Valor Institute Events
The American Republic: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Adam Seagrave
Join us for an Academic Retreat on Orestes Brownson’s The American Republic led by Dr. Adam Seagrave, Associate Professor in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University.
About the Leader
Dr. Adam Seagrave is Professor of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. He was the inaugural Associate Director of ASU's School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership and Center for Political Thought and Leadership. He writes and teaches on political philosophy and American political thought, with a particular focus on issues of race in American history.
Dr. Seagrave has published several influential works, including Race and the American Story, The Accessible Federalist, and Liberty and Equality: The American Conversation. In addition to his academic scholarship, Professor Seagrave has worked extensively with K-12 educators and led the development of K-12 instructional materials on American history and government. He was awarded the American Legion National Education Award in 2021 for his achievements in K-12 civics education.
Important Details
Travel: Participants are expected to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat. We recommend flying into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and arriving at the Kingfisher Center at least an hour before the event begins.
Cost: $1200
Academic Retreats are offered free of charge to Valor Education faculty and staff.
Scholarship: We ask all applicants to pursue funding sources through their home institution. The Valor Institute also has scholarship money available. To apply, please email Joel VanDerworp with a letter of recommendation along with your retreat application.
Sponsorship: The Valor Institute is looking for partners to join us in expanding our retreat offerings. Click here to learn more about how you can support the Valor Institute.
Wordsworth and Keats: College Student Retreat Led by Dr. Jason Baxter
The Valor Institute’s College Program offers collegiate Juniors and Seniors the opportunity to spend a week in Austin, TX immersed in study, friendship, and the natural world. Students will explore the poetry of William Wordsworth and John Keats with our retreat leader, Dr. Jason Baxter.
About the Leader
Dr. Jason Baxter is the Director of the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College. He holds a Doctorate in Literature from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to joining Benedictine, he spent time as a visiting associate professor at Notre Dame preceded by twelve years at Wyoming Catholic College. His written works include The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis and A Beginner’s Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy, among others, and he is currently working on an original translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Baxter has written many academic and popular articles, and he frequently makes media appearances ranging from podcasts to EWTN. He is currently translating Dante’s Divine Comedy for Angelico Press.
About the Retreat
Upon acceptance, you will enjoy an academic retreat that includes:
Seminar discussions and lectures led by Dr. Jason Baxter
Intentional meals and social time to build friendship and community
Time with teachers and leaders from the Valor schools in Austin
Room and board provided ($200 retreat fee and transportation expenses to be covered by the participant)
Application Deadline: March 31, 2026
Sponsorship: the Valor Institute is looking for partners to join us in expanding our retreat offerings. Click here to learn more about how you can support the Valor Institute.
Narnia and the Moral Imagination: Summer Intensive Led by Dr. Shannon Valenzuela
Narnia & the Moral Imagination: Summer Intensive Led by Dr. Shannon Valenzuela
This course offers an extended study of C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, attending especially to Lewis’s vision of the imagination and his understanding of education—its purpose, its promise, and its distortions. Far from being merely children’s literature, the Narnian stories present a rich account of human formation: how human beings come to perceive reality rightly, how they are misled, and how they may be restored through truth, discipline, and grace.
Particular attention will be given to The Silver Chair, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Last Battle.
Program Details
Over the course of the week, participants will form their pedagogy through seminars, lectures, and small group discussions.
Location
Schedule
The program will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day from June 15 to June 19th, 2026.
Technology Free
To preserve the leisurely character of the retreat and encourage contemplation, participants are asked to refrain from digital device use.
Cost & Registration
Cost: $50
Valor faculty and staff may attend the course free of charge.
About the Leader
Dr. Shannon Valenzuela is Affiliate Assistant Professor of Humanities and English at the University of Dallas, where she also serves as Assistant Director of the Saint Ambrose Center for Catholic Liberal Education and Culture and contributes to the Classical Education graduate program. Her teaching focuses on the classical liberal arts tradition, with courses in pedagogy, epic, tragedy, and the formation of students through great books. In these roles, she works closely with educators to deepen both intellectual and pedagogical formation within a Catholic and classical framework.
