The Thomistic Institute

John A. Cuddeback is professor of Philosophy at Christendom College, where he has taught for twenty-five years. He lectures widely on topics including virtue, fatherhood, friendship, and household, and his professional writings appear in various academic journals and books.

Jonathan Lunine is the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences and Chair of the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University. Lunine is interested in how planets form and evolve, what processes maintain and establish habitability, and what kinds of exotic environments (methane lakes, etc.) might host a kind of chemistry sophisticated enough to be called "life". He pursues these interests through theoretical modeling and participation in spacecraft missions. He works with data from the James Webb Space Telescope, is co-investigator on the Juno mission orbiting Jupiter, and is a team member on the JUICE mission enroute to the Jovian moons, and Europa Clipper to be launched in 2024. Lunine is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has participated in or chaired a number of advisory and strategic planning committees for the Academy and for NASA. He was the inaugural McDonald Agape Visiting Scholar at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC, in the spring semester of 2023.

Mary Hirschfeld is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Before joining the faculty at Notre Dame, Mary Hirschfeld was Associate Professor of Economics and Theology in the Department of Humanities at Villanova University where she regularly taught the Humanities gateways Society and God, and honors ACS seminars (ancients and moderns). She completed a Ph.D. in economics (Harvard University) under the direction of Lawrence Summers and Jeffrey Williamson, and a Ph.D. in Moral Theology (University of Notre Dame) under the direction of Jean Porter. Her research is on the boundary between economics and theology, culminating in her book Aquinas and the Market: Toward a Humane Economy (Harvard University Press, 2018).

Michael Gorman is professor of philosophy at The Catholic University of America. He has doctorates in philosophy and theology. He has authored over thirty academic papers and a book entitled Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Hypostatic Union (Cambridge University Press, 2017). His main interests are metaphysics, human nature, and ethics.

Professor Eitel is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas. Before joining the UD faculty in 2023, he taught for eight years at Yale University, where he held appointments in the Divinity School, the Program in Medieval Studies, and the Humanities Program. His research and teaching bring topics in the history of Christian theology to bear on questions of fundamental moral concern. A specialist in medieval scholasticism, his particular research interests span topics in doctrinal and moral theology, especially in the works of Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries.

Does evil disprove God? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. W. Matthews Grant about his latest Thomistic Institute lecture, "Does Evil Disprove God?" Does Evil Disprove God? w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Prof. W. Matthews Grant (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://on.soundcloud.com/afxYp About the speaker: W. Matthews Grant is Professor of Philosophy at University of St. Thomas (MN), and Associate Editor of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. His work has focused on Aquinas and the philosophy of God, particularly issues having to do with the divine nature and God’s relationship to human freedom. His book, Free Will and God’s Universal Causality: The Dual Sources Account, draws resources from Aquinas and the scholastic tradition to explain how libertarian creaturely freedom can be reconciled with robust accounts of God’s providence, grace, and predestination.

This lecture was given on October 10th, 2023, at The Ohio State University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Patrick Callahan is director of the Newman Institute for Catholic Thought & Culture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as well as Assistant Professor of English & Humanities at St. Gregory the Great Seminary. While his doctoral work focused on ancient Greek commentaries to the lyric poet Pindar, his recent work focuses on early Jesuit Latin texts.

This lecture was given on June 16th, 2023, at Holy Family Mission, Glencomeragh House Kilsheelan, TA Ireland. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Fr. Alan O’Sullivan, O.P. (Trinity College) is currently the chaplain of Trinity College, Dublin. He is a member of the Irish province of the Order of Preachers who studied at Blackfriars, Oxford.

This lecture was given on November 21st, 2023, at Universidad Panamericana Campus Mixcoac. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Father Thomas Petri, O.P. is the President of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies, where he also serves as an assistant professor of moral theology and pastoral studies. Ordained a priest in 2009, he holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America.

This lecture was given on November 9th, 2023, at the University of Oregon. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Fr. Dominic Langevin is vice president and dean of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies, where he also serves as an assistant professor of systematic theology, specializing in sacramental theology. He did his undergraduate studies at Yale University and his doctoral studies at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He was formerly assigned as a parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Charlottesville, Virginia, serving the University of Virginia.

This lecture was given on November 28th, 2023, at Johns Hopkins University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the speaker: Dr. Paul LaPenna is a neurologist in Greenville, SC and Associate Professor of Neurology at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Carolinas Campus. Dr. LaPenna completed his neurology residency at Indiana University School of Medicine in 2018. As a neurohospitalist, Dr. LaPenna’s skill set is focused on treatment of neurological emergencies and performing and interpreting electrophysiological studies of the brain and peripheral nervous system. Dr. LaPenna has an interest in the relationship between science and faith—in particular, the relationship between neuroscience and the soul, the overreaching claims of science, and the dignity of the human person, to name a few.

