Past Lectures

Previous speakers:

Spring 2025: “Entrepreneurship for the Common Good” Taylor Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Whiteboard

Fall 2024: “American Moral Identity,” Dr. Nicholas Buccola, Claremont McKenna College

Spring 2024: “Lincoln & America’s Civic Faith,” Dr. Zachary German, Arizona State University

Fall 2023: “Faith in the Public Square,” Dr. Alan Noble, Oklahoma Baptist University

Spring 2023: “Local Solutions to the Court’s Deepest Questions,” Chief Judge Jeffery Sutton, Chief Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Fall 2022: “His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation,” Dr. Diana Schaub

Fall 2021: “Making Peace with the Wayfaring Life,” Dr. Brian Smith, Law & Liberty at Liberty Fund

Spring 2021: “A Political Theorist Goes to Washington,” Daniel Burns, University of Dallas

Fall 2020: “Religious Freedom in the United States,” Vincent Muñoz, University of Notre Dame

Fall 2019: “Liberalism, Modernity, and its Discontents,” Sam Gregg, Director of Research at the Acton Institute

Spring 2019: “Law, Morality, Science, and the Brave New World,” Nikolas Nikas, President of Bioethics Defense Fund

Fall 2018: “Shakespeare’s Political Wisdom,” Tim Burns, Baylor University

Spring 2018: “Aristotle’s Ethics on Justice, Equity, and Forgiveness,” Matthew Dinan, St. Thomas University

Fall 2017: “Frederick Douglass and the Reinterpretation of America,” Nicholas Buccola, Linfield College

Spring 2017: “Citizens, Friends, and Free Thinkers in the Ancient City,” Susan Collins, University of Notre Dame

Fall 2016: “The Limits and Potential of American Democracy,” Khalil Habib, Salve Regina University

Spring 2016: “Feminism at Home and Abroad,” Natalie Taylor, Skidmore College

Fall 2015: “Understanding the Moral Commitments of our Legal System,” Clark Neily, Senior Attorney at Institute for Justice

Spring 2015: “The Blessing of Technology as an Intricate Trial of our Free Will,” Peter Lawler, Berry College

Fall 2014: “E Pluribus Unum: Pluralism in American Politics,” Matthew Dinan, Holy Cross, Joseph Wysocki, Belmont Abbey College, Mark Scully, University of the Ozarks

Spring 2014: “Arguing Tennessee v. Lane,” Judge William Brown

Spring 2014: “Reforming Congress: A Constitutional Perspective,” David Nichols, Baylor University

Fall 2013: “Shakespeare’s Political Thought,” Paul Cantor, University of Virginia,

Spring 2013: “America as a Lockean Republic,” Michael Zuckert, University of Notre Dame

Fall 2012: “Retrospective on the 2012 Election,” James Ceasar, University of Virginia