The Thomistic Institute

Prof. Dempsey's handout can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yk87tf7e This talk was given on October 6, 2022, at the University of Florida. For more information, please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Erik Dempsey (PhD, Boston College) is the Assistant Director of University of Texas at Austin's Thomas Jefferson for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas. He completed his doctorate at Boston College in June 2007. He is interested in understanding human virtue, and the proper place of politics in a well-lived human life, the different ways in which human virtue is understood in different political situations, and the ways in which human virtue may transcend any political situation. His dissertation looks at Aristotle's treatment of prudence in the Nicomachean Ethics, and Aristotle's suggestion that virtue should be understood as an end in itself. He is adding a discussion of Thomas's discussion on Aristotle in order to prepare the dissertation as a book. He teaches many classes for the Thomas Jefferson Center, including, Jerusalem and Athens (on the ethical and political teaching of the Bible and Aristotle); Theoretical Foundations of Modern Politics; The Bible and Its Interpreters; The Question of Relativism; Ancient Philosophy and Literature; and American Political Thought.

This lecture was given on October 15, 2022 as part of the Fall Thomistic Circles conference, "Life in the Cosmos: Contemporary Science, Philosophy, and Theology on the Origin and Persistence of Life on Earth(and Beyond?)." The two-day conference at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. featured a stellar, cross-disciplinary lineup of speakers: scientists Jonathan Lunine (Cornell University) and Maureen Condic (University of Utah), philosopher Christopher Frey (University of South Carolina), and theologian Fr. Mauriusz Tabaczek, O.P. (Angelicum). This conference is part of the Thomistic Institute’s Scientia Project. For more information on upcoming events, visit thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Fr. Mariusz Tabaczek, O.P. is a Polish Dominican and theologian. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophical theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA and a Church Licentiate from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. After his studies at the GTU and a fellowship at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Studies, he returned to Poland. For three years he worked as a researcher at the Thomistic Institute in Warsaw, a lecturer at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Warsaw and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Krakow, and a director of the Studium Dominicanum in Warsaw. He then moved to Rome where he serves as a professor of theology at the Angelicum and a researcher for the Thomistic Institute Angelicum. He is interested in the science-theology dialogue, especially in the issues concerning science and creation theology, divine action, and evolutionary theory. His research also goes to other subjects related to systematic, fundamental, and natural theology, philosophy of nature, philosophy of science (philosophy of biology, in particular), philosophy of causation, and metaphysics. His works address a whole range of topics, including: the notion of species, metaphysics of evolutionary transitions, concurrence of divine and natural causes in evolutionary transitions, definition and role of chance and teleology in evolution, classical and new hylomorphism, classical and contemporary (analytical) concepts of causation, emergence, science-oriented panentheism and its critique, and various aspects of divine action in the universe. He published a number of articles on metaphysics and the issues concerning the relation between theology and science in Zygon, Theology and Science, Scientia et Fides, Nova et Vetera, Forum Philosophicum, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Sophia, and Polish Annals of Philosophy. He coauthored two chapters in the second edition of Science and Religion: A Historical Introduction (ed. by Gary Ferngren) and has written the entry on “Emergence” for the PalgraveEncyclopedia of the Possible. He is also the author of two monographs. The first, entitled Emergence: Towards A New Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science, was published in 2019 and was announced as one of the best metaphysics books to read in 2019 by Bookauthority. The second book, Divine Action and Emergence: An Alternative to Panentheism (published in 2021), offers a critical analysis of the theory of divine action based on the notion of emergent phenomena and provides a constructive proposal of a theological reinterpretation of divine action in emergence from the point of view of the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of philosophy and theology.

Are there medieval answers to modern questions of Trinitarian theology? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Bruce Marshall about his latest Thomistic Institute lecture, "Medieval Answers to Modern Questions: Renewing Trinitarian Theology Today.” Renewing Trinitarian Theology w/ Fr. Gregory Pine (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/medieval-answers-to-modern-questions-renewing-trinitarian-theology-today-prof-bruce-marshall For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Bruce D. Marshall is the Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at Southern Methodist University. He holds a masters from Yale Divinity School and a doctorate from Yale University. His teaching interests include medieval and reformation theology and systematic theology. His research interests include doctrine of the Trinity, Christology, philosophical issues in theology, sacramental theology, and Judaism and Christian theology. 559080

The handout for this lecture can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/4jsmdu2j. This lecture was given on October 19, 2022, at Oxford University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Bruce D. Marshall is the Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at Southern Methodist University. He holds a masters from Yale Divinity School and a doctorate from Yale University. His teaching interests include medieval and reformation theology and systematic theology. His research interests include doctrine of the Trinity, christology, philosophical issues in theology, sacramental theology, and Judaism and Christian theology. 559080

This lecture was given on October 14, 2022, as part of the Thomistic Circles conference entitled, "Life in the Cosmos: Contemporary Science, Philosophy, and Theology on the Origin and Persistence of Life on Earth(and Beyond?)." The two-day conference at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. featured a stellar, cross-disciplinary lineup of speakers: scientists Jonathan Lunine (Cornell University) and Maureen Condic (University of Utah), philosopher Christopher Frey (University of South Carolina), and theologian Fr. Mauriusz Tabaczek, O.P. (Angelicum). This conference is part of the Thomistic Institute’s Scientia Project. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Christopher Frey is an associate professor in the department of philosophy at the University of South Carolina. Prof. Frey works primarily in Ancient Greek philosophy, especially Aristotle’s natural philosophy and metaphysics. He is writing a book entitled The Principle of Life: Aristotelian Souls in an Inanimate World. It concerns the distinction between the animate and the inanimate, the unity of living organisms, nutrition, birth, death, and, more generally, what one’s metaphysical worldview looks like if one takes life to be central. He also works in contemporary philosophy of perception and mind and has written extensively on the relationship between the intentionality and phenomenality of perceptual experience. In addition to these two main areas of research, he has secondary projects in metaphysics, the philosophy of action, Medieval philosophy, Early Modern philosophy, and the history of analytic philosophy.

