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Visiting Lectures

Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts > Academics > Visiting Lectures

Each semester, the college invites scholars, poets, priests, philosophers, artists, musicians, and cultural leaders to join the conversation that animates our collegiate culture.  These visits usually take the form of an informal dinner with the guest, faculty, and students, followed by a lecture or seminar, complemented by questions and answers, further conversation, and much-anticipated desserts created by our student chefs.

The following list offers a selection of the speakers, seminars, and their topics:

Lecture/Seminar Speaker Affiliation
The Boethius Option Anthony Esolen Professor (Literature and Humanities), Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts
The Curse and the Gift of Tragedy Bainard Cowan Professor of Literature, Cowan Chair in Humanities, University of Dallas
Why the Christian Religion Is not the Religion of Humanity Daniel J. Mahoney Augustine Chair of Distinguished Studies, Professor of Politics, Assumption College
Medieval Art in American Museums: Histories of Collecting and Display Meredith Fluke Director, Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross
Capitalism and the Good Life Danilo Petranovich Director, Abigail Adams Institute
Shakespeare’s Classical Education Leah Whittington John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities Department of English Harvard University
What the Wise Know & How They Know It: Wisdom Among the Speculative Virtues in Aquinas Daniel Gallagher Associate Professor of Latin, Cornell University
The Urgency of Liberal Education Mary Mumbach Professor (Literature and Humanities), Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts
The Crito: The Last Temptation of Socrates Nalin Ranasinghe Professor of Philosophy, Assumption College
What Is the Zeitgeist Trying to Tell Us? Peter Sampo President Emeritus, Tutor (Humanities and Political Science), Magdalen College
Plutarch’s Philosopher King – Numa and the Sovereignty of Music Tom Larson Associate Professor of Philosophy, St. Anselm College
The Poem Knows: Writing in Form and Meter Midge Goldberg New Hampshire Poet
What They Saw in America: The Sacred and the Secular James Nolan Professor of Sociology, Williams College
“God or Nature”: On the Use of Benedict Spinoza by Christians Eric Buck Professor, Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts
Grace to Those Who Hear: The Light of Christian Speech in a Darkening World Lee Cerling Associate Professor of Clinical Business Communication, University of Southern California
The Church and Galileo Mark Attorri Devine, Millimet & Branch Law Firm (NH)
A Philosophical Archaeology of Iliad 2.1-277: How Plato and Aristotle Proof-Text Homer Jeffrey Wilson Professor of Philosophy, Catholic University of America
Dante, Francis, and the Popes Professor Ronald Herzman Distinguished Teaching Professor of English, State University of New York College at Geneseo
Spring Recital:  Piano, Voice & Violin Emily Swope Assistant Music Director, Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts
Naturalistic Realism Francis Fallon Assistant Professor of Philosophy, St. John’s University, Queens, NY
Institutional Corruption and the Crisis of Liberal Democracy William English Research Associate, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University
Application of Catholic Social Teaching: A Guide for Decision Making in Times of Crisis Henry J. Amoroso, J.D. Member of the Firm Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC
St. Thomas Aquinas on Creation and the Eternity of the World Stephen Brown Professor of Theology, Boston College
Voice Recital – “Sacred Songs Throughout the Ages” Emily Swope Assistant Music Director, Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts
Platonic Afterlife Myths as Liberating Education Joseph Forte Professor (Philosophy and Humanities), Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts
The Vocation of the Catholic Scholar Fr. Michael Sweeney, O.P. Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Berkeley, CA
A Storyteller’s Inspirations Mary Pope Osborne Author
“The Lord Jesus Who Loved Me and Gave Himself for Me”: Salvation in Christ Fr. Robert Imbelli Professor Emeritus of Theology,
Boston College
Making Sense of Latin Verb Forms Tim Pulju Senior Lecturer in Classics and Linguistics,
Dartmouth College
Sing, O Tongue, the Mystery: Hymns, Theology, and Liturgy in Catholic Life Ambrose Dobrozsi ‘12 Seminarian, Mount St. Mary’s of the West, Cincinnati, OH
Drama and Persuasion: Approaching Acadamia with your Great Books Education Allanah Karas ’07 Classics Ph.D. Candidate,
City University, New York, NY
Journey to Jerusalem: Theo-Drama of Holy Week Mark Gillis ’90 Headmaster, Holy Family Academy

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