Dr. Valenzuela received her B.A. in English and Classics from the University of Dallas and her Ph.D. in medieval literature from University of Notre Dame. Her scholarly work is grounded in medieval studies while extending into broader questions of narrative, culture, and the formation of the human person. She has been actively involved in classical education initiatives, contributing to the renewal of liberal arts education through teaching, program development, and faculty formation.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Valenzuela is an accomplished creative writer and screenwriter. She is the author of speculative fiction, including The Silesia Chronicles trilogy and the novel Final Origin, and she created The Quest, a television series produced in collaboration with the University of Dallas and EWTN. Her essays and articles have appeared in outlets such as the National Catholic Register. Across both her scholarly and creative work, she is especially interested in the power of narrative to illuminate the dignity, mystery, and vocation of the human person.
In Search of the Human Face: Academic Retreat Led by Fr. Antonio López
In Search of the Human Face: Academic Retreat Led by Fr. Antonio López
This academic retreat is devoted to a close study of Luigi Giussani’s In Search of the Human Face, a careful exploration of the meaning of the human person. At the center of Giussani’s inquiry is a deceptively simple question: What do we mean when we say “I”? In an age marked by confusion about identity, freedom, and the nature of reality itself, Giussani proposes that the recovery of the human person begins not with abstraction, but with a renewed attentiveness to experience—an openness to the full range of one’s desires, questions, and encounters.
Led by Fr. Antonio López of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, the retreat will examine Giussani’s account of the “I” as a dynamic, relational reality, constituted through encounter and fulfilled in the discovery of its origin and destiny.
Retreat Details
Our multi-day academic retreats are small gatherings focused on great texts, thoughtful conversations, and intellectual friendship. Each retreat is led by a professor and centers on a specific thinker, theme, topic, or text.
The heart of the retreat is a robust academic program of twelve one-hour sessions—typically nine seminars and three lectures. Seminars are limited to 15 or fewer participants and emphasize close reading, intellectual humility, and the shared pursuit of truth. The professor's lectures synthesize themes and situate the readings within a broader whole.
The atmosphere is intentionally contemplative and relational—free from digital distraction and grounded in attentiveness, presence, and receptivity.
Location
Our academic retreats are held at our Kingfisher Center, which is located on the southwest side of Austin, Texas.
Cost
For accepted participants, the Valor Institute will cover the cost of the program fee, texts, lodging, and meals. We ask for participants to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat — though we do offer travel scholarships for those in need. We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone desiring to participate in our programs.
Schedule
A typical retreat day runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. including time for lunch, dinner, and breaks.
Preparation
Participants are expected to carefully read and annotate all texts before arriving at the retreat. Because of academic retreats involve a significant amount of time in seminar, preparation is essential.
Registration & Questions
Space in our retreats is limited, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. For any questions, please contact us.
About the Leader
Fr. Antonio López, F.S.C.B., serves as Provost and Professor of Systematic Theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America. A priest of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, he holds a Ph.D. from Boston College, an S.T.L. from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, an S.T.B. from the Pontifical Gregorian University, and a Phil.L. from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
His teaching and research center on trinitarian theology, metaphysics, theological anthropology, and the theology of marriage. He is the author of Spirit’s Gift: The Metaphysical Insight of Claude Bruaire (CUA Press, 2006), Gift and the Unity of Being (Wipf & Stock, 2013), and Rinascere: La memoria di Dio in una cultura tecnologica (Lindau, 2015). He has edited Retrieving Origins and the Claim of Multiculturalism (Eerdmans, 2015) and Enlightening the Mystery of Man: Gaudium et spes Fifty Years Later (Humanum Academic Press, 2018).
Fr. López serves on the editorial board of Communio: International Catholic Review and as editor of Humanum Academic Press and of the English Critical Edition of the Works of Karol Wojtyła and John Paul II, a continuing series from CUA Press.
The Sound and the Fury: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Glenn Arbery
The Sound and the Fury: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Glenn Arbery
This retreat takes up The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, one of the most formally ambitious and searching works of modern literature. Through its bold narrative structure and shifting modes of perception, the novel draws readers into fundamental questions about time, memory, and the search for coherence in human experience.
