The Thomistic Institute

How can one be happy? What practical steps can we gather from psychology and theology? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Christopher Kaczor about his latest Thomistic Institute lecture, "How to Be Happy: Lessons from Psychology and Theology.” How to Be Happy with Prof. Christopher Kaczor (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/how-to-be-happy-lessons-from-psychology-and-theology-professor-christopher-kaczor For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org About the Speaker: Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University and a member of the James Madison Society of Princeton University. In 2015, he was appointed to the Pontifical Academy for Life of Vatican City, and he serves as a Consultor to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a Ph.D. four years later from the University of Notre Dame. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Kaczor is a former Federal Chancellor Fellow at the University of Cologne and William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. He is an award winning author of twelve books including The Gospel of Happiness, The Seven Big Myths about Marriage, A Defense of Dignity, The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church, The Ethics of Abortion, Thomas Aquinas on the Cardinal Virtues; Life IssuesMedical Choices; Thomas Aquinas on Faith, Hope, and Love; The Edge of Life, and Proportionalism and the Natural Law Tradition. Dr. Kaczor’s views have been in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, National Review, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, TEDx, and The Today Show.

In this enlightening discussion, Professor Christopher Kaczor, a philosophy expert from Loyola Marymount University and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, explores the intricate relationship between happiness, faith, and service. He highlights how meaningful relationships and gratitude boost well-being more than wealth does. Kaczor delves into psychological principles, discussing Seligman’s PERMA model and the importance of faith in emotional wellness. Listeners can also learn practical strategies to strengthen willpower and manage distractions that hinder happiness.

This talk was given on September 12, 2022 at the University of Rochester. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. Paul Symington is Professor of Philosophy and Director of Scholarly Excellence at Franciscan University of Steubenville. His publications include On Determining What There Is (Walter De Gruyter, 2010) and over a dozen peer reviewed articles ranging in topics from philosophy of language, metaphysics, philosophy of science and medieval philosophy. He has also given numerous paper presentations, in topics ranging from medieval metaphysics and teleology in modern science, including talks on prime matter as well as the problem of human death at University of Oxford in 2015.

This talk was given on September 27, 2022 at Trinity College Dublin. For more information please visit, thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Nuno Castel-Branco is a historian of science and research fellow at the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Germany. He completed his Ph.D. in the History of Science at Johns Hopkins University in May 2021. He also received an M.Sc. in Physics from the University of Lisbon (ISTécnico). His current research focuses on the emergence of the new sciences in seventeenth-century Europe through the career of Nicolaus Steno, an anatomist who converted to Catholicism and was beatified by John Paul II. He also studies the development of Jesuit science in early modern Iberia. He has won several awards in Europe and the United States, such as a Fulbright Fellowship and a Huntington Exchange Fellowship at Oxford University. His writings have been accepted for publication in several journals including Early Science and Medicine, Renaissance Quarterly, and Scientific American.

This talk was given on September 30th, 2022 at Yale University. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Francis J. Beckwith is Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies and Affiliate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University, where he also serves as Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Philosophy. Among his over one dozen books are Never Doubt Thomas: The Catholic Aquinas as Evangelical and Protestant (Baylor University Press, 2019), Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (Cambridge University Press, 2007), and Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith (Cambridge University Press, 2015), winner of the American Academy of Religion's prestigious 2016 Book Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in Constructive-Reflective Studies. He is a graduate of the Washington University School of Law, St. Louis (MJS) as well as Fordham University (PhD, MA, philosophy).

The lecture was given at the University of California, Berkeley on September 23, 2022. For information on upcoming events, visit our website at thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Dr. Lawrence M. Principe is Drew Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Principe earned a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Liberal Studies from the University of Delaware. He also holds two doctorates: a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Johns Hopkins University. In 1999, the Carnegie Foundation chose Professor Principe as the Maryland Professor of the Year, and in 1998 he received the Templeton Foundation's award for courses dealing with science and religion. Johns Hopkins has repeatedly recognized Professor Principe's teaching achievements. He has won its Distinguished Faculty Award, the Excellence in Teaching Award, and the George Owen Teaching Award. In 2004, Professor Principe was awarded the first Francis Bacon Prize by the California Institute of Technology, awarded to an outstanding scholar whose work has had substantial impact on the history of science, the history of technology, or historically-engaged philosophy of science. Professor Principe has published numerous papers and is the author or coauthor of three books, including The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest.

This lecture was given at Vanderbilt University on September 29, 2022. For information on upcoming events, visit our website at thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel is a member of the St. Cecilia Congregation of Dominican Sisters of Nashville, Tennessee and currently serves as Associate Professor of Theology at Aquinas College in Nashville, TN. She received her Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. She has been active in her religious community's teaching apostolate for over fifteen years and has assisted with the theological formation of the newest members of her religious congregation. In addition to contributing articles to a number of journals and magazines, including the Vatican newspaper (L'Osservatore Romano), The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, The Linacre Quarterly, and the Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, Sister has served as editor-in-chief of her Congregation's book, Praying as a Family (also available in Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic versions). With EWTN, she directed a television series of the same title. She has also served as the creator and founding Director of the University of Dallas Studies in Catholic Faith & Culture Program.

This talk was given on September 19, 2022 at Regent University. For more information, please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University, where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served for 16 years as Dean of the Honors College and as Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Culture. Hibbs received a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and has served as tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, Full Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy at Boston College, and President of the University of Dallas. Hibbs works in the areas of medieval philosophy, especially Thomas Aquinas, contemporary virtue ethics, and aesthetics. He has published more than thirty scholarly articles and seven books, as well as 100 reviews and discussion articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues.

This talk was given on September 14, 2022 at Iowa State University. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org About the Speaker: Karin Öberg is Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. Her specialty is astrochemistry and her research aims to uncover how chemical processes affect the outcome of planet formation, especially the chemical habitability of nascent planets. Dr. Öberg obtained her B.Sc. in chemistry at Caltech in 2005, and her Ph.D. in astronomy, with a thesis focused on laboratory astrochemistry, from Leiden University in 2009. She did postdoctoral work at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as a NASA Hubble fellow, focusing on millimeter observations of planet-forming disks around young stars. In 2013 she joined the Harvard astronomy faculty as an assistant professor. She was promoted and named the Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor in Astronomy in 2016, and promoted to full professor with tenure in 2017. Dr. Öberg’s research in astrochemistry has been recognized with a Sloan fellowship, a Packard fellowship, the Newton Lacy Pierce Award from the American Astronomical Society, and a Simons fellowship. Her recent TED talk explaining some of her research can be found here https://www.ted.com/talks/karin_oberg_the_galactic_recipe_for_a_living_planet

Are quality of life judgments ethical? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with bioethicist Prof. Gina Noia about her latest Thomistic Institute lecture, "Are Quality of Life Judgments Ethical?” Bioethics and End of Life Decisions w/ Fr. Gregory Pine (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/are-quality-of-life-judgements-ethical-prof-gina-noia-1 For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org About the Speaker: Gina Maria Noia is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Resident Bioethicist at Belmont Abbey College. She received her Ph.D. in Theology and Health Care Ethics from Saint Louis University. She has served as a clinical ethicist for OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL and St. Alexius Hospital in St. Louis, MO, and she is published in Christian Bioethics and the Journal of Moral Theology.