The Thomistic Institute
The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone. The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events,  and much more. Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.
The Efficient Cause of Evangelization: The Spirit Empowering the Blessed Virgin's Word - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. argues that the Holy Spirit is the real power behind evangelization, showing how Mary, the apostles, and every Christian become instruments of God’s mission through grace, witness, and prayer.
This lecture was given on December 13th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of...
The Formal Cause of Evangelization: The Grace of the Blessed Virgin's Word - Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.
Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy shows how evangelization works by grace from the inside out, arguing that its deepest “form” is the contemplative, witness-filled communication of Christ that moves others to faith.
This lecture was given on December 13th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, OP is a Coordinator for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC...
Does Nature Make Laws? An Introduction to the Natural Law Tradition - Prof. Paige Hochschild
Prof. Paige Hochschild introduces natural law by exploring what nature is, how we know it, and why the classical tradition treats the world as an intelligible order to which human beings are truly fitted.
This lecture was given on April 6th, 2026, at University of California, San Diego.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Paige Hochschild is a professor of historical and systematic theology...
Why Stories Matter for Transmitting the Faith – Prof. Michael Dauphinais
Prof. Michael Dauphinais argues that stories are not just useful for faith—they are how human beings understand reality, and the Christian story of creation, redemption, and resurrection is the true narrative that reorders the imagination.
This lecture was given on March 27th, 2026, at Florida State University.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Michael A. Dauphinais, Ph.D., serves as the Fr. Matthew Lamb Pr...
The Mystery of Love - Prof. Maria Fedoryka
Prof. Maria Fedoryka explains love as more than a feeling, showing how it begins with recognizing another person’s goodness, leads to self-gift and communion, and ultimately reveals why love is the source of meaning in human life.
This lecture was given on March 16th, 2026, at University of Georgia.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Maria Fedoryka is associate professor of philosophy and Ch...
Why Forgive: Accepting the Good News of Forgiving Others - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
Fr. Andrew Hofer explains why Christian forgiveness is not the same as excusing harm, and shows how forgiving others is a deliberate act of mercy that frees us, heals our hearts, and reflects God’s own forgiveness.
This lecture was given on March 7th, 2026, at University of Pittsburgh.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is pr...
St. John Henry Newman and the Failure of the University - Prof. Lewis Ayres
Prof. Lewis Ayres examines St. John Henry Newman’s critique of the university and argues that higher education often succeeds at training skills while failing to form the Christian imagination toward truth, wisdom, and God.
This lecture was given on April 13th, 2026, at University of Aberdeen.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Lewis was born in the UK, and studied Classics at St Andrews in...
Why Is There Evil In The World? - Prof. Ross McCullough
Prof. Ross McCullough explores why evil and suffering exist, surveys the main Christian answers—especially free will and greater goods—and shows how suffering can be united to Christ rather than treated as meaningless.
This lecture was given on November 17th, 2025, at University of Oregon.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Ross McCullough is an assistant professor of theology at George Fox University and facu...
Deo Gratias: A Theology of Gratitude - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
Fr. Andrew Hofer explains gratitude as a theological virtue rooted in God’s gifts, showing how thanksgiving begins in the heart, becomes visible in words and worship, and ultimately orders us toward God.
This lecture was given on November 11th, 2025, at University of Colorado Boulder.
Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.
About the Speaker:
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics an...
To What End? Reclaiming Meaning with Saint Thomas Aquinas - Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.
Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy uses Aquinas to argue that the search for meaning is really the search for an ultimate end, and that human happiness is found not in success, pleasure, or status, but in God.
This lecture was given on November 4th, 2025, at University of California, San Diego.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, OP is a Coordinator for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute in Washington, D...
Why Get Married: The Catholic View of the Meaning and Purpose of Marriage - Prof. Paul Gondreau
This lecture was given on October 23rd, 2025, at Indiana University.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
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 t...
What do you seek? Study and the Moral Life in St Thomas Aquinas - Fr. Thomas Aquinas Pickett
Fr. Thomas Pickett explores what Aquinas means by study and argues that study is not just academic work but a morally formative pursuit that shapes charity, virtue, and the Christian path to happiness.