Led by Glenn Arbery of Wyoming Catholic College, the retreat will center on sustained engagement with the text in seminar and lecture. Together, participants will read, discuss, and reflect on the novel, allowing its language, images, and patterns to come gradually into view.
Retreat Details
Our multi-day academic retreats are small gatherings focused on great texts, thoughtful conversations, and intellectual friendship. Each retreat is led by a professor and centers on a specific thinker, theme, topic, or text.
The heart of the retreat is a robust academic program of twelve one-hour sessions—typically nine seminars and three lectures. Seminars are limited to 15 or fewer participants and emphasize close reading, intellectual humility, and the shared pursuit of truth. The professor's lectures synthesize themes and situate the readings within a broader whole.
The atmosphere is intentionally contemplative and relational—free from digital distraction and grounded in attentiveness, presence, and receptivity.
Location
Our academic retreats are held at our Kingfisher Center, which is located on the southwest side of Austin, Texas.
Cost
For accepted participants, the Valor Institute will cover the cost of the program fee, texts, lodging, and meals. We ask for participants to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat — though we do offer travel scholarships for those in need. We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone desiring to participate in our programs.
Schedule
A typical retreat day runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. including time for lunch, dinner, and breaks.
Preparation
Participants are expected to carefully read and annotate all texts before arriving at the retreat. Because of academic retreats involve a significant amount of time in seminar, preparation is essential.
Registration & Questions
Space in our retreats is limited, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. For any questions, please contact us.
About the Leader
Dr. Glenn Arbery is Professor of Humanities at Wyoming Catholic College.
Born in South Carolina and raised in Georgia, Dr. Arbery earned his B.A. at the University of Georgia and his Ph.D. in Literature and Politics at the University of Dallas, where he met his wife-to-be, Virginia Lombardo.
He has taught literature at the University of St. Thomas in Houston; Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire; the University of Dallas (through the Dallas Institute); and Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he held the d’Alzon Chair of Liberal Education.
In 2013, he and Virginia, also a Ph.D. from the University of Dallas, went to Wyoming Catholic College to teach Humanities, Trivium, and Philosophy. Dr. Arbery became president of Wyoming Catholic in 2016. In the Fall of 2023, he stepped down from the presidency and returned to the teaching faculty of the College.
In addition to numerous essays and reviews, he has published two volumes with ISI Books, Why Literature Matters and The Southern Critics. He is editor of The Tragic Abyss for the Dallas Institute Press and Augustine’s Confessions and Its Influence, St. Augustine Press. His novel Bearings and Distances was published by Wiseblood Books in 2015, and his second, Boundaries of Eden, was published in 2020.
He has served as Director of the Teachers Academy at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture and as an editor at People Newspapers in Dallas, where he won regional and national awards for his writing. Most recently, he received the 2025 Excellence in Theology Award from the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College. He and Virginia have eight children and twenty-four grandchildren.
Academic Retreat Led by Dr. John Finley
Academic Retreat Led by Dr. John Finley
This academic retreat, led by Dr. John Finley, is still in development and will be announced soon. You can see all of our events or apply to another retreat below.
Retreat Details
Our multi-day academic retreats are small gatherings focused on great texts, thoughtful conversations, and intellectual friendship. Each retreat is led by a professor and centers on a specific thinker, theme, topic, or text.
The heart of the retreat is a robust academic program of twelve one-hour sessions—typically nine seminars and three lectures. Seminars are limited to 15 or fewer participants and emphasize close reading, intellectual humility, and the shared pursuit of truth. The professor's lectures synthesize themes and situate the readings within a broader whole.
The atmosphere is intentionally contemplative and relational—free from digital distraction and grounded in attentiveness, presence, and receptivity.
Location
Our academic retreats are held at our Kingfisher Center, which is located on the southwest side of Austin, Texas.
Cost
For accepted participants, the Valor Institute will cover the cost of the program fee, texts, lodging, and meals. We ask for participants to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat — though we do offer travel scholarships for those in need. We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone desiring to participate in our programs.
Schedule
A typical retreat day runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. including time for lunch, dinner, and breaks.
Preparation
Participants are expected to carefully read and annotate all texts before arriving at the retreat. Because of academic retreats involve a significant amount of time in seminar, preparation is essential.
