One of the most influential 20th century Catholic thinkers, René Girard transformed our understanding of culture, religion, and human desire. Through an intensive reading of Girard’s works, in conjunction with the fiction of the greatest writers, this five-day seminar will explore imitation, conflict, and scapegoating, connecting them to central themes of Christian theology.

This seminar is open to all undergraduate students (including 2025 graduates) interested in understanding the thought of one of the great modern Christian apologists.

During the seminar, graduate students and faculty members in business schools will cover foundational principles in Catholic social thought and apply them to their own field of research and teaching. 

This seminar will be open to graduate students and faculty of any specialization in business schools.

Dionysius the Areopagite is a figure who is as elusive as his prose is powerful. The course will involve a close reading of his entire corpus and situating his writings in the intellectual and historical context of the first millennium. We will further outline the indelible marks he leaves on subsequent Christian theology, liturgy, and the broader philosophical tradition.

This seminar is open to graduate students. Working knowledge of relevant ancient languages will be helpful, but not essential. Preference will be given to Ph.D. students in theology, philosophy, classics, and other relevant fields of study, though advanced M.A. students will be considered.

This graduate seminar is designed as an advanced introduction to the thought of Bernard Lonergan, SJ. The seminar will examine Lonergan’s approach to self-knowledge and “self-appropriation,” epistemology, and method in metaphysics and theology.

This seminar will be of interest to students in philosophy, theology, and other disciplines that address foundational questions in the humanities and human sciences, including law, economics, politics, and history. Although primarily intended for doctoral students, advanced master’s degree candidates will be considered. Previous familiarity with Lonergan is not required.

This seminar is an intensive week-long course in how to read, analyze, and discern the many themes in Augustine’s most ambitious and sprawling work. In this seminar, participants will discuss how Augustine reckons with the crisis of the ancient and the human city, and whether it is possible to reconcile truth and authority across the competing domains of polity, religion, and philosophical wisdom.

This seminar will be open to JD, PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty in the humanities and relevant fields (such as philosophy, theology, English, classics, law and history).

Now in its eight year, this seminar is designed as an introduction and immersion into Catholic social thought for graduate students and junior faculty in economics, finance, or related fields. Participants will cover foundational principles in Catholic social thought, starting with the human person, dignity, freedom, subsidiarity, solidarity, and the common good, and moving toward applications of these principles to conceptual understandings and ethical considerations involving economic topics such as utility theory, firm and business ethics, wages, markets, globalization, poverty, and development.

This seminar will be open to PhD students and faculty in economics, finance and related fields.