This lecture was given on October 10, 2022, at Trinity University(San Antonio). For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: www.thomisticinstitute.org About the Speaker: Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, O.P. is a member of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. She is an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston where she also teaches at St. Mary's Seminary. Her main area of research is medieval sacramental theology with a focus on Albert the Great and Aquinas. She has published a translation of Albert the Great's work On the Body of the Lord, in the CUA Fathers of the Church Medieval Continuation series as well as a translation of Aquinas's Commentary on the Psalms for the Aquinas Institute. She has published articles in various journals including Logos, Antiphon, Nova et Vetera and Franciscan Studies.

Prof. Lunine's slides may be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/22vs3mdv This lecture was given on October 14, 2022, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the Thomistic Circles conference entitled, "Life in the Cosmos: Contemporary Science, Philosophy, and Theology on the Origin and Persistence of Life on Earth (and Beyond?)." For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Jonathan I. Lunine is The David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences at Cornell University and Director of the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, His research focuses on astrophysics, planetary science and astrobiology. In addition to his responsibilities in the classroom, he serves as Interdisciplinary Scientist on the James Webb Space Telescope project and is a coinvestigator on the Juno mission currently in orbit around Jupiter. Lunine is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the 2014 recipient of the Jean Dominique Cassini Medal of the European Geosciences Union. He is the author of Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach and Earth: Evolution of a Habitable World. Lunine obtained a B.S. in physics and astronomy from the University of Rochester (1980), an M.S. (1983) and a Ph.D. (1985) in planetary science from the California Institute of Technology. He lives in Ithaca New York, where he is a member of St. Catherine of Siena parish. In 2016 Lunine helped to found the Society of Catholic Scientists. About the conference: What is life? How did biological life arise? What makes life persist and might it exist elsewhere in the cosmos? What would that mean? Consider these questions and more with the Thomistic Institute at the Fall Thomistic Circles conference, Life in the Cosmos: Contemporary Science, Philosophy, and Theology on the Origin and Persistence of Life on Earth (and Beyond?). The two-day conference at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. features a stellar, cross-disciplinary lineup of speakers, scientists Jonathan Lunine (Cornell University) and Maureen Condic (University of Utah), philosopher Christopher Frey (University of South Carolina), and theologian Fr. Mauriusz Tabaczek, O.P. (Angelicum). This conference is part of the Thomistic Institute’s Scientia Project.

The lecture was given on October 12, 2022 at Harvard University. For more information on upcoming events, visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Sr. Mary Madeline Todd is a Dominican Sister of Saint Cecilia Congregation in Nashville. She earned her doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. She teaches, writes, and speaks on spiritual and moral theology and philosophy, especially on the dignity of the human person in Christ.

This talk was given on October 13, 2022 at the University of Texas at Austin. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Jordan Wales is an Associate Professor and the John and Helen Kuczmarski Chair in Theology at Hillsdale College. His scholarship focuses on early Christian understandings of seeing God as well as contemporary theological and philosophical questions relating to Artificial Intelligence. He is published in Augustinian Studies and AI & Society, among other journals; he is an advisor to the Holy See’s new Center for Digital Culture, under the Pontifical Council for Culture; and he is an affiliated scholar with the Centre for Humanity and the Common Good at Regent College, University of British Columbia. He received his M.T.S. and Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame after studying under a British Marshall Scholarship in the U.K., where he received a Diploma in Theology from Oxford and a M.Sc. in Cognitive Science and Natural Language from the University of Edinburgh. He is a recipient of a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

This lecture was given at Harvard University on October 3, 2022. For more information on upcoming events, visit thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Matthew Dugandzic joined the theology faculty at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in 2019 after completing a Ph.D. in moral theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. His dissertation, "A Thomistic Account of the Habituation of the Passions," explored the ways in which people can develop virtuous affective inclinations. Dr. Dugandzic's scholarship focuses on medieval thought, especially Thomas Aquinas' anthropology, psychology, and ethics. His work on Christ's passions recently appeared in the European Journal for the Study of Thomas Aquinas and his other writings on the passions and on bioethics have appeared in New Blackfriars and National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly. His current research focuses on the sources that Aquinas used in developing his understanding of virtue and on recovering ancient and medieval wisdom regarding economics in order to apply this wisdom to contemporary financial problems (like student loan debt). Dr. Dugandzic has taught courses in fundamental moral theology, bioethics, theological anthropology, and Catholic social teaching. In addition to his work in the academy, Dr. Dugandzic has also brought his theological expertise to the aid of the Church, having taught theology to RCIA groups, catechists, and candidates for the permanent diaconate. In addition to his doctorate, Dr. Dugandzic holds a BSc in biology from Concordia University in Montréal, Québec and an MA in religious studies from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York. He and his wife, Audra, live in Baltimore, MD. In his spare time, he likes to play hockey, which he enjoys almost as much as reading theology.