This lecture was given on September 23rd, 2024, at University of Edinburgh.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017).

This lecture was given on April 26th, 2024, at University of California, Berkeley.

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About the Speaker:

Tomás Bogardus earned his BS in biology at UC San Diego, his MA in philosophy at Biola University, and his PhD in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He works mainly in metaphysics and epistemology, and is most interested in the mind-body problem, the rationality of religious belief, and the nature of gender.

This lecture was given on October 11th, 2024, at Thomistic Institute in New York City.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Gabriel Torretta was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, the youngest of four children. He was raised Presbyterian and converted to Catholicism in high school. He attended Arizona State University, where he earned a B.A. in Japanese, after which he entered a PhD program at Columbia University in pre-modern Japanese literature. He joined the Dominicans after three years there, having earned an M.A. and an M.Phil. “I entered the Order of Preachers because of Dominicans I met at Columbia University, who showed me the face of Christ as I had never known Him; ever since then I have believed that God is calling me to do the same for others.”

This lecture was given on October 15th, 2024, at Mississippi State University.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. John Mark Solitario is from St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in West Springfield, MA and the eldest of four children. After attending Catholic schools through high school, he earned his bachelor of arts from Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. Desiring to contribute to Catholic education, he was admitted to the PACT (Providence Alliance of Catholic Teachers) Program at Providence College where he completed a Masters of Education and taught high school in Lowell, MA for two years. He credits his growth in the Catholic Faith and inspiration to live it fully to outstanding teachers and role models, among them not a few Dominicans—priests, sisters, and lay. “From the time I met the Order, I aspired to the Dominican ideal of contemplation followed by a generous sharing of the fruits of that encounter with God. I have found this ideal realized and sustained within the fraternal life of the Province of St. Joseph.”

This lecture was given on October 9th, 2024, at Universidad Panamericana Campus Mixcoac.

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About the Speaker:

Robert C. (“Rob”) Koons is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, M. A. Oxford, Ph.D. UCLA. He is the author or co-author of five books, including The Atlas of Reality with Timothy H. Pickavance (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017) and Is Thomas’s Aristotelian Philosophy of Nature Obsolete? (St. Augustine Press, 2022). He is the co-editor of four anthologies, including The Waning of Materialism (OUP, 2010) and Classical Theism (Routledge 2023).  He has been working recently on an Aristotelian interpretation of quantum theory, on defending and articulating hylomorphism in contemporary terms, and on interpreting and defending Thomas's Five Ways.

This lecture was given on April 11th, 2024, at University of North Texas.

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About the Speaker:

Raymond Hain is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of the Humanities Program at Providence College in Providence, RI. Educated at Christendom College, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Oxford, he is the founder of the PC Humanities Forum and Humanities Reading Seminars and is responsible for the strategic development of the Humanities Program into a vibrant, world class center of teaching, research, and cultural life dedicated to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. His scholarly interests include the history of ethics (especially St. Thomas Aquinas), applied ethics (especially medical ethics and the ethics of architecture), Alexis de Tocqueville, and philosophy and literature (especially Catholic aesthetics). His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Templeton Foundation, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Charles Koch Foundation. His essays have appeared in various journals and collections including The Thomist, International Journal of Applied Philosophy, and The Anthem Companion to Tocqueville. He is the editor of Beyond the Self: Virtue Ethics and the Problem of Culture and is currently working on a monograph titled The Lover and the Prophet: An Essay in Catholic Aesthetics. He joined Providence College in 2011 and lives just across the street with his wife Dominique and their five children.

This lecture was given on November 2nd, 2024, at St. Albert's Priority.

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About the Speaker:

Dr. Heereman was born and raised in Germany. Originally trained to become a lawyer and after completing her bar exam, she experienced a deep encounter with the Lord which led her to consecrate her life to the study and teaching of the Word of God. She subsequently attended the ICPE school of Evangelization in India, Banglore, and studied theology in Frankfurt and Rome. She received an STB from the Pontifical Gregorian University, an SSL from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and the SSD from the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem and the Université de Fribourg. She has taught as a visiting professor at the Collège des Bernhardins in Paris, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, the DSPT in Berkley, and is currently Associate Professor for Sacred Scripture at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University. Her scholarly interests include a reintegration of Exegesis with Systematic and Spiritual Theology. She is the author of Behold King Solomon on the Day of His Wedding (Leuven: Peeters, 2021), and Athirst for the Spirit (Steubenville: Emmaus Press, 2023).