This lecture was given on October 19th, 2023, at the University of Oregon. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Brad S. Gregory is Professor of History and Dorothy G. Griffin Collegiate Chair at the University of Notre Dame, where he has taught since 2003, and where he is also the Director of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. From 1996-2003 he taught at Stanford University, where he received early tenure in 2001. He specializes in the history of Christianity in Europe during the Reformation era and on the long-term influence of the Reformation era on the modern world. He has given invited lectures at many of the most prestigious universities in North America, as well as in England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Israel, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. Before teaching at Stanford, he earned his Ph.D. in history at Princeton University an

This lecture was given on October 16th, 2023, at The College of William and Mary. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the speaker: Dr. Chad Pecknold received his PhD from the University of Cambridge (UK) and since 2008 he has been a Professor of Historical & Systematic Theology in the School of Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He teaches in the areas of fundamental theology, Christian anthropology, and political theology. Pecknold is the author of a number of scholarly articles and books including most recently, Christianity and Politics: A Brief Guide to the History (Cascade, 2010) and The T&T Clark Companion to Augustine and Modern Theology (Bloomsbury, 2014). Dr. Pecknold is also a frequent contributor to debates in the public square, writing regular columns for First Things and National Review on a range of topics related to the importance and impact of Church teaching on social and political questions. Dr

This lecture was given on November 16th, 2023, at The Catholic University of America. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Tomas Bogardus is associate professor of philosophy at Pepperdine University. He was born in Long Beach, California, and earned his BS in biology at UC San Diego, his MA in philosophy at Biola University, and his PhD in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He works mainly in metaphysics and epistemology, and is most interested in the mind-body problem and the rationality of religious belief.

What's wrong with moral relativism? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Francis Beckwith about his latest Thomistic Institute lecture, "Is There Anything Wrong With Moral Relativism?" What's Wrong With Moral Relativism? w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Prof. Francis Beckwith (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://on.soundcloud.com/ukfZL About the speaker: Francis J. Beckwith is is a philosopher who teaches, publishes, and speaks on a variety of topics and issues in ethics, law, politics, and religion. He is currently Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Affiliate Professor of Political Science, Associate Director of Graduate Studies in Philosophy, and Resident Scholar in the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, where he has served on the faculty since 2003. He earned an Ph.D. and M.A. in philosophy from Fordham University, and a Master of Juridical Studie

Fr. Robert Dodaro, O.S.A. (Patristic Institute) is the president of the Patristic Institute in Rome, where he is also a professor. In addition, he is professor of patristic theology in the Pontifical Lateran University. He is the author of Christ and the Just Society in the Thought of Augustine, and co-edited Augustine: Political Writings and also Augustine and his Critics. He also serves as the Co-editor-in-Chief of the Augustinus-Lexikon.

Joshua Hochschild is Professor of Philosophy and Director of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he also served six years as the inaugural Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His primary research is in medieval logic, metaphysics, and ethics, with broad interest in liberal education and the continuing relevance of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He is the author of The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia (2010), translator of Claude Panaccio’s Mental Language: From Plato to William of Ockham (2017), and co-author of A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction (2017). His writing has appeared in First Things, Commonweal, Modern Age and the Wall Street Journal. For 2020-21 he served as President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

Fr. Conor McDonough, O.P. teaches theology at the Dominican House of Studies, Dublin. He studied science and theology at Cambridge University, and recently completed postgraduate studies in theology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland)

Professor Eitel is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas. Before joining the UD faculty in 2023, he taught for eight years at Yale University, where he held appointments in the Divinity School, the Program in Medieval Studies, and the Humanities Program. His research and teaching bring topics in the history of Christian theology to bear on questions of fundamental moral concern. A specialist in medieval scholasticism, his particular research interests span topics in doctrinal and moral theology, especially in the works of Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries.

This lecture was given on November 3rd, 2023, at Youngstown State University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the speaker: Joshua Hochschild is Professor of Philosophy and Director of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he also served six years as the inaugural Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His primary research is in medieval logic, metaphysics, and ethics, with broad interest in liberal education and the continuing relevance of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He is the author of The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia (2010), translator of Claude Panaccio’s Mental Language: From Plato to William of Ockham (2017), and co-author of A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction (2017). His writing has appeared in First Things, Commonweal, Modern Age and the Wall Street Journal. For 2020-21 he served as President of the American Catholic Philosop