Events

Spring 2010 Events:

Fourth Annual Carroll Lecture: "Catholicism: Last Hope for a Dying Culture"
Anthony Esolen, Professor of English, Providence College
Thursday, February 4, 2010, 7:00-8:30 p.m., ICC Auditorium 
 
Since the inception of the Tocqueville Forum, we have sponsored this yearly lecture in honor of Bishop John Carroll, S.J., our distinguished founder, and his dedication to creating a Catholic institution that contributes to the political, cultural and educational life of America. 

In this spirit, Professor Esolen will give a lecture seeking to answer the following questions: What is culture? Why do we now possess only the remnants of a culture? And, what are the resources that the Catholic church possesses which could kindle culture anew in the West?
 
POSTPONED: "Are the Suburbs a Mistake? Reflections on Urbanism and Natural Law" DATE AND TIME TO BE ANNOUNCED
Philip Bess, Director of Graduate Studies and Professor at the School of Architecture, Notre Dame
 
Is it a moral imperative to attempt to make settlements that promote human flourishing? If so, which formal architectural characteristics do this?
 
Philip Bess is a professor and the director of Graduate Studies at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, where he teaches graduate urban design and theory, and continues his professional work as a design consultant for municipalities, architects and community development corporations working through the office of Thursday Associates. Prof. Bess holds an M.Arch from the University of Virginia (1981), a Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.) from the Harvard Divinity School (1976), and a B.A. from Whittier College (1973).
 
"Reimagining the 50's: Psychology, Sex, and Secularization in the Age of Eisenhower"

Alan Petigny, Assistant Professor of History, University of Florida
Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 5:30-7:00, Mortara Center

The standard interpretation of the 1950s claims it was a conservative decade. Dr. Petigny challenges this narrative by pointing to the growth of modern psychology, the rising force of secularization, and the emergence of the sexual revolution.

"Civic Communitarian Conservatism"
Phillip Blond, Director of the English think tank ResPublica
Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:00-8:30 p.m. ICC Auditorium 
 
"A Roundtable Response to Phillip Blond"
Friday, March 19, 2010 12:30-4:00 p.m. Copley Formal Lounge
Confirmed speakers: 
Charles Matthewes, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia 
Andrew Abela, Associate Professor of Marketing and Chair, Catholic University of America
Rod Dreher,  Editorial Columnist for the Dallas Morning News
Ross Douthat, Op-ed Columnist for the New York Times
 
"Student Conference on the American Polity"
A Tocqueville Forum-hosted event, in cooperation with the James Madison Program at Princeton.
Saturday, March 27, 2010 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Copley Formal Lounge
Featuring presentations from undergraduate students
from Georgetown University, Princeton University, Boston College, and Villanova University
 
Jack Miller Center - Veritas Fund Post-Doctoral Fellow Lecture
Christopher West
April 7, 2010 4:30-6:00 p.m. Philodemic Room
 
Cicero's Podium Debate on Academic Freedom

Speakers to be announced
April 14, 2010 6:00- 7:30 p.m. ICC Auditorium

Rev. James V. Schall, S.J. Award for Teaching and Humane Letters
April 29, 2010 6:00-7:30 p.m. ICC Auditorium
 
 

Past 2009 Events

For streaming audio recordings of past Tocqueville Forum events, please see to our Audio Archive.
"Honorable Ambition -- and Its Critics"

Robert Faulkner, Professor of Political Science, Boston College

Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 4:00-5:30 p.m., Philodemic Room

In this lecture, Dr. Faulkner will undertake an examination of the psychology of the admirable statesman. Can his or her motives be reduced to desires for power, domination, or fame? Or, is there something honorable in his or her motives?Faulkner, author of The Case for Greatness: Honorable Ambition and Its Critics (2007), was educated at Dartmouth College, Oxford University, where he held a Marshall Scholarship, and the University of Chicago. He has been chair of his department and President of the New England Political Science Association. Robert Faulkner teaches and writes chiefly about modern political philosophy and American political and legal thought.


"Ecological Decline and Wendell Berry's Vision of Hope"

FORUM LECTURE featuring Dr. Jason Peters, Professor of English at Augustana College
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Inter Cultural Center


"The Moral Dimensions of the Economic Crisis"
ROUNDTABLE featuring:
Dr. Amitai Etzioni, University Professor and Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University, and Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies
Dr. Eugene McCarraher, Professor, Department of Humanities, Villanova University
Thursday, November 12, 2009, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 pm, Location: Lohrfink Auditorium, Rafik B. Hariri Building (School of Business)
 
What were the causes of the economic crisis? Much has been written in an attempt to explain the causes of the economic crisis in terms of over regulation, deregulation, under-regulation, Federal Reserve Bank policies, Fannie Mae, etc.. Are there causes within our current economic order that go deeper than these more ostensible ones? What about the moral dimensions of the crisis?

"America and the World"

Featuring

Dr. Jean Bethke Elshtain, Leavey Chair in the Foundations of American Freedom, Georgetown University
Monday, November 9, 2009, 7:00-8:30 p.m., ICC Auditorium

Critics of American foreign policy decry anything that smacks of "American exceptionalism". Despite former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright's, insistence that America is the "indispensable" nation, such claims are either condemned as rampant ethnocentrism or ignored as rhetorical overreach. There are strong grounds for criticism of presumptions of exceptionalism. But, might condemnations of American exceptionalism also be a cover for abandoning America's international responsibilities? These and other controversial matters will be explored.  

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Mortara Center for International Studies and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.

"Freedom, the Human Vocation, and the Catholic University"

FORUM LECTURE featuring Dr. Mark Shiffman, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, Villanova University

To be human is to be free, but the fulfillment of this freedom requires learning our human possibilities. The university is the institution that provides the greatest scope for such learning. How does the Catholic university fulfill this mission?

Thursday, September 24, 2009, 5:30 p.m., Location: Philodemic Room

“Is the Constitution Relevant Today?”

FORUM LECTURE featuring Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III

How does an 18th century document provide for a government in the 21st century and in an era of globalization? To celebrate Constitution Day, Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III will give a lecture concerning the Founding of the United States, the Constitution and the current American political order. Edwin Meese III holds the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based public policy research and education institution. He is also the Chairman of Heritage’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California.

Thursday, September 17, 2009, 5:00 p.m., Location: ICC Auditorium

"What is College For?"

WELCOME WEEK DISCUSSION featuring Tocqueville Forum Director Patrick J. Deneen and Matthew Crawford, author of current bestseller Shop Class as Soul Craft
Patrick Deneen, Associate Professor of Government and Founding Director of the Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy, will host a discussion about the aims and reasons for college with Matthew Crawford, author of the current bestselling book Shop Class as Soul Craft. Professors Deneen and Crawford will discuss and explore some of the Big Questions of College: e.g., What is college for? What should students aim to get out of their four years at university? Is college ultimately about getting a job? Students will have ample time to pose questions and engage in the discussion.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 5:00 p.m., Mortara Center Conference Room