The Thomistic Institute

Dr. Robert McNamara explains how the physical body is a revelatory book of our identity, arguing that we find true freedom and fulfillment by understanding our existence as a gift meant for communion.

This lecture was given on September 29th, 2026, at Queen's University Belfast.

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About the Speaker:

Dr. Robert McNamara is lecturer in philosophy and department head at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Ireland, adjunct professor of philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA, while also tutoring periodically at the ITI Catholic University, Austria, and the Maryvale Institute, England. Robert is an associate series editor of Edith Stein Studies, an associate scholar of the Hildebrand Project, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Man and Woman, and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland (currently suspended). Having studied physics, computing, philosophy, and theology, Robert brings a multidisciplinary approach to his work while exploring anthropological and metaphysical themes in ancient, medieval, and phenomenological thinkers, with a defined focus on philosophical personalism in the Christian tradition. He currently resides in Carlow, Ireland, with his wife, Caroline, and their five children.

Keywords: Theology Of The Body, Catholic Anthropology, Philosophical Anthropology, Human Identity, Soul Body Composite, Marriage, Sacraments, John Paul II, Vocation, Self-Gift, Creation, Freedom

Fr. Cassian Derbes, OP, examines the Thomistic distinction between the active and contemplative lives, arguing that they are not merely states of life but distinct activities that find their highest expression in the beatific vision.

This lecture was given on June 20th, 2026, at New York University.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Cassian Derbes, O.P. is a priest of the Dominican Province of Saint Joseph. He is currently the Director of the Catholic Center at NYU. He previously was a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in the Mendoza College of Business. Prior to that position, Father Cassian served as vice dean and professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. His previous teaching positions include as adjunct professor of theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio. Father Cassian earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) from the Angelicum. He has a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, a Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) from New York University (N.Y.U.), and he is a graduate of Jesuit High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. From 2014-2020, Father Cassian served as director of an initiative at the Vatican under Pope Francis to design, implement, and teach an executive leadership development program for the Cardinals, Bishops, and senior lay officials of the Roman Curia. Father Cassian is a Missionary of Mercy, having been appointed by Pope Francis in 2015.

Keywords: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Contemplative Life, Contemplation, Active Life, Dominican Spirituality, Theology, Beatific Vision, Summa Theologiae

Prof. Michael Foley examines the pre-Christian roots of honor in Western civilization, contrasting the competitive, individualistic nature of classical honor with the moral critiques found in both Greco-Roman philosophy and the Hebrew Bible.

This lecture was given on September 4th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Michael Foley is a Catholic theologian, a Professor of Patristics at Baylor University, and the author of 500 articles and eighteen books, including the bestseller Drinking with the Saints, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Christianity, and Dining with the Saints. He speaks on a wide variety of topics touching upon Catholicism, culture, and the value of the liberal arts.

Keywords: Honor, Western Civilization, Virtue Ethics, Chivalry, Humility, Culture, Odyssey, Classical Literature

Prof. Daniel Garland explores how the Gospel of John presents the Eucharist as the theological center of the narrative, arguing that the Incarnation and the seven signs are ordered toward our participation in the divine life through the body and blood of Christ.

This lecture was given on September 24th, 2026, at Ashland University.

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About the Speaker:

Daniel M. Garland, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture at Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in the Diocese of Cleveland and a deacon candidate for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat. He holds a doctorate in Systematic Theology (with a minor in Biblical Theology) from Ave Maria University. His research interests are in Sacred Scripture, Patristic and Thomistic Exegesis, Sacraments, and Christology.

Keywords: Gospel Of John, Eucharistic Theology, Sacraments, Eucharist, Temple Theology, Theosis, Incarnation, Johannine Literature

Prof. Jane Sloan Peters explores how Saint Thomas Aquinas’s Catena Aurea serves as a transformative synthesis of patristic thought, demonstrating how his masterful arrangement of the Church Fathers shaped his own theological development and remains a vital resource for contemporary study.

This lecture was given on September 17th, 2026, at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

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About the Speaker:

Jane Sloan Peters is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY. Her dissertation explored Thomas Aquinas's reception of Greek patristic and Byzantine biblical interpretation for his four-volume commentary on the Gospels, the Catena Aurea. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and three sons.

Keywords: Catena Aurea, Thomas Aquinas, Patristic Theology, Sacred Doctrine, Bible, Biblical Exegesis, Church Fathers, Christology

Poet and cultural critic Dana Gioia explores the vital role of beauty in the Catholic imagination, arguing that beauty is an objective, transformative experience that connects us to truth and the secrets of existence.

This lecture was given on October 22nd, 2026, at University of California, Los Angeles.

