The Thomistic Institute

Prof. Michael Dauphinais argues that stories are not just useful for faith—they are how human beings understand reality, and the Christian story of creation, redemption, and resurrection is the true narrative that reorders the imagination.This lecture was given on March 27th, 2026, at Florida State University.Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad. About the Speaker:Michael A. Dauphinais, Ph.D., serves as the Fr. Matthew Lamb Professor of Catholic Theology and the co-director of the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal at Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, Florida.  He has co-authored with Matthew Levering Knowing the Love of Christ: An Introduction to the Theology of Thomas Aquinas; Holy People, Holy Land: A Theological Introduction to the Bible; and The Wisdom of the Word: Biblical Answers to Ten Questions about Catholicism.  He specializes in C.S. Lewis, the Bible, and St. Thomas Aquinas. He speaks frequently in both academic and popular settings, and particularly enjoys visiting Thomistic Institute student chapters.  Dr. Dauphinais hosts The Catholic Theology Show podcast to help a wide audience discover the richness of coming to know and love God as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ.Keywords: Alasdair MacIntyre, C. S. Lewis, Christian Story, Creed, Gospel, Imagination, Storytelling, Tolkien

Prof. Maria Fedoryka explains love as more than a feeling, showing how it begins with recognizing another person’s goodness, leads to self-gift and communion, and ultimately reveals why love is the source of meaning in human life.This lecture was given on March 16th, 2026, at University of Georgia.Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad. About the Speaker:Dr. Maria Fedoryka is associate professor of philosophy and Chair of the department at Ave Maria University in Naples, FL. For the last several years she has studied, taught and lectured widely on questions related to the nature and dignity of the human person, especially the philosophy of love, and the place of love in the lives of persons, examining issues spanning from the centrality of love in the being of God, to its role at the center of creation, to its meaning for marriage, family, and sexuality.Keywords: Charity, Emotion, Human Person, Love, Meaning, Personalism, Self-Gift, The Trinity, Value

Fr. Andrew Hofer explains why Christian forgiveness is not the same as excusing harm, and shows how forgiving others is a deliberate act of mercy that frees us, heals our hearts, and reflects God’s own forgiveness.This lecture was given on March 7th, 2026, at University of Pittsburgh.Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad. About the Speaker:Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics and ancient languages at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies where he serves as the director of the doctoral program. He 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 (Catholic University of America, 2023). He co-authored A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life (Vianney Vocations, 2019). Editor-in-chief of the academic journal The Thomist, Hofer is editor or co-editor of several volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, and Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers. He enjoys speaking with students about their theological and spiritual questions.Keywords: Charity, Christian Life, Forgiveness, Mercy, Prayer, Reconciliation, Resentment, Spiritual Works Of Mercy, The Cross

Prof. Lewis Ayres examines St. John Henry Newman’s critique of the university and argues that higher education often succeeds at training skills while failing to form the Christian imagination toward truth, wisdom, and God.This lecture was given on April 13th, 2026, at University of Aberdeen.Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad. About the Speaker:Lewis was born in the UK, and studied Classics at St Andrews in Scotland, and Theology at Oxford. He has taught in the UK, in Ireland and in the US. He is currently Professor of Catholic and Historical Theology at Durham University in the UK, and McDonald Agape Chair in Early Christian Theology at the Angelicum University in Rome. He is interested in two main areas of Catholic thought: early Christian thought (on Christ, on the Trinity and on Biblical Interpretation), and modern Catholic thought (especially the idea of development in doctrine, the idea of Tradition, The second Vatican Council, Biblical Interpretation). He and his wife (Medi Ann Volpe) co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology.Keywords: Christian Formation, Creation, Hidden Curriculum, Imagination, Liberal Education, John Henry Newman, Theology, The University, Wisdom

Prof. Ross McCullough explores why evil and suffering exist, surveys the main Christian answers—especially free will and greater goods—and shows how suffering can be united to Christ rather than treated as meaningless.This lecture was given on November 17th, 2025, at University of Oregon.Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad. About the Speaker:Ross McCullough is an assistant professor of theology at George Fox University and faculty fellow in the George Fox University Honors Program. He has academic publications on the doctrine of hell, the Eucharist, the hermeneutics of Scripture, and liberation theology. Dr. McCullough's first book, Freedom and Sin: Evil in a World Created by God reconciles traditional Christian commitments to, on the one hand, God causing all that is and, on the other, God in no way being responsible for sin. Dr. McCullough lives with his wife and four children in Newberg, Oregon.Keywords: Christian Hope, Cross, Evil, Free Will, Greater Goods, Problem Of Evil, Suffering, Theodicy, Union With Christ

Fr. Andrew Hofer explains gratitude as a theological virtue rooted in God’s gifts, showing how thanksgiving begins in the heart, becomes visible in words and worship, and ultimately orders us toward God.This lecture was given on November 11th, 2025, at University of Colorado Boulder.Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad. About the Speaker:Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics and ancient languages at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies where he serves as the director of the doctoral program. He 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 (Catholic University of America, 2023). He co-authored A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life (Vianney Vocations, 2019). Editor-in-chief of the academic journal The Thomist, Hofer is editor or co-editor of several volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, and Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers. He enjoys speaking with students about their theological and spiritual questions.Keywords: Aquinas, Deo Gratias, Eucharist, Gift, Gratitude, Grace, Liturgy, Thanksgiving, Theology

Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy uses Aquinas to argue that the search for meaning is really the search for an ultimate end, and that human happiness is found not in success, pleasure, or status, but in God.This lecture was given on November 4th, 2025, at University of California, San Diego.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, OP is a Coordinator for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC. He has served as a parochial vicar at St. Pius V Church in Providence, RI, as well as an adjunct professor and assistant chaplain at Providence College. He originates from Columbus, OH, studied architecture in Virginia and Switzerland, and practiced in the DC area before entering the Order of Preachers in 2013. He was ordained a priest in 2020 at the Dominican House of Studies during the quarantine. In his work with the Thomistic Institute, he has given talks on the virtue of penance, loving God with the mind, and the intersection of theology and architecture. He often travels the country visiting Thomistic Institute Campus Chapters, leading seminars that help students grasp Thomistic concepts. Additionally, he coordinates the TI's intellectual retreat programming, which affords students time to pray and integrate into their lives Thomistic theology and philosophy. Keywords: Aquinas, Beatitude, Happiness, Meaning Of Life, Moral Life, Study, Ultimate End, Viktor Frankl

