The Thomistic Institute

Fr. Brad Elliott argues that it is really a theological vision of the human person as a social being ordered to God through family, polity, and Church, showing how the common good, friendship, and the distinct missions of these three societies shape both public life and spiritual life.

This lecture was given on January 23rd, 2026, at Vanderbilt University.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Brad Elliott was raised in Dayton Ohio and studied Jazz percussion at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. After being raised as a Missouri Synod Lutheran he entered the Catholic Church in 2002.

After moving to California, Fr. Brad became an active, performing musician, with a reputation as a highly sought after drummer on the international scene. Working in Los Angeles, CA, he performed and recorded various styles of modern music from Rock to jazz and big band. During his time in Los Angeles he performed and toured extensively with artists such as Annie Stela and Brie Larson.

After ten years as a professional drum set player and feeling a call to commit himself entirely to Jesus Christ, Fr. Brad chose to leave the music industry and become a Dominican friar within Western Dominican Province. After completing theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ on June, 22nd 2018 at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco, CA.

In 2014 Fr. Brad received an MA in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley CA. In 2021 he received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. In 2025 he completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC focusing on the role of human craft and participatory governance in the social doctrine of the Church. He is currently a professor of Moral Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. He authored the book The Shape of the Artistic Mind published by Pontifex University Press in 2023.

Keywords: Catholic Social Teaching, Common Good, Church, Family, Friendship, Holiness, Polity, Rerum Novarum, Society, Subsidiarity

This lecture was given on January 23rd, 2026, at University of Toronto.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speaker:

Sarah Byers is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Boston College. Her interests include St. Augustine, Hellenistic philosophy, and the history of ancient and medieval ethics and metaphysics. She is responsible for many publications, including Perception, Sensibility, and Moral Motivation in Augustine: A Stoic-Platonic Synthesis, a book that argues that Augustine assimilated the Stoic theory of perception into his philosophy.

Keywords: Augustine, Compassion, Justice, Mercy, Martha Nussbaum, Neoplatonism, Political Life, Seneca, Stoicism, Virtue Ethics

Dr. Brian FitzGerald explores how the first universities emerged from cathedral schools and monastic learning, and why they were built not just to transmit information, but to cultivate wisdom, practical judgment, and a love of learning.

This lecture was given on January 15th, 2026, at Dartmouth College.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

Brian FitzGerald is Lecturer on Medieval Studies and the Study of Religion at Harvard University.  A scholar of medieval history, his research focuses on the intellectual and religious culture of Europe from the twelfth to the fo­urteenth century.  His first book, Inspiration and Authority in the Middle Ages: Prophets and their Critics from Scholasticism to Humanism (Oxford University Press, 2017) examined how medieval intellectuals in France, England, and Italy sought to understand and resolve competing claims of divine inspiration or prophecy.  His other interests include medieval historical consciousness, the history of education, and relations between eastern and western Christianity.  Before coming to Harvard, he taught in the Humanities program and served as Academic Dean at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts.

Keywords: Cathedral Schools, Collegiate Principle, Disputation, Liberal Arts, Medieval University, Practical Wisdom, Scholasticism, Thomas Aquinas, University Of Paris, Wisdom

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.

Prof. Raymond Hain argues that Tocqueville’s insights show democratic citizenship depends on stable attachments, shared social life across class lines, and a willingness to let citizens practice freedom through responsibility.

This lecture was given on December 4th, 2025, at University of Tulsa.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

Raymond Hain is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of the Humanities Program at Providence College in Providence, RI. Educated at Christendom College, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Oxford, he is the founder of the PC Humanities Forum and Humanities Reading Seminars and is responsible for the strategic development of the Humanities Program into a vibrant, world class center of teaching, research, and cultural life dedicated to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. His scholarly interests include the history of ethics (especially St. Thomas Aquinas), applied ethics (especially medical ethics and the ethics of architecture), Alexis de Tocqueville, and philosophy and literature (especially Catholic aesthetics). His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Templeton Foundation, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Charles Koch Foundation. His essays have appeared in various journals and collections including The Thomist, International Journal of Applied Philosophy, and The Anthem Companion to Tocqueville. He is the editor of Beyond the Self: Virtue Ethics and the Problem of Culture and is currently working on a monograph titled The Lover and the Prophet: An Essay in Catholic Aesthetics. He joined Providence College in 2011 and lives just across the street with his wife Dominique and their five children.

Keywords: Citizenship, Democracy in America, Democratic Citizenship, Family Formation, Religion, Robert Putnam, Tocqueville, Subsidiarity, Stability, Strong Gods

Prof. James Felak shows how John Paul II used the saints in his pilgrimages to communist Poland to challenge atheistic rule, strengthen Catholic identity, and encourage resistance and hope.

This lecture was given on October 31st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

James Felak is a Professor of History and current holder of the Newman Center Term Professorship in Catholic Christianity at the University of Washington.  He specializes in Catholicism in East Central Europe and has authored two books on Catholic politics in Slovakia, and a book on Pope John Paul II and his visits to his native Poland during and after Communist rule there.  This latter work is based on hundreds of pages of papal speeches and sermons, and the records of the Communist government and secret police as they monitored the Pope during his visits.  Besides courses on modern Europe, Felak teaches “The History of Christianity” and “Catholic Classics in Historical Context.”  The latter course covers the major Catholic writers and thinkers from St. Augustine and St. Benedict through G. K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor.  Felak is from southwestern Pennsylvania, received his doctorate from Indiana University, and has resided in Seattle since 1989.