Registration & Questions
Space in our retreats is limited, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. For any questions, please contact us.
About the Leader
Dr. John Finley currently serves as Tutor at Thomas Aquinas College. Dr. Finley has also served as Professor of Philosophy at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis and was the Academic Director of the Valor Institute from 2022-2023. Dr. Finley received his masters and doctorate in philosophy from the University of Dallas and his Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Aquinas College.
He has authored several publications on philosophical anthropology, metaphysics, phenomenology, and Ancient and Medieval philosophy and is a member of the Aquinas Institute of Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford. In 2016 he was awarded a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to pursue collaborative research on the human person from the standpoints of science, medicine, philosophy, and theology, which culminated in a work he co-authored entitled Sexual Identity: The Harmony of Philosophy, Science, and Revelation, published by Emmaus Road Publishing.
The Gift: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Michael Taylor
The Gift: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Michael Taylor
This academic retreat will concentrate on The Gift by the Canadian philosopher Kenneth Schmitz. Creation myths exist in cultures around the world and attest to a primordial human concern with the origin of things. Who is this Creator, and what is the nature of his creation? Engaging the thought of Thomas Aquinas as well as that of 19th- and 20th-century humanists, Schmitz provides a penetrating meditation on creatureliness and the importance of “gift” in an accurate account of creation.
Led by Dr. Michael Taylor of Thomas More College, the retreat will consist of sustained engagement with Schmitz’s text in seminar and lecture. Together, participants will read, discuss, and reflect on the essay, deepening our understanding of gift and creation.
Retreat Details
Our multi-day academic retreats are small gatherings focused on great texts, thoughtful conversations, and intellectual friendship. Each retreat is led by a professor and centers on a specific thinker, theme, topic, or text.
The heart of the retreat is a robust academic program of twelve one-hour sessions—typically nine seminars and three lectures. Seminars are limited to 15 or fewer participants and emphasize close reading, intellectual humility, and the shared pursuit of truth. The professor's lectures synthesize themes and situate the readings within a broader whole.
The atmosphere is intentionally contemplative and relational—free from digital distraction and grounded in attentiveness, presence, and receptivity.
Location
Our academic retreats are held at our Kingfisher Center, which is located on the southwest side of Austin, Texas.
Cost
For accepted participants, the Valor Institute will cover the cost of the program fee, texts, lodging, and meals. We ask for participants to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat — though we do offer travel scholarships for those in need. We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone desiring to participate in our programs.
Schedule
A typical retreat day runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. including time for lunch, dinner, and breaks.
Preparation
Participants are expected to carefully read and annotate all texts before arriving at the retreat. Because of academic retreats involve a significant amount of time in seminar, preparation is essential.
Registration & Questions
Space in our retreats is limited, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. For any questions, please contact us.
About the Leader
Dr. Michael Dominic Taylor is Teaching Fellow and Dean of Students at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. Dr. Taylor grew up in rural Connecticut and spent his summers sailing and lobster fishing on the coast of Maine. He earned his B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies from Bowdoin College in 2007, writing his honors thesis after studying in Alaska on a NOAA Hollings Scholarship. After college, he served as a Catholic missionary in Peru and Chile before studying philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, bioethics at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, and philosophy at the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.
In addition to Thomas More, Dr. Taylor has also taught at the Edith Stein Philosophy Institute, San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University, and Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. He has previously served as Executive Secretary of the Laudato Si’ Institute for the Archdiocese of Grenada and is a board member of the International Ratzinger Foundation. He has written on a variety of topics, including bioethics, solidarity, economics, and metaphysics. His recent book, The Foundations of Nature: Metaphysics of Gift for an Integral Ecological Ethic, received the Expanded Reason Award from the Joseph Ratzinger Foundation in 2021.
King Lear: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Michael West
Join us for an Academic Retreat on Shakespeare’s King Lear led by Dr. Michael West of the University of Dallas.
About the Leader
Michael West holds a Ph.D. in English from Columbia University, an M.A. from the University of Houston, and a B.A. from the University of Dallas. His first book - Theater of the Obscure: Staging Enigma in Shakespeare’s England – is currently under review, and he is beginning work on a second project, tentatively entitled How to Learne Experience: Literature and Experience in Early Modern England.