This lecture was given on October 23rd, 2025, at Indiana University.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Paul Gondreau is professor of theology at Providence College, where he has taught for 28 years. He received his doctorate in theology from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, doing his dissertation on Christ's full humanity (Christ's human passions/emotions) under the renowned Thomist scholar Jean-Pierre Torrell. He specializes in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and has published widely in the areas of Christology (focusing on Christ’s full humanity and his maleness), Christian anthropology, the moral meaning and purpose of human sexuality and sexual difference, the biblical vision of Aquinas' theology, the theology of disability, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the priesthood, and the Catholic vision of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.Keywords: Body And Soul, Human Sexuality, Marriage, Natural Law, Procreation, Sacrament, Sexual Ethics, Thomistic Anthropology, Unitive Love

Fr. Thomas Pickett explores what Aquinas means by study and argues that study is not just academic work but a morally formative pursuit that shapes charity, virtue, and the Christian path to happiness.This lecture was given on August 29th, 2025, at University of California Berkeley.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Fr Thomas Aquinas Pickett is a son of Ellensburg, Washington and a member of the Western Dominican Province. Apart from running, board games, and coffee, he enjoys studying his namesake, St Thomas Aquinas. Having received his BA in Philosophy at Gonzaga University (where he was NOT a member of the basketball team), his MDiv and MA in theology from the DSPT, his STB from l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse, and his STL and STD from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, he is now a professor of theology at the DSPT, assigned to St Albert the Great Priory.Baglow is the author of Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge (2nd edition, Midwest Theological Forum, 2019) and Creation: A Catholic’s Guide to God and the Universe (Ave Maria Press, 2021). He serves as theological advisor to the Board of Directors of the Society of Catholic Scientists. He authored the transcripts for Wonder: The Harmony of Faith and Science, a Word on Fire film series directed by Manny Marquez and narrated by Jonathan Roumie. His work has appeared in Church Life Journal, Culture and Evangelization, and Joie de Vivre Quarterly Journal.Keywords: Aquinas, Beatitude, Charity, Christian Life, Moral Life, Studiousness, Study, Virtue, Wisdom

Prof. Michael Krom presents Aquinas’s account of charity and asks what it really means to love the sinner without affirming the sin, showing how true Christian love can require both mercy and moral clarity.This lecture was given on August 18th, 2025, at Universidad Panamericana.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Michael Krom started reading Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae shortly after his conversion at the end of college. Upon learning about Flannery O’Connor’s “hillbilly Thomist” habit of reading Aquinas every night, he started studying two articles a day and completed the Summa while in graduate school at Emory University. As a professor at Saint Vincent College, he saw the urgent need for collegians and seminarians to receive a solid foundation in Aquinas’s philosophical theology. In 2020, he published Justice and Charity:  An Introduction to Aquinas’s Moral, Economic, and Political Thought (Baker Academic Press), and teaches a Thomistic philosophy course each fall. In addition to continuing work on the moral, economic, and political topics covered in the book, his current research is on the influence of monastic spirituality on Aquinas; he is working on a monograph tentatively entitled Aquinas Among the Benedictines.Keywords: Aquinas, Charity, Christian Love, Common Good, Limits Of Charity, Sin, Tough Love, Virtue

Prof. Mathew Thomas introduces the Church Fathers as the first theologians and explains how their witness to Scripture, Christian discipleship, and early worship can still help readers understand the faith and its unity today.This lecture was given on June 9th, 2025, at University of Oregon.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Dr. Matthew J. Thomas is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology Department Chair at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. His research areas include Pauline theology, patristics (particularly the ante-Nicene period), and early Christian interpretation of Scripture. His writings include Paul's 'Works of the Law' in the Perspective of Second Century Reception, Christian Theology: An Introduction with Alister McGrath, "Justification" in the St. Andrews Encyclopedia of Theology, and the 1 and 2 Maccabees commentaries in the Ignatius Study Bible with his wife Leeanne.Keywords: Church Fathers, Christian Unity, Early Church, Eucharist, Ignatius Of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Martyrdom, Scripture, Theology

Prof. Thomas Ward examines medieval arguments for God’s existence in Anselm, Aquinas, and Scotus, showing how each thinker approaches the question from a different starting point and why their arguments still matter for faith and reason.This lecture was given on April 21st, 2025, at Saint Vincent College.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Thomas M. Ward is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The University of Texas at Austin, in the School of Civic Leadership. He specializes in the history of philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages. Ward is the author of After Stoicism: Last Words of the Last Roman Philosopher (Word on Fire, 2024), Ordered by Love: An Introduction to John Duns Scotus (Angelico, 2022), Divine Ideas (Cambridge University Press, 2020), and has translated, with commentary, John Duns Scotus’s Treatise on the First Principle (Hackett, 2024). He has been a NEH Fellow (2022) and Harvey Fellow (2009-2011), and is a past winner of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy Founder's Award (2013) and the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly Rising Scholar Essay Contest (2018). He studied philosophy at Biola University (BA 2004) and theology at Oxford University (M.Phil 2006), where he was Head Resident at the Kilns, the former residence of C.S. Lewis. His PhD in philosophy is from UCLA (2011). Ward is married with six children and is a member of St. Peter Catholic Student Center in Waco.Keywords: Anselm, Aquinas, Arguments For God, Cosmological Argument, Faith And Reason, John Duns Scotus, Ontological Argument, Philosophy, Theology

Prof. John O’Callaghan examines the Big Bang in relation to the Christian doctrine of creation ex nihilo and argues that cosmology and belief in God as creator address different kinds of explanation.This lecture was given on February 27th, 2025, at University of South Carolina.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Prof. John O'Callaghan is the Director Emeritus of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame as well as a permanent member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. He served as the past President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.  His areas of scholarly interest include medieval philosophy, the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and Thomistic metaphysics and ethics.Keywords: Big Bang, Creation Ex Nihilo, Cosmology, Evolution, Genesis, Natural Science, Providence, Stephen Hawking, Thomism

This lecture was given on February 27th, 2025, at West Virginia University.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Brad S. Gregory is Henkels Family College Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, where he has taught since 2003.  From 1996-2003 he taught and received early tenure at Stanford University; prior to that he was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows and earned his Ph.D. from Princeton as well as two degrees in philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.  His first book, Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe (Harvard, 1999) received six book awards, and he has won teaching awards at both Stanford and Notre Dame.  In 2005, he was named the inaugural winner of the first annual Hiett Prize in the Humanities, a $50,000 award from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture given to the outstanding mid-career humanities scholar in the United States.  His book The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Belknap, 2012) garnered over 100 reviews internationally and has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Polish, and Arabic, with forthcoming translations into Chinese and Romanian.  The working title of his current book project is The Way of the World: Power, Wealth, and Civilization from the Last Ice Age to the Anthropocene.

