of the American Maritain Association

      “‘The Mysterious Nest of the Soul:’ Maritain’s Epistemological Epiphanies

• Thomas S. Hibbs, Ph.D. – Honors College Dean; Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Culture, Baylor University; 2010 AMA Scholarly Excellence Award Recipient

    “Maritain, Modernity, and Aesthetics”

12:15 – 1:45 pm: Luncheon & Business Meeting – Notre Dame Room

2 – 3 pm: Plenary Session #4 – Notre Dame Room

·         Chair:  Gavin Colvert, Assumption College, Worchester, MA

·         Michael Novak, Ph.D. – Simon Distinguished Professor, Ave Maria University, FL

              "Self-Knowledge and the Void"

4:30 pm: Closing Mass – The Holy Spirit Chapel, St. Mary’s University

·         Rev. John J. Conley, S.J., Loyola University Maryland, Celebrant

·         Rev. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., Thomistic Institute, Dominican House of Studies,
Washington, D.C., Homilist

·         Liturgical Music: Lorica – Dr. Wm. Kevin Cawley, Director

5:45 pm: Reception – The Great Hall, St. Mary’s University

7 pm: AMA Annual Awards Banquet – Stapleton Lounge, St. Mary’s University