Dr. West has published articles in Studies in English Literature, Shakespeare Studies, and Spenser Studies. Before coming to UD, he taught courses in literature, writing, and Catholic Studies at the University of Houston, Columbia University, and Sacred Heart University.
Important Details
Travel: Participants are expected to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat. We recommend flying into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and arriving at the Kingfisher Center at least an hour before the event begins.
Cost: $1200
Academic Retreats are offered free of charge to Valor Education faculty and staff.
Scholarship: We ask all applicants to pursue funding sources through their home institution. The Valor Institute also has scholarship money available. To apply, please email Joel VanDerworp with a letter of recommendation along with your retreat application.
Sponsorship: The Valor Institute is looking for partners to join us in expanding our retreat offerings. Click here to learn more about how you can support the Valor Institute.
Contemplative Pedagogy in a Technocratic Age: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Tim O’Malley
Join us for an Academic Retreat on “Contemplative Pedagogy in a Technocratic Age” led by Dr. Tim O’Malley, Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.
About the Leader
Dr. Tim O’Malley is the Associate Director of Research for the McGrath Institute, Academic Director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, and holds a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. O’Malley completed a doctorate at Boston College in theology and education, focusing on an Augustinian approach to liturgical formation. He researches and teaches at Notre Dame in the areas of liturgical-sacramental theology, marriage and family, Catholic higher education, catechesis, preaching, and spirituality. His teaching and research adapts Romano Guardini’s approach to liturgical-sacramental formation in late modernity. He is the author of nine books on topics related to the liturgy, RCIA, the Eucharist, sacramental theology, marriage and family, and liturgical formation.
Timothy is presently working on two academic books, one related to Augustine and liturgical formation and the second on liturgy and the transformation of the social order.
Important Details
Travel: Participants are expected to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat. We recommend flying into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and arriving at the Kingfisher Center at least an hour before the event begins.
Cost: $1200
Academic Retreats are offered free of charge to Valor Education faculty and staff.
Scholarship: We ask all applicants to pursue funding sources through their home institution. The Valor Institute also has scholarship money available. To apply, please email Joel VanDerworp with a letter of recommendation along with your retreat application.
Sponsorship: The Valor Institute is looking for partners to join us in expanding our retreat offerings. Click here to learn more about how you can support the Valor Institute.
William Butler Yeats: Academic Retreat Led by Valor’s Dean of Humanities, Michael Cowan
Join us for an Academic Retreat on the poetry of William Butler Yeats led by Michael Cowan, Dean of Humanities at Valor Education.
About the Leader
Michael Cowan holds an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Dallas and graduate degrees from Boston College and the University of Notre Dame. He has over a decade of experience teaching English and humanities at both the secondary and undergraduate level. In 2021 Michael joined Valor as a school leader, and was Headmaster at Valor South Austin for three years. In his current role as Valor Dean of Humanities, he enjoys working on Valor's humanities curriculum, leading faculty seminars across all campuses, and coaching IHP teachers, as well as teaching the Integrated Humanities Program and Senior Capstone to high school students at Valor South Austin.
Important Details
Travel: Participants are expected to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat. We recommend flying into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and arriving at the Kingfisher Center at least an hour before the event begins.
Cost: $1200
Academic Retreats are offered free of charge to Valor Education faculty and staff.
Scholarship: We ask all applicants to pursue funding sources through their home institution. The Valor Institute also has scholarship money available. To apply, please email Joel VanDerworp with a letter of recommendation along with your retreat application.
Sponsorship: The Valor Institute is looking for partners to join us in expanding our retreat offerings. Click here to learn more about how you can support the Valor Institute.
Thomas Aquinas and the Contemporary Age: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. John Finley
Join us for an Academic Retreat led by Dr. John Finley on “Thomas Aquinas and the Contemporary Age.”
About the Leader
Dr. John Finley currently serves as a Tutor at Thomas Aquinas College. Dr. Finley has also served as Professor of Philosophy at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis and was the Academic Director of the Valor Institute from 2022-2023.