Prof. Christopher Kaczor argues that the common claim that all religions are just different paths to the same destination collapses under scrutiny, and that Christianity uniquely holds together truth, toleration, and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.This lecture was given on February 9th, 2026, at University of Florida.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) 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 and Honorary Professor in Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Institute. His eighteen books include Is Belief Believable? 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, O Rare Ralph McInerny: Stories and Reflections on a Legendary Notre Dame Professor, Thomas Aquinas on the Cardinal Virtues; Life Issues-Medical 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.Keywords: Christianity, Faith and Reason, Hiddenness of God, Jesus Christ, Religious Pluralism, Tolerance, Truth

Prof. James Felak argues that John Paul II used Polish saints as powerful symbols of faith, moral courage, and national identity to inspire resistance against communism and affirm the Church’s role in Poland’s history.This lecture was given on October 31st, 2026, at St. Albert's Priory.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:James Felak is a Professor of History and current holder of the Newman Center Term Professorship in Catholic Christianity at the University of Washington. He specializes in Catholicism in East Central Europe and has authored two books on Catholic politics in Slovakia, and a book on Pope John Paul II and his visits to his native Poland during and after Communist rule there. This latter work is based on hundreds of pages of papal speeches and sermons, and the records of the Communist government and secret police as they monitored the Pope during his visits.  Besides courses on modern Europe, Felak teaches “The History of Christianity” and “Catholic Classics in Historical Context.” The latter course covers the major Catholic writers and thinkers from St. Augustine and St. Benedict through G. K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor. Felak is from southwestern Pennsylvania, received his doctorate from Indiana University, and has resided in Seattle since 1989.Keywords: Catholic Identity, Communion Of Saints, Communism, John Paul II, Poland, Sacred Space, Saints, Soviet Bloc, St Maximilian Kolbe

Prof. Jennifer Frey explores Flannery O’Connor’s bold claim that art can reveal truth in a way philosophy cannot, and shows how her fiction turns beauty, form, and imagination into a distinctive kind of knowledge.This lecture was given on February 7th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Jennifer A. Frey is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa. She previously served as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College. Before coming to Oklahoma, she was an Associate Professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, where she was also a Peter and Bonnie McCausland Faculty Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to her tenure at Carolina, she was a Collegiate Assistant Professor the Humanities at the University of Chicago, and a junior fellow of the Society for the Liberal Arts. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and her B.A. in philosophy and medieval studies (with a classics minor) at Indiana University-Bloomington. In 2015, she was awarded a multi-million dollar grant from the John Templeton Foundation, titled “Virtue, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life.” She has published widely on virtue and moral psychology, and she has edited three academic volumes on virtue and human action: Self Transcendence and Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychology, and Theology; Practical Truth; and Practical Wisdom (OUP, forthcoming 2025). Her writing has been featured in Breaking Ground, First Things, Image, Law and Liberty, The NewYork Times, The Point, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal.  She lives with her husband and six children in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Keywords: Art, Aesthetic Cognitivism, Flannery O’Connor, Fiction, Imagination, Literary Form, Parker’s Back, Practical Truth, Truth, Virtue

Fr. Brad Elliott argues that human beings are naturally social and are meant to flourish through the distinct but related societies of family, polity, and Church, with the Church uniquely ordering people to grace and the common good.This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Fr. Brad Elliott was raised in Dayton Ohio and studied Jazz percussion at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. After being raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran he entered the Catholic Church in 2002.After moving to California, Fr. Brad became an active, performing musician, with a reputation as a highly sought after drummer on the international scene. Working in Los Angeles, CA, he performed and recorded various styles of modern music from Rock to jazz and big band. During his time in Los Angeles he performed and toured extensively with artists such as Annie Stela and Brie Larson.After ten years as a professional drum set player and feeling a call to commit himself entirely to Jesus Christ, Fr. Brad chose to leave the music industry and become a Dominican friar within Western Dominican Province. After completing theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ on June, 22nd 2018 at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco, CA.In 2014 Fr. Brad received an MA in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley CA. In 2021 he received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. In 2025 he completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC focusing on the role of human craft and participatory governance in the social doctrine of the Church. He is currently a professor of Moral Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. He authored the book The Shape of the Artistic Mind published by Pontifex University Press in 2023.Keywords: Catholic Social Teaching, Church, Common Good, Cosmopolitanism, Family, Friendship, Polity, Society, Solidarity, State

Prof. Jennifer Frey asks whether Flannery O’Connor is really a “hillbilly Thomist” or a “hillbilly nihilist,” and uses her life and fiction to show how grace, reality, and shocking moral drama can expose the deepest truths about human nature.This lecture was given on February 7th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Jennifer A. Frey is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa. She previously served as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College. Before coming to Oklahoma, she was an Associate Professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, where she was also a Peter and Bonnie McCausland Faculty Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to her tenure at Carolina, she was a Collegiate Assistant Professor the Humanities at the University of Chicago, and a junior fellow of the Society for the Liberal Arts. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and her B.A. in philosophy and medieval studies (with a classics minor) at Indiana University-Bloomington. In 2015, she was awarded a multi-million dollar grant from the John Templeton Foundation, titled “Virtue, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life.” She has published widely on virtue and moral psychology, and she has edited three academic volumes on virtue and human action: Self Transcendence and Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychology, and Theology; Practical Truth; and Practical Wisdom (OUP, forthcoming 2025). Her writing has been featured in Breaking Ground, First Things, Image, Law and Liberty, The NewYork Times, The Point, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal.  She lives with her husband and six children in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Keywords: Christian Realism, Flannery O’Connor, Grace, Hillbilly Thomist, Misfit, Reality, Sin, Thomism, A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Prof. Michael Krom uses Aquinas to argue that while stealing is always morally wrong, urgent need can change what counts as rightful use of superabundant goods, revealing how private property is meant to serve the common good.This lecture was given on February 12th, 2026, at Georgia Institute of Technology.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Michael Krom started reading Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae shortly after his conversion at the end of college. Upon learning about Flannery O’Connor’s “hillbilly Thomist” habit of reading Aquinas every night, he started studying two articles a day and completed the Summa while in graduate school at Emory University. As a professor at Saint Vincent College, he saw the urgent need for collegians and seminarians to receive a solid foundation in Aquinas’s philosophical theology. In 2020, he published Justice and Charity:  An Introduction to Aquinas’s Moral, Economic, and Political Thought (Baker Academic Press), and teaches a Thomistic philosophy course each fall. In addition to continuing work on the moral, economic, and political topics covered in the book, his current research is on the influence of monastic spirituality on Aquinas; he is working on a monograph tentatively entitled Aquinas Among the Benedictines.Keywords: Adverse Possession, Common Good, Divine Law, Human Law, Natural Law, Private Property, Robin Hood, Stealing, Theft, Urgent Need