This lecture was given on August 29th, 2025, at University of California Berkeley.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Fr Thomas Aquinas Pickett is a son of Ellensburg, Washington and a member of the Western Dominican Province. Apart f...
Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin: Aquinas on the Limits of Charity - Prof. Michael Krom
Prof. Michael Krom presents Aquinas’s account of charity and asks what it really means to love the sinner without affirming the sin, showing how true Christian love can require both mercy and moral clarity.
This lecture was given on August 18th, 2025, at Universidad Panamericana.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Michael Krom started reading Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae shortly after his conversion at the end of college. Upon learning about...
The First Theologians: Who Were the Church Fathers and Why Do They Matter? - Prof. Mathew Thomas
Prof. Mathew Thomas introduces the Church Fathers as the first theologians and explains how their witness to Scripture, Christian discipleship, and early worship can still help readers understand the faith and its unity today.
This lecture was given on June 9th, 2025, at University of Oregon.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Matthew J. Thomas is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology Department Chair at the Dominican School of P...
Historical Arguments for God's Existence: Anselm, Aquinas, and Scotus - Prof. Thomas Ward
Prof. Thomas Ward examines medieval arguments for God’s existence in Anselm, Aquinas, and Scotus, showing how each thinker approaches the question from a different starting point and why their arguments still matter for faith and reason.
This lecture was given on April 21st, 2025, at Saint Vincent College.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Thomas M. Ward is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The University of Texas at Austin, in the...
Creation and the Big Bang: What's the Big Deal? - Prof. John O'Callaghan
Prof. John O’Callaghan examines the Big Bang in relation to the Christian doctrine of creation ex nihilo and argues that cosmology and belief in God as creator address different kinds of explanation.
This lecture was given on February 27th, 2025, at University of South Carolina.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Prof. John O'Callaghan is the Director Emeritus of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame as wel...
Secularism and the Modern World - Prof. Brad Gregory
This lecture was given on February 27th, 2025, at West Virginia University.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Brad S. Gregory is Henkels Family College Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, where he has taught since 2003. From 1996-2003 he taught and received early tenure at Stanford University; prior to that he was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows and earned his Ph.D. from Princeton as well as two degrees in...
Are All Religions Different Paths Up the Same Mountain? – Prof. Christopher Kaczor
Prof. Christopher Kaczor argues that the common claim that all religions are just different paths to the same destination collapses under scrutiny, and that Christianity uniquely holds together truth, toleration, and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
This lecture was given on February 9th, 2026, at University of Florida.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a...
How John Paul II Used the Saints Against the Communists – Prof. James Felak
Prof. James Felak argues that John Paul II used Polish saints as powerful symbols of faith, moral courage, and national identity to inspire resistance against communism and affirm the Church’s role in Poland’s history.
This lecture was given on October 31st, 2026, at St. Albert's Priory.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
James Felak is a Professor of History and current holder of the Newman Center Term Professorship in Catho...
Flannery on Art and Truth – Prof. Jennifer Frey
Prof. Jennifer Frey explores Flannery O’Connor’s bold claim that art can reveal truth in a way philosophy cannot, and shows how her fiction turns beauty, form, and imagination into a distinctive kind of knowledge.
This lecture was given on February 7th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Jennifer A. Frey is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa. She previously served as th...
The Family, the Polity, and the Church – Fr. Brad Elliott, O.P.
Fr. Brad Elliott argues that human beings are naturally social and are meant to flourish through the distinct but related societies of family, polity, and Church, with the Church uniquely ordering people to grace and the common good.
This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.
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 o...
Flannery O'Connor: Hillbilly Thomist or Hillbilly Nihilist? – Prof. Jennifer Frey
Prof. Jennifer Frey asks whether Flannery O’Connor is really a “hillbilly Thomist” or a “hillbilly nihilist,” and uses her life and fiction to show how grace, reality, and shocking moral drama can expose the deepest truths about human nature.
This lecture was given on February 7th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Jennifer A. Frey is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa. She...
Is There a Right to Steal? – Prof. Michael Krom
Prof. Michael Krom uses Aquinas to argue that while stealing is always morally wrong, urgent need can change what counts as rightful use of superabundant goods, revealing how private property is meant to serve the common good.