He has authored several publications on philosophical anthropology, metaphysics, phenomenology, and Ancient and Medieval philosophy and is a member of the Aquinas Institute of Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford. Dr. Finley received his masters and doctorate in philosophy from the University of Dallas and his Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Aquinas College. In 2016 he was awarded a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to pursue collaborative research on the human person from the standpoints of science, medicine, philosophy, and theology, which culminated in Sexual Identity, published by Emmaus Road.
Important Details
Travel: Participants are expected to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat. We recommend flying into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and arriving at the Kingfisher Center at least an hour before the event begins.
Scholarships: Full scholarships are available for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and professors. Please indicate your desire for a scholarship on the application. We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone desiring to participate in one of our retreats.
Academic Retreats are offered free of charge to Valor faculty and staff.
Sponsorship: The Valor Institute is looking for partners to join us in expanding our retreat offerings. Please contact Joel VanDerworp if you are interested in sponsoring our programs.
Absalom, Absalom! Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Glenn Arbery
Join us for an Academic Retreat on William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom by Dr. Glenn Arbery of Wyoming Catholic College.
About the Leader
Dr. Glenn Arbery currently serves as Professor of Humanities at Wyoming Catholic College. From 2016 to 2023, he served as the third President of WCC. He has served as Director of the Teachers Academy at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture and as an editor at People Newspapers in Dallas, where he won regional and national awards for his writing. In addition to numerous essays and reviews, he has published two volumes with ISI Books, Why Literature Matters (2001) and The Southern Critics (2010), editor. He is also the editor of The Tragic Abyss (2003) for the Dallas Institute Press and Augustine’s Confessions and Its Influence, St. Augustine Press (2019). His novel Bearings and Distances was published by Wiseblood Books in 2015, and his second, Boundaries of Eden, was published in 2020.
Embodying Charity in Flannery O’Connor: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Farrell O'Gorman
Join us for an Academic Retreat titled “Embodying Charity in Flannery O’Connor” led by Dr Farrell O’Gorman of Belmont Abbey College.
About the Leader
Dr. Farrell O’Gorman is Professor of English at Belmont Abbey College and taught previously at Mississippi State University and DePaul University. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. O’Gorman is the author of two monographs: Peculiar Crossroads: Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, and Catholic Vision in Postwar Southern Fiction (2004) and Catholicism and American Borders in the Gothic Literary Imagination (2017). He has spoken on O’Connor at a variety of regional and national events, at conferences in France and Italy, and at the 2014 O’Connor conference in Ireland, for which he served on the organizing committee.
O’Gorman’s teachings focus on O’Connor, Catholicism, and gender in the American Gothic, in part by exploring O’Connor’s relationship to Nathaniel Hawthorne and Katherine Anne Porter. His work places O’Connor in a tradition of “American women writing Catholicism” that includes Kate Chopin, Willa Cather, and Toni Morrison as well as Dorothy Day and Rose Hawthorne Lathrop.
Important Details
Travel: Participants are expected to pay for their own travel to and from the retreat. We recommend flying into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and arriving at the Kingfisher Center at least an hour before the event begins.
Scholarships: Full scholarships are available for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and professors. Please indicate your desire for a scholarship on the application. We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone desiring to participate in one of our retreats.
Academic Retreats are offered free of charge to Valor faculty and staff.
Sponsorship: The Valor Institute is looking for partners to join us in expanding our retreat offerings. Please contact Joel VanDerworp if you are interested in sponsoring our programs.
Valor Winter Symposium with Dr. D. C. Schindler
The Valor Symposium is a celebration of Valor Education’s work in the world. We know life is best enjoyed in the company of friends who together share in contemplation of the highest things. True celebrations and festivals are not to be understood simply as days without work but instead as days set aside for participating in the ars liberalis – “in the realm of activity that is meaningful in itself."
Dr. D.C. Schindler will be our Keynote Speaker. Dr. Schindler is Professor of Metaphysics and Anthropology at the John Paul II Pontifical Institute. He has published more than a dozen books—including two volumes of a planned trilogy on the nature of freedom with the University of Notre Dame Press and a Robert Spaemann Reader with Oxford University Press—and more than 70 articles and book chapters, and his work has been translated into six languages. He is an editor of the English-language edition of Communio: International Catholic Review, and a board member of The Review of Metaphysics and New Polity: A Journal of Post-Liberal Thought; he is a translator of books and articles from French and German; he is a Fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology at CUA and served on the Executive Council of the American Catholic Philosophical Association; and he has been invited to deliver named annual lectures in a variety of venues, including the Thomas Aquinas Lecture at four universities and colleges, the Bitar Memorial Lecture series at Geneva College, the John Paul II Lecture at the University of Dallas, the Lorenzo Albacete Lecture in New York City, and the Areopagus Lecture at Mars Hill Audio Journal in Charlottesville, VA.