Dr. Edmund Lazzari explains how Christ’s divinity and humanity make the sacraments, grace, confession, purgatory, and the communion of saints all part of one living mystical body in which every Christian is united to every other in Jesus.This lecture was given on February 11th, 2026, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Edmund Lazzari is Teaching Fellow in the Department of Catholic Studies at Duquesne University. Dr. Lazzari is also a member of the Aquinas and 'the Arabs' International Working Group and affiliated faculty of the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology, and Law. A former Basselin Fellow, he earned an ecclesiastical licentiate degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, as well as a doctorate in systematic theology and ethics from Marquette University. He has previously taught philosophy and theology at Mount St. Mary's University, Marquette University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other universities not starting with the letter "M." Dr. Lazzari has published on a wide variety of topics in theology, such as theology and science, the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, Catholic-Muslim dialogue, liturgical theology, machine learning/AI, Catholic ethics, and extraterrestrial intelligence. He is the author of two books: Why Nature Matters: Unlocking Catholic Doctrine through Commonsense Philosophy (2022) and Miracles in Said Nursi and Thomas Aquinas (Routledge, 2024).Keywords: Baptism, Confession, Communion of Saints, Grace, Mystical Body of Christ, Purgatory, Sacraments, Sanctifying Grace, Suffering, Union with Christ

This lecture was given on April 9th, 2026, at Indiana University.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) 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 and Honorary Professor in Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Institute. His eighteen books include Is Belief Believable? 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, O Rare Ralph McInerny: Stories and Reflections on a Legendary Notre Dame Professor, Thomas Aquinas on the Cardinal Virtues; Life Issues-Medical 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.

Prof. Christopher Tollefsen argues that medicine is fundamentally ordered to health, not preference satisfaction, and he shows why that matters for abortion, euthanasia, physician authority, and conscience.This lecture was given on February 5th, 2026, at University of Scranton.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Christopher Tollefsen is Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina. He has published over 100 articles in journals and edited collections, and a similar number of popular essays in venues such as Public Discourse, First Things, and National Review.  He is the author of Lying and Christian Ethics and the forthcoming Killing and Christian Ethics, and is co-author of The Way of Medicine: Ethics and the Healing Profession (with Dr. Farr Curlin) and Embryo: A Defense of Human Life (with Robert P. George).  In 2019-20, he served as a Commissioner on the State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights.  He has twice been a Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University, and in 2024-25 was a Visiting Fellow at the DeNicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame.Keywords: Abortion, Conscience, Ethics, Euthanasia, Health, Medicine, Physician Authority, Patient Authority, Rights, Services

Prof. Gregory Doolan explains how Aquinas uses philosophy to show that angels are real immaterial beings—pure forms with intellect and will—whose place in creation can even be understood in relation to the famous “head of a pin” question.This lecture was given on February 5th, 2026, at Harvard University.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Gregory T. Doolan is Associate Professor in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America (CUA). His research interest is in the area of Aquinas’s metaphysics, in particular themes concerning Aquinas’s natural theology as well as those concerning the intersection between his semantic theory and his account of metaphysics.Prof. Doolan received his B.A. in political theory from Georgetown University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from CUA in 2003. He taught philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. from 2004–05 and joined the faculty of the School of Philosophy at CUA in 2005.  A native of Philadelphia, Prof. Doolan currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, three children, two cats, dog, and a bearded dragon.Keywords: Aquinas, Angels, Hylomorphism, Immateriality, Intellect, Metaphysics, Separate Substances, Spiritual Beings, Universal Hylomorphism, Virtual Presence

Fr. Brad Elliott, O.P. explores how the Catholic tradition understands ownership as a moral relation that binds persons together rather than isolating them, and why that matters for families, society, and human flourishing.This lecture was given on February 4th, 2026, at Stanford University.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Fr. Brad Elliott was raised in Dayton Ohio and studied Jazz percussion at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. After being raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran he entered the Catholic Church in 2002.After moving to California, Fr. Brad became an active, performing musician, with a reputation as a highly sought after drummer on the international scene. Working in Los Angeles, CA, he performed and recorded various styles of modern music from Rock to jazz and big band. During his time in Los Angeles he performed and toured extensively with artists such as Annie Stela and Brie Larson.After ten years as a professional drum set player and feeling a call to commit himself entirely to Jesus Christ, Fr. Brad chose to leave the music industry and become a Dominican friar within Western Dominican Province. After completing theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ on June, 22nd 2018 at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco, CA.In 2014 Fr. Brad received an MA in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley CA. In 2021 he received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. In 2025 he completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC focusing on the role of human craft and participatory governance in the social doctrine of the Church. He is currently a professor of Moral Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. He authored the book The Shape of the Artistic Mind published by Pontifex University Press in 2023.Keywords: Common Good, Law, Private Property, Political Friendship, Rule of Law, Rational Dominion, Relative Dominion, Social Trust, Universal Destination of Goods, Virtue

This lecture was given on February 6th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Fr. Thomas Joseph White is the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. Originally a native of southeastern Georgia in the US, Fr. White studied at Brown University, where he converted to Catholicism. He did his doctoral studies in theology at Oxford University, and is the author of various books and articles including Wisdom in the Face of Modernity, A Thomistic Study in Natural Theology (Sapientia Press, 2016), The Incarnate Lord, A Thomistic Study in Christology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015), The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (Catholic University of America Press, 2022), Principles of Catholic Theology Book III: On God, Trinity, Creation, and Christ (Catholic University of America Press, 2024) and Contemplation and the Cross (The Catholic University of America Press, 2025). With Matthew Levering he is the co-editor of the academic journal Nova et Vetera. In 2011 he was appointed an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and in 2019 was named a Distinguished Scholar of the McDonald Agape Foundation. He held the 2018-2019 McInnes Chair for theological inquiry at the Angelicum. In 2022, he was granted an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of America, and in 2023 he was elected President of the Academy of Catholic Theology. In 2023, Fr. White was also awarded the title Master of Sacred Theology, one of the highest academic awards in the Dominican Order.