This lecture was given on February 12th, 2026, at Georgia Institute of Technology.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Michael Krom started reading Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae shortly after his conversion at the end of...
The Mystical Body of Christ: What Does Jesus Have to Do with Me? – Dr. Edmund Lazzari
Dr. Edmund Lazzari explains how Christ’s divinity and humanity make the sacraments, grace, confession, purgatory, and the communion of saints all part of one living mystical body in which every Christian is united to every other in Jesus.
This lecture was given on February 11th, 2026, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Edmund Lazzari is Teaching Fellow in the Department of Catholic Studies at Duq...
The Creator of Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence: Natural Law, Inalienable Rights, and a Just Political Order – Prof. Christopher Kaczor
This lecture was given on April 9th, 2026, at Indiana University.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor) graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a Ph.D. four years later from the University of Notre Dame. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Kaczor is a former Federal Chancellor Fellow at the University of Cologne and William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University and H...
Rights, Liberties, and the Nature of Medicine – Prof. Christopher Tollefsen
Prof. Christopher Tollefsen argues that medicine is fundamentally ordered to health, not preference satisfaction, and he shows why that matters for abortion, euthanasia, physician authority, and conscience.
This lecture was given on February 5th, 2026, at University of Scranton.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Christopher Tollefsen is Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina. He has published over 100 articles in journals and edited collections, and a similar number o...
Aquinas' Philosophy of the Angels – Prof. Gregory Doolan
Prof. Gregory Doolan explains how Aquinas uses philosophy to show that angels are real immaterial beings—pure forms with intellect and will—whose place in creation can even be understood in relation to the famous “head of a pin” question.
This lecture was given on February 5th, 2026, at Harvard University.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Gregory T. Doolan is Associate Professor in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic Universit...
Private Property and the Universal Destination of Goods: How a Right to Private Possessions Serves the Common Good – Fr. Brad Elliott, O.P.
Fr. Brad Elliott, O.P. explores how the Catholic tradition understands ownership as a moral relation that binds persons together rather than isolating them, and why that matters for families, society, and human flourishing.
This lecture was given on February 4th, 2026, at Stanford 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 M...
Thomistic Sacramental Theology – Fr. Thomas Joseph White
This lecture was given on February 6th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Fr. Thomas Joseph White is the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. Originally a native of southeastern Georgia in the US, Fr. White studied at Brown University, where he converted to Catholicism. He did his doctoral studies in theology at Oxford University, and is the author of various books and articles i...
Pope Leo XIII and Communism – Fr. Brad Elliott, O.P.
Fr. Brad Elliott shows how Leo’s Rerum Novarum responds to Marx and Engels by grounding property rights in the father’s duty to provide, the family’s priority over the state, and the Church’s vision of human flourishing.
This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.
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 Unive...
Nagasaki Prays, Hiroshima Rages: God's Providence and Narratives of Suffering – Prof. James Nolan
Prof. James Nolan argues that Nagasaki’s prayerful response to the atomic bomb can only be understood through the city’s long Christian history, especially the witness of the hidden Christians and Takashi Nagai.
This lecture was given on January 29th, 2026, at Florida State University.
To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.
About the Speaker:
Professor James L. Nolan, Jr. is the Washington Gladden 1859 Professor of Sociology at Williams College, where he has been teach...
What is Catholic Social Teaching? – Fr. Brad Elliott, O.P.
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 D...
Mercy and Justice in Political Life: Augustine, Seneca, and Nussbaum – Prof. Sarah Byers
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 p...
The University and the Search for Wisdom in the Middle Ages – Dr. Brian FitzGerald
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 me...
The Good Citizen: Lessons from Tocqueville on Democratic Citizenship in the 21st Century – Prof. Raymond Hain
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 Chr...
How John Paul II Used the Saints Against the Communists in Poland – Prof. James Felak
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...
Musical Dependence: What's Behind It and How We Can Move Beyond It – Sr. Anna Wray, O.P.
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 th...
Silence, Contemplation, and Non-Being – Fr. Ephrem Reese O.P.
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 C...
Boredom: The Threshold of Great Deeds – Fr. Ephrem Reese O.P.
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 B...
Why We Need or Don't Need Utopias – Dr. Jan Bentz
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 h...
