The Thomistic Institute

• Identity vs. Nature: Aquinas on Who Creates Me – Prof. Jacob Wood

  Prof. Jacob Wood contrasts Aquinas’s account of nature, cause, and purpose with modern identity theory, showing that human nature—created and ordered by God—grounds authentic freedom and common purpose in contrast to the fragmentation of expressive individualism.This lecture was given on September 10th, 2025, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the speaker:Jacob W. Wood was born and raised in the New York City area, where he grew up in the Episcopal Church, learning to contemplate the love of the Lord in the beauty of the liturgy. After an initial period of theological study at the University of Saint Andrews, he followed the path of St. John Henry Newman into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2008. Since earning a doctorate in Systematic Theology from the Catholic University of America in 2014, he has served as a theologian at Franciscan University of Steubenville, focusing his teaching and research on the theology of creation, sin, and grace. He lives with his family in the Ohio countryside, where he continues to cultivate the love of the Lord through liturgical beauty, and has followed the call that many a young Catholic family has answered to sanctify Creation through the work of homesteading. Visit his website at www.wisdomoftradition.com.Keywords: Aristotelian Causes, Divine Creation, Expressive Individualism, Freedom For Excellence, Gender Theory, Heidegger, Judith Butler, Nature And Identity, Order Of Creation, Shared Human Nature

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• The Way of Beauty: The Church and the Arts – Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P.

  Fr. Innocent Smith explores how beauty in art, architecture, and liturgy forms the soul, elevates worship, and points to God, showing that the Church’s cultivation of beauty is essential for evangelization, spiritual maturity, and experiencing the divine.​This lecture was given on October 6th, 2025, at University of Virginia.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the speaker:Innocent Smith, O.P., is Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. After undergraduate studies in music and philosophy at Notre Dame, he entered the Order of Preachers in 2008 and was ordained priest in 2015. Fr. Innocent served in parish ministry for several years before completing a doctorate in liturgical studies at the University of Regensburg in 2021. After teaching for several years in Baltimore and Washington, DC, he joined the Department of Theology in 2025. His research focuses on the material and musical aspects of medieval liturgical books as well as the relationship between liturgy and theology. His monograph Bible Missals and the Medieval Dominican Liturgy explores medieval manuscripts of the Bible that also contain liturgical texts for the celebration of Mass.Keywords: Beauty, Evangelization, Eucharistic Worship, Goodness Truth And Beauty, Incarnation, Liturgical Architecture, Liturgical Diversity, Religious Art History, Sacred Music, Virtue Of Religion

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• Mariology 101: Part 1 – Fr. James Brent, O.P.

  Fr. James Brent presents a systematic introduction to Mariology, demonstrating that all Marian titles and attributes find their source and unity in her primary dogmatic role as Mother of God, which shapes her graces, virtues, and mission in salvation history.This lecture was given on December 8th, 2024, at an Intellectual Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the speaker:Fr. James Dominic Brent is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Chaplain to Commuter Students at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC. He has articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Natural Theology, in the Oxford Handbook of Thomas Aquinas on “God’s Knowledge and Will”, and an article forthcoming on “Thomas Aquinas” in the Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology.Keywords: Assumption, Divine Maternity, Immaculate Conception, Liturgical Tradition, Marian Dogmas, Mariology, Mother Of God, Perpetual Virginity, Queenship Of Mary, Spiritual Motherhood

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• Finding Meaning Amidst the Chaos Or: Why Get Out of Bed in the Morning? – Dr. Robert McNamara

  Dr. Robert McNamara explores the problem of meaninglessness and chaos in contemporary life, showing how wonder, intellectual attention, and the cultivation of virtue empower individuals to find purpose and resilience in the face of suffering and cultural fragmentation.This lecture was given on September 30th, 2025, at University of Galway.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers: Dr. Robert McNamara is lecturer in philosophy at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, Ireland, associate series editor of Edith Stein Studies, associate scholar of the Hildebrand Project, associate member of faculty at the International Theological Institute and the Maryvale Institute, and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland (currently suspended). Robert researches anthropological and metaphysical questions in medieval and phenomenological thinkers, especially as both bear reference to philosophical personalism. He has studied physics and computing, philosophy and theology, and received his Ph.D. for research in the thought of Edith Stein and Thomas Aquinas. Robert is originally from Galway, Ireland and now lives in Carlow with his wife, Caroline, and their four children, Vivian, John, Catherine, and Oran.Keywords: Absurdism, Attentive Engagement, Cultural Fragmentation, Intelligibility Of Reality, Meaning And Suffering, Nihilism, Practical Habits, Purpose In Life, Viktor Frankl, Wonder And Virtue

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• A Feeble Plant in the Breeze: Personal and Social Forms of Acedia – Prof. Carl Vennerstrom

  Prof. Carl Vennerstrom explores personal and social forms of acedia, tracing its origins from ancient monasticism to contemporary life and illuminating how distraction, restlessness, and identity crisis threaten fulfillment and virtue in the digital age.This lecture was given on April 11th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers: Dr. Vennerstrom specializes in eastern patristic theology. Of particular interest are monasticism, scriptural interpretation, and the writings of Evagrius of Pontus. He earned his PhD in Early Christian Studies at the Catholic University of America and teaches courses in church history, theology, and Greek at the Augustine Institute Graduate School in St. Louis, Missouri.Keywords: Acedia, Desert Monasticism, Digital Distraction, Ennui, Evagrius Of Pontus, Existentialism, Frenzied Activity, Identity Crisis, Noonday Demon, Restlessness In Modernity

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