Democracy in America: College Student Retreat Led by Dr. Raul Rodriguez
Join us for our undergraduate retreat this January in Austin, Texas. Led by Dr. Raul Rodriguez of The LeFrak Forum at Michigan State University, this retreat will explore how a democracy can come to know itself through an examination of de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.
About the Leader
Raul Rodriguez is the Director of The LeFrak Forum at Michigan State University. He previously served senior fellow at the Civitas Institute and an associate professor in the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin. He has a B.A. from Furman University and a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Rodriguez’s writings have appeared in policy journals such as American Journal of Political Science, American Political Thought, The Political Science Reviewer, and The Review of Politics. One of his more popular works is entitled, “Liberal Democracy Reexamined: Leo Strauss on Alexis de Tocqueville.” His forthcoming book is titled Redeeming Democracy: Tocqueville’s New Liberalism.
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. John Finley
Join us for an Academic Retreat led by Dr. John Finley of Thomas Aquinas College on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
About the Leader
Dr. John Finley currently serves as Tutor at Thomas Aquinas College. Dr. Finley has also served as Professor of Philosophy at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis and was the Academic Director of the Valor Institute from 2022-2023.
He has authored several publications on philosophical anthropology, metaphysics, phenomenology, and Ancient and Medieval philosophy and is a member of the Aquinas Institute of Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford. Dr. Finley received his masters and doctorate in philosophy from the University of Dallas and his Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Aquinas College. In 2016 he was awarded a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to pursue collaborative research on the human person from the standpoints of science, medicine, philosophy, and theology, which culminated in Sexual Identity, published by Emmaus Road.
Texts
Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle
The Decameron: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Anthony Nussmeier
Join us for an Academic Retreat on Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron led by Dr. Anthony Nussmeier of the University of Dallas.
About the Leader
Dr. Anthony Nussmeier is a scholar of Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature, and serves as Chair of Modern Languages, Director of Italian, and Associate Professor of Italian at the University of Dallas. Prior, he taught at Kansas State University, The Pennsylvania State University, and Indiana University.
Dr. Nussmeier's research centers on medieval, Renaissance, and early modern literature, specifically anthologies of poetry and early-book culture. He has written articles on Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, and his work has appeared in journals such as The Medieval Review, Medioevo letterario d’Italia, Bibliotheca Dantesca, Catholic Southwest, and Textual Cultures.
Since arriving at the University of Dallas, he has overseen the creation of a B.A. in Italian and the first senior theses in Italian. He is also Dr. Nussmeier is an Advisory Board Member for 100 Days of Dante, Contributing Editor for the journal The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies, and Editor for the journal Annali d’Italianistica. He is also a member of the National Screening Committee for Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships in Italy.
Friendship in Athens, Rome, and the New Jerusalem: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Matthew Walz
Join us for an Academic Retreat on “Friendship in Athens, Rome, and the New Jerusalem” led by Dr. Matthew Walz of the University of Dallas.
About the Leader
Dr. Matthew Walz completed undergraduate studies at Christendom College, double-majoring in philosophy and theology and graduating as the valedictorian of the class of 1995. He earned a doctorate in philosophy at The Catholic University of America by completing a dissertation on Thomas Aquinas's understanding of free will.
Dr. Walz is Chair of the Philosophy Department, Associate Dean of Constantin College, Director of Pre-Theology Programs at the University of Dallas, as well as the Director of Intellectual Formation at Holy Trinity Seminary.
Dr. Walz’s research and writing focus primarily on medieval philosophy, ancient philosophy, and philosophical anthropology. Besides Aquinas, his favorite philosophical authors include Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, and Wojtyla.