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About the Speaker:

Dana Gioia is an internationally recognized poet, critic, and former Poet Laureate of California. He is the author of six collections of verse, including Interrogations at Noon (2001), which won the American Book Award, and 99 Poems: New & Selected (2016), which was awarded the Poets’ Prize. His most recent collection is Meet Me at the Lighthouse (2023). His poems have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Gioia’s critical collections include Can Poetry Matter? (1992), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Award and The Catholic Writer Today and Other Essays (2019) whose title essay started an international debate about the role of faith in contemporary literature. Gioia has also written four opera libretti and edited over twenty anthologies.

For six years Gioia served as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. In that office he launched the largest cultural programs in the agency’s history, including The Big Read, Poetry Out Loud, Shakespeare for a New Generation, and Operation Homecoming, the first NEA program created for military personnel. Gioia built a bi-partisan majority in both Houses of Congress and raised the arts budget each year he was in office. Known as “the man who saved the NEA,’ Gioia was awarded the Presidential Civilian Medal for his services.

Gioia has been awarded 11 honorary doctorates. He has also received the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame, Aiken-Taylor Award in Modern Poetry, and John Carroll Medal. For nine years he was the Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at the University of Southern California. He resigned his chair in 2019 to write full-time.

Gioia and his wife Mary split their time between Sonoma County and Los Angeles. He is a parishioner at St. Eugene’s Cathedral in Santa Rosa and Holy Family in South Pasadena.

This project/publication was made possible through the support of Grant 63391 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Keywords: Transcendentals, Dana Gioia, Beauty, Thomistic Philosophy, Jacques Maritain, Transcendence, Aesthetics, Truth, Architecture

Dr. Scott Roniger explores the nature of truth by synthesizing Aristotelian-Thomistic metaphysics with phenomenology to demonstrate how the human intellect achieves a profound union with reality, allowing us to grasp the essence of being.

This lecture was given on February 25th, 2026, at University of California, Los Angeles.

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About the Speaker:

Dr. Scott J. Roniger is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he directs the Lonergan Center for Catholic Faith and Culture. He held the Fr. Robert H. Taylor, SJ Chair in Philosophy from 2022-2024. Dr. Roniger earned a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology (STB), summa cum laude, and a Masters of Sacred Theology, magna cum laude, from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He then earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Chicago and a Licentiate in Philosophy (Ph.L.), summa cum laude, from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He earned his doctorate in philosophy, with distinction, from The Catholic University of America under the direction of Robert Sokolowski. He has published scholarly articles on metaphysics, phenomenology, Catholic social teaching, Thomistic natural law theory, ethics and political philosophy, and philosophy of literature. He is the editor of Russell Hittinger's book, On the Dignity of Society: Catholic Social Teaching and Natural Law (CUA Press, 2024). His research recapitulates themes in Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Husserlian phenomenology.

Keywords: Thomistic Philosophy, Phenomenolog, Truth, Aristotle, Metaphysics, Edmund Husserl, Philosophy Of Language, Ontology, Relativism

Prof. Scott Cleveland explores the Aristotelian and Thomistic vision of friendship, arguing that true flourishing requires overcoming the vices of envy and apathy through the practice of charity and virtuous love.

This lecture was given on February 24th, 2026, at North Carolina State University.

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About the Speaker:

Professor Scott Cleveland received his PhD in philosophy (Baylor University) and is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Catholic Studies at the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND). His research interests are in ethics, moral psychology, and philosophy of religion. He is especially interested in the study of virtues and emotions, the relation between the two, and the role of each in the moral and intellectual life. His thought is deeply influenced by Aristotle and Aquinas and his work has appeared in journals such as American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Res Philosophica, Religious Studies, Religions, and the Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. He is the co-editor with Adam Pelser of Faith and Virtue Formation: Essays in Aid of Becoming Good with Oxford University Press.

This project/publication was made possible through the support of Grant 63391 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Keywords: Aristotelian Ethics, Thomistic Philosophy, Virtue Ethics, Human Flourishing, Friendship, Fraternity, Charity, Love

Prof. Erik Dempsey explores Original Sin as a fundamental, lived reality inherently inclining the human person toward wrongdoing, but recognizing our brokenness is essential for understanding our constant need for divine grace and justification.

This lecture was given on March 20th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Professor Erik Dempsey an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Departments of Government, Classics, and Religious Studies, and is the Assistant Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin for over ten years, during which time he has offered classes in the history of political philosophy, on the Bible and its interpreters, on American political thought, on classical philosophy and literature, and others. His favorite classes to teach are Jerusalem and Athens, a class comparing the political, moral, and theological ideas of the Hebrew Bible to Aristotle's, and the Question of Relativism, a class on what he considers the central quandary of our time. He writes primarily about Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, and he is currently studying John Locke's commentaries on St. Paul's epistles. Last but not least, he is an Eagle Scout.