Fr. Brad Elliott shows how Leo’s Rerum Novarum responds to Marx and Engels by grounding property rights in the father’s duty to provide, the family’s priority over the state, and the Church’s vision of human flourishing.This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Fr. Brad Elliott was raised in Dayton Ohio and studied Jazz percussion at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. After being raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran he entered the Catholic Church in 2002.After moving to California, Fr. Brad became an active, performing musician, with a reputation as a highly sought after drummer on the international scene. Working in Los Angeles, CA, he performed and recorded various styles of modern music from Rock to jazz and big band. During his time in Los Angeles he performed and toured extensively with artists such as Annie Stela and Brie Larson.After ten years as a professional drum set player and feeling a call to commit himself entirely to Jesus Christ, Fr. Brad chose to leave the music industry and become a Dominican friar within Western Dominican Province. After completing theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ on June, 22nd 2018 at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco, CA.In 2014 Fr. Brad received an MA in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley CA. In 2021 he received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. In 2025 he completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC focusing on the role of human craft and participatory governance in the social doctrine of the Church. He is currently a professor of Moral Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. He authored the book The Shape of the Artistic Mind published by Pontifex University Press in 2023.Keywords: Catholic Social Teaching, Communism, Family, Marx, Engels, Pope Leo XIII, Private Property, Property Rights, Rerum Novarum, Social Justice

Prof. James Nolan argues that Nagasaki’s prayerful response to the atomic bomb can only be understood through the city’s long Christian history, especially the witness of the hidden Christians and Takashi Nagai.This lecture was given on January 29th, 2026, at Florida State University.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Professor James L. Nolan, Jr. is the Washington Gladden 1859 Professor of Sociology at Williams College, where he has been teaching since 1996. Professor Nolan’s teaching and research interests fall within the general areas of law and society, culture, technology and social change, and historical comparative sociology. His most recent book, Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age, was published with Harvard University Press in 2020. His previous books include What They Saw in America: Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber, G.K. Chesterton, and Sayyid Qutb (2016); Legal Accents, Legal Borrowing: The International Problem-Solving Court Movement (2009); Reinventing Justice: The American Drug Court Movement (2001); and The Therapeutic State: Justifying Government at Century’s End (1998). He is the recipient of several grants and awards including National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships and a Fulbright scholarship. He has held visiting fellowships at Oxford University, Loughborough University, the University of Notre Dame, Catholic University of America, and Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University.Keywords: Atomic Bomb, Christian History, Forgiveness, Hidden Christians, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Providence, Suffering, Takashi Nagai, Urakami Cathedral

Fr. Brad Elliott argues that it is really a theological vision of the human person as a social being ordered to God through family, polity, and Church, showing how the common good, friendship, and the distinct missions of these three societies shape both public life and spiritual life.This lecture was given on January 23rd, 2026, at Vanderbilt University.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Fr. Brad Elliott was raised in Dayton Ohio and studied Jazz percussion at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. After being raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran he entered the Catholic Church in 2002.After moving to California, Fr. Brad became an active, performing musician, with a reputation as a highly sought after drummer on the international scene. Working in Los Angeles, CA, he performed and recorded various styles of modern music from Rock to jazz and big band. During his time in Los Angeles he performed and toured extensively with artists such as Annie Stela and Brie Larson.After ten years as a professional drum set player and feeling a call to commit himself entirely to Jesus Christ, Fr. Brad chose to leave the music industry and become a Dominican friar within Western Dominican Province. After completing theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ on June, 22nd 2018 at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco, CA.In 2014 Fr. Brad received an MA in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley CA. In 2021 he received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. In 2025 he completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC focusing on the role of human craft and participatory governance in the social doctrine of the Church. He is currently a professor of Moral Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. He authored the book The Shape of the Artistic Mind published by Pontifex University Press in 2023.Keywords: Catholic Social Teaching, Common Good, Church, Family, Friendship, Holiness, Polity, Rerum Novarum, Society, Subsidiarity

This lecture was given on January 23rd, 2026, at University of Toronto.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Sarah Byers is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Boston College. Her interests include St. Augustine, Hellenistic philosophy, and the history of ancient and medieval ethics and metaphysics. She is responsible for many publications, including Perception, Sensibility, and Moral Motivation in Augustine: A Stoic-Platonic Synthesis, a book that argues that Augustine assimilated the Stoic theory of perception into his philosophy.Keywords: Augustine, Compassion, Justice, Mercy, Martha Nussbaum, Neoplatonism, Political Life, Seneca, Stoicism, Virtue Ethics

Dr. Brian FitzGerald explores how the first universities emerged from cathedral schools and monastic learning, and why they were built not just to transmit information, but to cultivate wisdom, practical judgment, and a love of learning. This lecture was given on January 15th, 2026, at Dartmouth College.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speakers:Brian FitzGerald is Lecturer on Medieval Studies and the Study of Religion at Harvard University.  A scholar of medieval history, his research focuses on the intellectual and religious culture of Europe from the twelfth to the fo­urteenth century.  His first book, Inspiration and Authority in the Middle Ages: Prophets and their Critics from Scholasticism to Humanism (Oxford University Press, 2017) examined how medieval intellectuals in France, England, and Italy sought to understand and resolve competing claims of divine inspiration or prophecy.  His other interests include medieval historical consciousness, the history of education, and relations between eastern and western Christianity.  Before coming to Harvard, he taught in the Humanities program and served as Academic Dean at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts.Keywords: Cathedral Schools, Collegiate Principle, Disputation, Liberal Arts, Medieval University, Practical Wisdom, Scholasticism, Thomas Aquinas, University Of Paris, Wisdom