Fr. Jordan Schmidt discusses the importance of embodying wisdom according to Proverbs and Sirach, emphasizing that wisdom is not an individual pursuit but a communal endeavor that involves sharing and disseminating wisdom within the community.

This lecture was given on November 2nd, 2024, at St. Albert's Priority.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Jordan Schmidt graduated with a BA in English and Philosophy from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN in 2002. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2005 and after completing his theological studies (STL and Mdiv), he was ordained a priest in 2012. Fr. Jordan initially served as associate pastor of St Mary’s parish in New Haven, CT, and subsequently returned to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC to pursue doctoral studies at CUA, ultimately earning his PhD in biblical studies in 2018. He is currently an assistant professor of Sacred Scripture at the PFIC where he teaches various Old Testament courses, including survey courses on the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Wisdom literature as well as seminar courses on biblical inspiration, eschatology and apocalyptic literature, theological history, and creation theology.

Father Jordan Schmidt discusses the concept of wisdom in Catholic theology, focusing on its definition, its relationship to knowledge, and how it can be acquired and exercised through the study of scripture, particularly wisdom literature in the Bible.

This lecture was given on November 1st, 2024, at St. Albert's Priority.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Jordan Schmidt graduated with a BA in English and Philosophy from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN in 2002.  He entered the Order of Preachers in 2005 and after completing his theological studies (STL and Mdiv), he was ordained a priest in 2012. Fr. Jordan initially served as associate pastor of St Mary’s parish in New Haven, CT,  and subsequently returned to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC to pursue doctoral studies at CUA, ultimately earning his PhD in biblical studies in 2018.  He is currently an assistant professor of Sacred Scripture at the PFIC where he teaches various Old Testament courses, including survey courses on the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Wisdom literature as well as seminar courses on biblical inspiration, eschatology and apocalyptic literature, theological history, and creation theology. 

Professor Nina Sophie Heereman explores the tradition of using wisdom texts, such as Proverbs 8 and Sirach 24, in Marian devotion, tracing this practice back to the patristic age. She argues that these texts, which describe wisdom as a pre-existent figure closely associated with God, are applied to Mary because she is seen as embodying the virtues and attributes of divine wisdom.

This lecture was given on November 2nd, 2024, at St. Albert's Priority.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Heereman was born and raised in Germany. Originally trained to become a lawyer and after completing her bar exam, she experienced a deep encounter with the Lord which led her to consecrate her life to the study and teaching of the Word of God. She subsequently attended the ICPE school of Evangelization in India, Banglore, and studied theology in Frankfurt and Rome.  She received an STB from the Pontifical Gregorian University, an SSL from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and the SSD from the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem and the Université de Fribourg. She has taught as a visiting professor at the Collège des Bernhardins in Paris, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, the DSPT in Berkley, and is currently Associate Professor for Sacred Scripture at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University. Her scholarly interests include a reintegration of Exegesis with Systematic and Spiritual Theology. She is the author of Behold King Solomon on the Day of His Wedding (Leuven: Peeters, 2021), and Athirst for the Spirit (Steubenville: Emmaus Press, 2023).

Sr. Elinor Gardner begins by examining Clarence Darrow's essay "The Myth of the Soul," which argues that belief in the soul is neither necessary nor desirable. She then delves into what Plato and Aristotle have to say about the soul, contrasting their different understandings on the nature of the soul and its fate after death. Sr. Gardner concludes by discussing the Christian understanding of the soul, evidenced by the testimony of the apostles regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This lecture was given on September 21st, 2024, at University of South Florida.

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About the Speaker:

Sister Elinor Gardner, O.P., is Affiliate Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dallas. Prior to arriving at UD, she taught at Aquinas College (Nashville, TN) and at The Catholic University of America, and spent one year assisting in formation at her Congregation’s Novitiate. She has a PhD from Boston College with a doctorate titled “St Thomas Aquinas on the Death Penalty.” Besides the ethical and political philosophy of Aquinas, her other research interests include the Christian anthropology of Robert Spaemann and Edith Stein.