Keywords: Original Sin, Justification, Conscience, Concupiscence, Grace, Nature, Christian Anthropology, Pelagianism, Benedict XVI

Prof. Adam Eitel argues that modern identity theories ultimately fail because they lack a stable metaphysical grounding, and he proposes an alternative view rooted in Saint Thomas Aquinas’s exposition of Psalm 8.

This lecture was given on February 27th, 2026, at St. Raphael Retreat Center.

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About the Speaker:

Professor Eitel is an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas. Before joining the UD faculty in 2023, he taught for eight years at Yale University, holding appointments in the Divinity School, the Program in Medieval Studies, and the Humanities Program. A specialist in medieval scholasticism, his research interests include doctrinal and moral theology, with a particular focus on the works of Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries. His teaching and research bring historical Christian theology into dialogue with contemporary moral and political issues.

Keywords: Identity, Salvation, Relativism, Psalms, Metaphysics, Theology, Human Nature, Christian Anthropology

Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy examines the contemporary crisis of identity by contrasting modern fluid subjectivism with the Thomistic realist perspective of the human person, arguing our true identity is rooted in our nature as beings created by God and ordered toward Him

This lecture was given on February 28th, 2026, at St. Raphael Retreat Center.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P. 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: Realism, Identity, Metaphysics, Philosophical Anthropology, Imago Dei, Virtue Ethics, Natural Theology

Prof. Adam Eitel contrasts the modern, self-constituted notions of identity with the Thomistic understanding of man as a creature capable of seeing God., whereby our human identity is fundamentally reordered from the Adamic image to the image of Christ

This lecture was given on February 28th, 2026, at St. Raphael Retreat Center.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at https://thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events

About the Speaker:

Professor Eitel is an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas. Before joining the UD faculty in 2023, he taught for eight years at Yale University, holding appointments in the Divinity School, the Program in Medieval Studies, and the Humanities Program. A specialist in medieval scholasticism, his research interests include doctrinal and moral theology, with a particular focus on the works of Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries. His teaching and research bring historical Christian theology into dialogue with contemporary moral and political issues.

Keywords: Christology, Ontology, Grace, Sacramental Theology, Christian Anthropology, Thomism, Creation, Salvation

Prof. Paul Gondreau explores the theological necessity of Christ's full humanity, arguing that by assuming a human nature complete with emotions and the capacity for suffering, Jesus provides the ultimate model for human perfection and moral integrity.

This lecture was given on November 21st, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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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: Christology, Incarnation, Early Church, Christian Anthropology, Soteriology

Prof. Tim Flanigan, in the face of a "conspiracy of silence" in clinical settings that discourages the expression of faith, urges medical professionals to embrace the discomfort of witnessing to their beliefs to better support their patients.

This lecture was given on January 22nd, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Timothy P. Flanigan, MD, is Professor of Medicine in the Infectious Diseases Division of The Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals and the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He received a BA from Dartmouth College and an MD from Cornell University Medical School. In 1991, he came to The Miriam Hospital to join Dr. Charles Carpenter to lead the HIV and AIDS program and was subsequently appointed Chief of Infectious Diseases in 1999 until stepping down in 2012. He spearheaded the HIV Care Program at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections to develop improved treatments for HIV infection and has received NIH and CDC funding for over 30 years. He received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leadership Award in 2000. He also co-directed the Lifespan Lyme Disease Clinic. He is co-founder of RISE (Rhode Islanders Sponsoring Education). As a byproduct of his work in corrections, he is the founder and president of the Newport/Fall River Star Kids Scholarship Program to help break the cycle and support the children of parents with a history of incarceration and/or substance abuse to succeed in school, go on to post-secondary education and to meet their full potential as self-sufficient, active participants in their communities. He has been recognized by the HIV Medicine Association for his community-based work with HIV-infected men and Women.

In 2013, he was ordained a permanent Deacon in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, RI and serves at Saint Theresa’s and St. Christopher’s churches in Tiverton, RI. In 2014, he spent two months in Monrovia, Liberia helping the Catholic Medical Clinics and hospitals respond to the Ebola epidemic.

Earlier this year he received the Milton Hamolsky Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Physicians, Rhode Island Chapter and is married to Luba Dumenco, MD and the proud father of five children and a grandson.

Keywords: Medicine, Personhood, Ethics, Faith, Incarnation, Dignity, Clinical Practice

Sr. Anna Wray, O.P. explores whether our reliance on efficiency-driven technology is hastening the death of wisdom by taking the place of human deliberation and agency.

This lecture was given on February 20th, 2025, at Carnegie Mellon/University of Pittsburgh.

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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: Technocratic, Wisdom, Prudence, Philosophy of Technology, Aristotelian Ethics, Digital Minimalism, Prayer

Prof. Bruce Marshall explains that through the indelible mark of baptismal character, the faithful are uniquely deputized to participate in Christ's once-for-all sacrifice through the celebration of the Eucharist.