Prof. Raymond Hain argues that Tocqueville’s insights show democratic citizenship depends on stable attachments, shared social life across class lines, and a willingness to let citizens practice freedom through responsibility.This lecture was given on December 4th, 2025, at University of Tulsa.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speakers: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.Keywords: Citizenship, Democracy in America, Democratic Citizenship, Family Formation, Religion, Robert Putnam, Tocqueville, Subsidiarity, Stability, Strong Gods

Prof. James Felak shows how John Paul II used the saints in his pilgrimages to communist Poland to challenge atheistic rule, strengthen Catholic identity, and encourage resistance and hope.This lecture was given on October 31st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speakers:James Felak is a Professor of History and current holder of the Newman Center Term Professorship in Catholic Christianity at the University of Washington.  He specializes in Catholicism in East Central Europe and has authored two books on Catholic politics in Slovakia, and a book on Pope John Paul II and his visits to his native Poland during and after Communist rule there.  This latter work is based on hundreds of pages of papal speeches and sermons, and the records of the Communist government and secret police as they monitored the Pope during his visits.  Besides courses on modern Europe, Felak teaches “The History of Christianity” and “Catholic Classics in Historical Context.”  The latter course covers the major Catholic writers and thinkers from St. Augustine and St. Benedict through G. K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor.  Felak is from southwestern Pennsylvania, received his doctorate from Indiana University, and has resided in Seattle since 1989.Keywords: Catholic Identity, Communion Of Saints, Communist Poland, John Paul II, Maximilian Kolbe, Polish History, Saint Stanislaus, Saint Wojciech, Sacred Space, Solidarity Movement

Sr. Anna Wray argues that many people are caught in a “musical dependence” that uses music to make ordinary life merely tolerable, a mere toleration which can transformed into true enjoyment by means of asceticism and an education in genuine enjoyment.This lecture was given on November 12th, 2025, at Catholic University of America.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Sister Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia of Nashville, TN.  Sister received her PhD in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, having written her dissertation on Aristotle’s account of the activity of contemplation.  Sister is an assistant professor on the faculty of CUA's School of Philosophy in Washington, DC, where she regularly teaches courses in rhetoric, philosophy of religion, and philosophical psychology.  She is also an adjunct professor for Aquinas College, where she teaches metaphysics and epistemology to her sisters in formation.  Her research and conversational interests include imagination and attention in human agency and speech, the effects of technology on human agency, and form as function and unifying activity.Keywords: Asceticism, Aristotle, Delight, Entelechaic Activity, Liturgy, Music, Musical Dependence, Silence, Thomistic Anthropology, Worship

Fr. Ephrem Reese argues that silence is not mere absence but a fertile, hidden potency through which contemplation, devotion, and the word of God can come to life.This lecture was given on November 8th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speakers:Fr. Ephrem Reese was born in Harrisburg, PA, and has family in Philadelphia, New Jersey and California. He received a BA from St John’s College in Annapolis, MD in 2010, and was confirmed in the Catholic Church at that year’s Easter Vigil. He lived for a year in DC, a few blocks from the Dominican House of Studies, and attended the nearby parish, St Anthony of Padua. While in DC, he was an intern for Pax Christi USA, promoting Just War teaching. “Dominican life has finally given me a picture of what it means for my own soul to be saved. This is a joy worth preaching: loving Jesus Christ, united with the Brethren in one heart and mind.”Keywords: Contemplation, Devotion, Grace, Hiddenness, Non-Being, Prayer, Silence, Thomism, Womb, Word Of God

Fr. Ephrem Reese argues that boredom can be read both as a modern opening onto time and wonder and, more importantly, as a spiritual problem that must be disciplined by the virtues.This lecture was given on November 7th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Fr. Ephrem Reese was born in Harrisburg, PA, and has family in Philadelphia, New Jersey and California. He received a BA from St John’s College in Annapolis, MD in 2010, and was confirmed in the Catholic Church at that year’s Easter Vigil. He lived for a year in DC, a few blocks from the Dominican House of Studies, and attended the nearby parish, St Anthony of Padua. While in DC, he was an intern for Pax Christi USA, promoting Just War teaching. “Dominican life has finally given me a picture of what it means for my own soul to be saved. This is a joy worth preaching: loving Jesus Christ, united with the Brethren in one heart and mind.”Keywords: Acedia, Boredom, Charity, Curiosity, Heidegger, Hope, Magnanimity, Prudence, Romans 12, Walter Benjamin

Dr. Jan Bentz argues that utopias are dangerous because they promise a perfected society by denying human fallenness, replacing Christian hope and grace with man-made salvation, and turning politics into a counterfeit religion.This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at Thomistic Institute in Limerick.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speakers:Dr. Jan C. Bentz was born and raised in Germany and graduated high school in St Louis, Missouri, where he attended as a foreign exchange student. Dr Bentz holds a doctorate in Philosophy from the Roman Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, a Masters in Sacred Art, Architecture, and Liturgy and a Masters in Church, Ecumenism, and Religious Studies. His dissertation was published in German on Gustav Siewerth (1903-1963) and his work on Thomas Aquinas and G.W.F. Hegel. His fields of expertise include Metaphysics, History of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Thomism, and Philosophy of Art. Dr Bentz lectures at Blackfriars’ Studium on History of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Philosophy of History. He taught Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics) for The Catholic University of America, Rome Campus, History of Medieval Philosophy at Christendom College, Rome Campus, and Apologetics for IES Study Abroad also in Rome. His journalistic career included the production of weekly TV coverage in German and English for EWTN Global; interviews and commentary for Catholic News Agency, Inside the Vatican; and for The Catholic Herald in English and Jüdische Rundschau in German. His current format is called Reality Check, a series of video interviews also published on YouTube with the European Conservative.Keywords: Equality, Eschatology, Grace, Human nature, Joachim of Fiore, Marx, Politics, Religion, Technology, Utopia