Keywords: Catholic Identity, Communion Of Saints, Communist Poland, John Paul II, Maximilian Kolbe, Polish History, Saint Stanislaus, Saint Wojciech, Sacred Space, Solidarity Movement

Sr. Anna Wray argues that many people are caught in a “musical dependence” that uses music to make ordinary life merely tolerable, a mere toleration which can transformed into true enjoyment by means of asceticism and an education in genuine enjoyment.

This lecture was given on November 12th, 2025, at Catholic University of America.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

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: Asceticism, Aristotle, Delight, Entelechaic Activity, Liturgy, Music, Musical Dependence, Silence, Thomistic Anthropology, Worship

Fr. Ephrem Reese argues that silence is not mere absence but a fertile, hidden potency through which contemplation, devotion, and the word of God can come to life.

This lecture was given on November 8th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

Fr. Ephrem Reese was born in Harrisburg, PA, and has family in Philadelphia, New Jersey and California. He received a BA from St John’s College in Annapolis, MD in 2010, and was confirmed in the Catholic Church at that year’s Easter Vigil. He lived for a year in DC, a few blocks from the Dominican House of Studies, and attended the nearby parish, St Anthony of Padua. While in DC, he was an intern for Pax Christi USA, promoting Just War teaching. “Dominican life has finally given me a picture of what it means for my own soul to be saved. This is a joy worth preaching: loving Jesus Christ, united with the Brethren in one heart and mind.”

Keywords: Contemplation, Devotion, Grace, Hiddenness, Non-Being, Prayer, Silence, Thomism, Womb, Word Of God

Fr. Ephrem Reese argues that boredom can be read both as a modern opening onto time and wonder and, more importantly, as a spiritual problem that must be disciplined by the virtues.

This lecture was given on November 7th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Ephrem Reese was born in Harrisburg, PA, and has family in Philadelphia, New Jersey and California. He received a BA from St John’s College in Annapolis, MD in 2010, and was confirmed in the Catholic Church at that year’s Easter Vigil. He lived for a year in DC, a few blocks from the Dominican House of Studies, and attended the nearby parish, St Anthony of Padua. While in DC, he was an intern for Pax Christi USA, promoting Just War teaching. “Dominican life has finally given me a picture of what it means for my own soul to be saved. This is a joy worth preaching: loving Jesus Christ, united with the Brethren in one heart and mind.”

Keywords: Acedia, Boredom, Charity, Curiosity, Heidegger, Hope, Magnanimity, Prudence, Romans 12, Walter Benjamin

Dr. Jan Bentz argues that utopias are dangerous because they promise a perfected society by denying human fallenness, replacing Christian hope and grace with man-made salvation, and turning politics into a counterfeit religion.

This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at Thomistic Institute in Limerick.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Jan C. Bentz was born and raised in Germany and graduated high school in St Louis, Missouri, where he attended as a foreign exchange student. Dr Bentz holds a doctorate in Philosophy from the Roman Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, a Masters in Sacred Art, Architecture, and Liturgy and a Masters in Church, Ecumenism, and Religious Studies. His dissertation was published in German on Gustav Siewerth (1903-1963) and his work on Thomas Aquinas and G.W.F. Hegel. His fields of expertise include Metaphysics, History of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Thomism, and Philosophy of Art. Dr Bentz lectures at Blackfriars’ Studium on History of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Philosophy of History. He taught Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics) for The Catholic University of America, Rome Campus, History of Medieval Philosophy at Christendom College, Rome Campus, and Apologetics for IES Study Abroad also in Rome. His journalistic career included the production of weekly TV coverage in German and English for EWTN Global; interviews and commentary for Catholic News Agency, Inside the Vatican; and for The Catholic Herald in English and Jüdische Rundschau in German. His current format is called Reality Check, a series of video interviews also published on YouTube with the European Conservative.

Keywords: Equality, Eschatology, Grace, Human nature, Joachim of Fiore, Marx, Politics, Religion, Technology, Utopia

Professor James Felak argues that Catholic social teaching presents a holistic vision of the human person and society, insisting that rights and duties belong together, the market must serve the common good, and neither socialism nor unchecked capitalism can satisfy human dignity.

This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.

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

About the Speakers:

James Felak is a Professor of History and current holder of the Newman Center Term Professorship in Catholic Christianity at the University of Washington.  He specializes in Catholicism in East Central Europe and has authored two books on Catholic politics in Slovakia, and a book on Pope John Paul II and his visits to his native Poland during and after Communist rule there.  This latter work is based on hundreds of pages of papal speeches and sermons, and the records of the Communist government and secret police as they monitored the Pope during his visits.  Besides courses on modern Europe, Felak teaches “The History of Christianity” and “Catholic Classics in Historical Context.”  The latter course covers the major Catholic writers and thinkers from St. Augustine and St. Benedict through G. K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor.  Felak is from southwestern Pennsylvania, received his doctorate from Indiana University, and has resided in Seattle since 1989.

Keywords: Capitalism, Common good, Culture, Duties, Human dignity, John Paul II, Market, Property, Rights, Subsidiarity