This lecture was given on March 28th, 2026, at St. Albert's Priory.

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About the Speaker:

Bruce D. Marshall is Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at Southern Methodist University, and in 2023 he held the Aquinas Chair in the Thomistic Institute at the Angelicum in Rome. He is the author of Trinity and Truth and Christology in Conflict, and at present he is completing a book entitled The Primacy of Christ: Faith, Reason, and the Cross. Marshall has written extensively on the doctrines of the Trinity, the person and redemptive work of Christ, the Eucharist, the Catholic Church and non-Christian religions, and the relationship between faith and reason. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his Ph.D. from Yale University, and is a past President of the Academy of Catholic Theology.

Keywords: Baptism, Priesthood, Christology, Sacraments, Eucharist, Liturgy, Worship

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. examines the Catholic teaching on truthfulness as an exercise of justice, defining lying as a sin that perverts the faculty of speech and undermines the common good.

This lecture was given on September 10th, 2026, at The Catholic University of America.

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About the Speaker:

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.

This project/publication was made possible through the support of Grant 63391 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Keywords: Truth, Morals, Virtue, Common Good, Speech

Sr. Mary Angelica Neenan, O.P. explores how the human soul’s powers of intellect and will are designed to find their ultimate fulfillment in the transcendentals of truth, goodness, and beauty.

This lecture was given on September 11th, 2026, at University of Sydney.

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About the Speaker:

Sister Mary Angelica Neenan, O.P. is a member of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, TN. She earned the Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) in Moral Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum, in Rome in 2011. Other studies include Education, Accounting, Mathematics, and Fine Art. Before entering the Dominican Order, she studied Fine Art at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and specializes in Renaissance technique portrait painting. After having taught all grades, 1 through 12, at various schools run by the Dominican Sisters in Tennessee, Ohio, and Minnesota, Sister Mary Angelica was an assistant professor of Theology at Aquinas College, Nashville, TN from 2007-2018. She ran AquinasAbroad, the study abroad program for Aquinas College in Bracciano, Italy from 2014-2017, and served as the Director of Student Affairs, and Interim Director of Admissions in Nashville from 2017-18. Currently, Sister Mary Angelica is a Religious Affiliate Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas, Texas, where she teaches in the Theology Department.

Keywords: Soul, Salvation, Beatification, Transcendentals, Human Nature, Virtue Ethics, Theology

Mr. Chris Wolter examines the fittingness of the Incarnation within the structural framework of Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, with the Incarnation serving as the restorative apex of history.

This lecture was given on April 16th, 2026, at University of Sydney.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at https://thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events

About the Speaker:

Chris Wolter grew up in Adelaide, South Australia and currently resides in the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney. Chris lecturers in Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia, teaching undergraduate theology and working on the Core Curriculum Program.

From 1999 to 2004 he studied Philosophy and Theology under the guidance of the Dominican Friars in Canberra and in Melbourne. In that period, as well as in house studies, he completed a Bachelor of Theology (BTheol) at the then Melbourne College of Divinity (later the University of Divinity – Melbourne) and took courses at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.

From 2006 to 2008, he completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree at Sydney’s prestigious National Art School, majoring in oil painting. In 2009, prior to teaching there, Chris was granted an artist residency by the University of Notre Dame. Along with that, he was commissioned by George Cardinal Pell to create the mosaic icon of Notre-Dame, Sedes Sapentia (Our Lady Seat of Wisdom), adorning the main courtyard of the Sydney Campus. For several years he also curated the Campus’ Art Collection. In 2010 he commenced teaching at ND, becoming full-time in 2012.

His academic publications include the chapter God and Beauty, in ‘An Introduction to Philosophy and Theology within Catholic Liberal Education’ and a chapter in ‘Mariology at the Beginning of the Third Millennium’. His research interests included Christology, the Sacraments, liturgy, and also art and aesthetics.

Keywords: Incarnation, Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Thomistic, Theology, Fittingness, Christology, Metaphysics

Dr. Marvin Bolt explores the history and epistemology of scientific instruments, arguing that they are not merely passive tools but active embodiments of knowledge that require hands-on engagement to fully understand.

This lecture was given on July 16th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Marvin Bolt is an expert in the history of science and astronomy who served as the first Curator of Science and Technology at The Corning Museum of Glass until his 2020 retirement. Prior to this role, he managed extensive historical collections and curated major astronomy exhibitions at Chicago's Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum. Throughout his career, he expanded scientific collections, curated prominent exhibitions, and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame while actively engaging in teaching and publishing.

Keywords: Scientific Instruments, History Of Science, Epistemology, Natural Philosophy, Scientific Revolution