Professor James Felak argues that Catholic social teaching presents a holistic vision of the human person and society, insisting that rights and duties belong together, the market must serve the common good, and neither socialism nor unchecked capitalism can satisfy human dignity.This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:James Felak is a Professor of History and current holder of the Newman Center Term Professorship in Catholic Christianity at the University of Washington.  He specializes in Catholicism in East Central Europe and has authored two books on Catholic politics in Slovakia, and a book on Pope John Paul II and his visits to his native Poland during and after Communist rule there.  This latter work is based on hundreds of pages of papal speeches and sermons, and the records of the Communist government and secret police as they monitored the Pope during his visits.  Besides courses on modern Europe, Felak teaches “The History of Christianity” and “Catholic Classics in Historical Context.”  The latter course covers the major Catholic writers and thinkers from St. Augustine and St. Benedict through G. K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor.  Felak is from southwestern Pennsylvania, received his doctorate from Indiana University, and has resided in Seattle since 1989.Keywords: Capitalism, Common good, Culture, Duties, Human dignity, John Paul II, Market, Property, Rights, Subsidiarity

Joe Grabowski presents Chesterton’s philosophy as a disciplined recovery of wonder, arguing that reality is not exhausted by habit, utility, or material explanation but should be seen with childlike astonishment and gratitude.This lecture was given on March 30th, 2026, at the University of Kansas.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Joe Grabowski is the Vice-President of Evangelization for the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton. He formerly served as executive director for the International Organization for the Family and the World Congress of Families.Joe has a B.A. in philosophy from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, and an M.A. in English from Marquette University. Joe’s byline, writing on the subjects of traditional marriage and the family, as well as on Catholic Social Teaching and the legacies of Chesterton and Belloc, has appeared in The Catholic Herald, Our Sunday Visitor, The Stream, Gilbert Magazine, Ethika Politika, The Distributist Review, and elsewhere. He has been interviewed in local and national media as an expert on marriage and family public policy and on G.K. Chesterton and Distributism. He serves on the Board of Advisors of the American Solidarity Party.Joe lives outside Philadelphia, an avid book collector (and occasional reader) and weekly pub quiz enthusiast.Keywords: Astonishment, Beauty, Chesterton, Conversion, Gratitude, Imagination, Meaning, Wonder, World, Youth

Fr. Jordan Schmidt says that vocation is a grace-filled cooperation with God’s kingdom, where renewed discernment helps us choose our way of life and embrace suffering with Christ for the salvation of ourselves and others.This lecture was given on March 28th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers: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.Keywords: Adoption, Body of Christ, Discernment, Grace, Kingdom of God, Renewal, Suffering, Wisdom

Fr. Gregory Pine teaches that discernment is less about forcing certainty and more about entering the way Christ reveals himself: gradually, trustingly, and through prayerful relationship.This lecture was given on March 28th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., is an instructor of dogmatic and moral theology at the Dominican House of Studies and the Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He holds a doctorate from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly and Your Eucharistic Identity: A Sacramental Guide to the Fullness of Life, and is co-author of Credo: An RCIA Program and Marian Consecration with Aquinas.His writing also appears in Aleteia, Magnificat, and Ascension’s Catholic Classics series. In addition to the TI podcast, he regularly contributes to the podcasts Godsplaining and Pints with Aquinas, and Catholic Classics. Keywords: Apostolic friendship, Christ, Discernment, Grace, Parables, Prayer, Providence, Trust, Transformation, Vocation

This lecture was given on March 28th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., is an instructor of dogmatic and moral theology at the Dominican House of Studies and the Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He holds a doctorate from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly and Your Eucharistic Identity: A Sacramental Guide to the Fullness of Life, and is co-author of Credo: An RCIA Program and Marian Consecration with Aquinas.His writing also appears in Aleteia, Magnificat, and Ascension’s Catholic Classics series. In addition to the TI podcast, he regularly contributes to the podcasts Godsplaining and Pints with Aquinas, and Catholic Classics. Keywords: Grace, Happiness, Hierarchy, Holiness, Providence, Parables, Sower, Spiritual Life, Sacraments, Trust

Sr. Mary Madeline Todd argues that Christ calls us not merely to survive but to thrive, and that “life to the full” comes through meaning, suffering united to love, disciplined commitment, wonder, prayer, and sacramental life.This lecture was given on March 27th, 2026, at University of South Alabama.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., a Dominican Sister of the Congregation of Saint Cecilia, has spent over three decades joyfully living consecrated life and sharing the teaching ministry of Christ. After completing a master’s degree in English at the University of Memphis and in theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Sister was blessed to study in Rome, earning her doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. Sister Mary Madeline speaks and writes on spiritual and moral theology. She currently teaches theology at Aquinas College in Nashville, where she finds joy in helping the next generation discover the liberating freedom of who they are in Christ.Keywords: Acedia, Beauty, Boredom, Eucharist, Fatigue, Fullness of Life, Meaning, Prayer, Suffering, Wonder

Prof. Alexander Pruss argues that science is powerful but limited, because it depends on presuppositions about logic, rationality, uniformity of nature, and value judgments that science itself cannot justify, and because human fulfillment ultimately points beyond reason to faith in an infinite being.This lecture was given on April 14th, 2026, at Florida State University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Alexander Pruss is professor of philosophy at Baylor University. He has two PhDs, one in mathematics and one in philosophy, and does research in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of science and philosophy of mathematics. Much of his work is centered on showing how pretty much everything in reality points to the existence of God. His books include The Principle of Sufficient Reason, Infinity, Paradox, and Causation, and One Body: An Essay in Christian Sexual Ethics. In his spare time, Pruss engages in a variety of hobbies including electronics, software development, and indoor rock climbing where he recently got two Guinness World Records.Keywords: Aristotle, Faith, Happiness, Human Nature, Infinity, Logic, Rationality, Science, Uniformity of Nature, Ultimate Origins

Prof. Gaven Kerr argues that Aquinas is central to Catholic theology because Thomas provides the systematic, deductive, and scripturally grounded framework needed to articulate doctrine about God, Trinity, and salvation.This lecture was given on March 26th, 2026, at Maynooth University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Gaven Kerr is a married father of three and a third order Dominican. He has degrees in scholastic philosophy and philosophy from Queen’s University Belfast: BA, MPhil, and PhD. His doctoral research was on the thought of Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant. Gaven’s research focuses on the thought of St Thomas Aquinas and his connection with other important thinkers in the history of philosophy and theology. He has published articles in the Thomist, the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, International Philosophical Quarterly, Journal of Philosophical Research, Yearbook of the Irish Philosophical Society. Gaven has two books with Oxford University Press. The first was published in 2015, Aquinas’s Way to God, and it dealt with Aquinas’s proof of God in the De Ente et Essentia. His second book which is due out later this year is on Aquinas and the metaphysics of creation. Gaven has taught philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast, St. Malachy’s Seminary Belfast, and Maynooth University. He has taught at Mary Immaculate College Limerick. He currently teaches philosophy at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth.Keywords: Aquinas, Catholic Theology, Divine Simplicity, Dogmatic Theology, Fides et Ratio, Scriptural Interpretation, Sacramental Causality, Trinity, Theology as Science, Thomism

Prof. Paul Scherz argues that AI-driven precision medicine and genetic risk prediction can undermine human dignity by turning health into an endless management of risk, increasing anxiety, weakening prudence, and subordinating both patients and clinicians to institutional control.This lecture was given on March 26th, 2026, at New York University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Paul Scherz is the Our Lady of Guadalupe Professor of Theology. His work examines the intersection of theology, science, medicine, and technology. His interests in ethics center on the role of virtue ethics, especially Stoic virtue ethics, in moral theology. He has published articles on many topics in bioethics, such as human enhancement, genetic technology, and end of life ethics. His books analyze issues like the moral formation of scientists, the role of risk in contemporary practical reason, the ethics of precision medicine, and the ethics of artificial intelligence.He began his career in science with a BA in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley (2001), a PhD in genetics from Harvard (2005), and a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF. He then received an MTS and a PhD in moral theology from the University of Notre Dame (2010, 2014). His previous teaching positions were at the Catholic University of America and the University of Virginia. He is currently working on projects on the ethics of artificial intelligence and the historical influence of Stoicism on moral theology.Keywords: AI, Automation Bias, Clinical Judgment, Dignity, Explainable AI, Genetic Risk, Precision Medicine, Prudence, Risk Reduction, Surveillance Capitalism

Prof. Raymond Hain presents John Henry Newman’s Idea of a University as a powerful defense of liberal education, arguing that a university should include theology because all knowledge forms one interconnected whole, yet also insisting that intellectual excellence is not the same as moral holiness.This lecture was given on March 26th, 2026, at University of Alabama.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers: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.Keywords: Education, Intellectual Formation, John Henry Newman, Knowledge, Liberal Education, St. Philip Neri, Theology, Theology in the Curriculum, University, Virtue, Whole of Knowledge

Prof. Christopher Malloy argues that Vatican II does not permit a hermeneutic of rupture but demands one of continuity and reform, as Benedict XVI taught, rejecting both progressive over-spiritualization and traditionalist rejection of post-conciliar developments.This lecture was given on March 24th, 2026, at Franciscan University of Steubenville.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Christopher J. Malloy is married to Flory with whom he has seven children. He earned his B.A. in Theology (second major in Philosophy) from the University of Notre Dame in 1992. He earned his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology (minor in Philosophy) from The Catholic University of America in 2001. Since then he has taught at The University of Dallas, where he currently serves as Professor and Chair of Theology. He has published three books: Engrafted into Christ: A Critique of the Joint Declaration [on Justification], Aquinas on Beatific Charity and the Problem of Love, and False Mercy: Recent Heresies Distorting Catholic Truth. He has published numerous blind peer-reviewed articles for journals such as The Thomist, Nova et Vetera, Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie, Josephinum, Angelicum, etc. He loves academia, especially publishing and teaching systematic theology, but he has always been fired up to give popular presentations highlighting the intelligibility and beauty of the Catholic faith, since that was the reason he got into Theology in the first place.Keywords: Benedict XVI, Continuity, Dei Verbum, Dignitatis Humanae, Hermeneutic of Rupture, Inerrancy, Lumen Gentium, Religious Freedom, Vatican II Reception

Fr. Brad Elliott traces the Church's evolving use of the soul-body metaphor for her relation to the state, purifying it in modern social teaching to affirm the Church as a distinct perfect society ordered to supernatural ends while leavening the temporal order.This lecture was given on March 24th, 2026, at Cornell University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Fr. Brad Elliott was raised in Dayton Ohio and studied Jazz percussion at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. After being raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran he entered the Catholic Church in 2002.After moving to California, Fr. Brad became an active, performing musician, with a reputation as a highly sought after drummer on the international scene. Working in Los Angeles, CA, he performed and recorded various styles of modern music from Rock to jazz and big band. During his time in Los Angeles he performed and toured extensively with artists such as Annie Stela and Brie Larson.After ten years as a professional drum set player and feeling a call to commit himself entirely to Jesus Christ, Fr. Brad chose to leave the music industry and become a Dominican friar within Western Dominican Province. After completing theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ on June, 22nd 2018 at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco, CA.In 2014 Fr. Brad received an MA in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley CA. In 2021 he received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. In 2025 he completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC focusing on the role of human craft and participatory governance in the social doctrine of the Church. He is currently a professor of Moral Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. He authored the book The Shape of the Artistic Mind published by Pontifex University Press in 2023.Keywords: Bellarmine, Catholic Social Teaching, Common Good, Giles of Rome, Leo XIII, Perfect Society, Pius XI, Societas Perfecta, Soul-Body Metaphor, Two Swords

Prof. James Nolan argues that Tocqueville, Weber, and Chesterton offer contrasting foreign views on American secularism, with Tocqueville and Chesterton seeing religion as essential to democracy and predicting its persistence, while Weber views Protestantism as inevitably fueling disenchantment.This lecture was given on March 23rd, 2026, at New York University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Professor James L. Nolan, Jr. is the Washington Gladden 1859 Professor of Sociology at Williams College, where he has been teaching since 1996. Professor Nolan’s teaching and research interests fall within the general areas of law and society, culture, technology and social change, and historical comparative sociology. His most recent book, Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age, was published with Harvard University Press in 2020. His previous books include What They Saw in America: Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber, G.K. Chesterton, and Sayyid Qutb (2016); Legal Accents, Legal Borrowing: The International Problem-Solving Court Movement (2009); Reinventing Justice: The American Drug Court Movement (2001); and The Therapeutic State: Justifying Government at Century’s End (1998). He is the recipient of several grants and awards including National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships and a Fulbright scholarship. He has held visiting fellowships at Oxford University, Loughborough University, the University of Notre Dame, Catholic University of America, and Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University.Keywords: American Democracy, Chesterton, Disenchantment, Iron Cage, Protestant Ethic, Religion, Secularization, Second Great Awakening, Tocqueville, Weber