The Quadrivium: Summer Intensive Led by Dr. Shannon Valenzuela
Summer Program: The Quadrivium
A Summer Program for teachers hosted by the Valor Institute and led by Shannon Valenzeula, Phd, Assistant Professor at the University of Dallas.
About the Leader
Shannon K. Valenzuela, Ph.D., is an Affiliate Assistant Professor of English and the Content Director for the Studies in Catholic Faith and Culture Program at the University of Dallas. She is the writer and director of The Quest, a limited television series produced by the University of Dallas about discovering one’s purpose and living it with courage.
About the Program
This three day program provides an introduction to the Quadrivium, which comprise four of the classical liberal arts (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy).
The program is open to all Valor faculty and others who are interested in the liberal arts, especially:
Graduate students
University professors
Teachers, educators, and school leaders
Natural scientists
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: College Student Retreat Led by Dr. Benedict Whalen
Valor Institute College Student Retreat: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
The Valor Institute’s College Program offers collegiate Juniors and Seniors the opportunity to spend a week in Austin, TX immersed in study, friendship, and the natural world. Students will explore Chaucer’s famous collection of tales with Dr. Benedict Whalen of Hillsdale College.
About the Leader
Dr. Benedict Whalen is associate professor of English at Hillsdale College. He completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Dallas, and earned his PhD at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Much of Dr. Whalen's teaching is in Renaissance literature, especially the works of Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights. He also regularly teaches courses on English Renaissance lyric poetry, including the metaphysical poets. In 2022-23, Dr. Whalen served as the Kingfisher Fellow in Residence for the Valor Institute, where he lead and organized over twenty academic retreats, ranging from Ovid and Dante to Shakespeare and Hemingway. The Institute is excited to welcome him back for this Undergraduate Retreat!
Aristotle’s De Anima: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. John Finley
Academic Retreat: Aristotle’s De Anima
An Academic Retreat at the Kingfisher Center in Austin, Texas, led by John Finley, Phd, Associate Tutor at Thomas Aquinas College (CA).
About the Leader
Dr. John Finley currently serves as a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College. Dr. Finley has also served Professor of Philosophy at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis and was the Academic Director of the Valor Institute from 2022-2023.
He has authored several publications on philosophical anthropology, metaphysics, phenomenology, and Ancient and Medieval philosophy and is a member of the Aquinas Institute of Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford. Dr. Finley received his masters and doctorate in philosophy from the University of Dallas and his Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Aquinas College. In 2016 he was awarded a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to pursue collaborative research on the human person from the standpoints of science, medicine, philosophy, and theology, which culminated in Sexual Identity, published by Emmaus Road.
About the Text
One of Aristotle’s major and foundational treatises, De Anima is among the most influential works in classical philosophy.
The retreat is open to anyone who wishes to join others and reason together as friends, including especially
Graduate students
University professors
Teachers, educators, and school leaders
Natural scientists
Anyone with an appreciation for classical education
Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Aesthetics: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Maria Fedoryka
Academic Retreat: Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Aesthetics
An Academic Retreat at the Kingfisher Center in Austin, Texas, led by Maria Fedoryka, Phd, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ave Maria University.
About the Leader
Dr. Fedoryka has studied, taught and lectured widely on questions related to the nature and dignity of the human person, especially the philosophy of love, and the place of love in the lives of persons, examining issues spanning from the centrality of love in the being of God, to its role at the center of creation, to its meaning for marriage, family, and sexuality.
About the Text
Written in the early 1970s during the last years of his life, as if harvesting a lifetime of reflection, Aesthetics is Dietrich von Hildebrand’s comprehensive two-volume study and defense of beauty and art.
The retreat is open to anyone who wishes to join others and reason together as friends, including especially
Graduate students
University professors
Teachers, educators, and school leaders
Anyone with an appreciation for classical education
Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Andrew Moran
William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure
An Academic Retreat at the Kingfisher Center in Austin, Texas, led by Andrew Moran, Phd, English Department Chair and Associate Professor at the University of Dallas.
The retreat is open to anyone who wishes to join others and reason together as friends, including especially
Graduate students
University professors
Teachers, educators, and school leaders
Anyone with an appreciation for classical education
Poetry & Education: Lecture by Dana Gioia, Poet Laureate
The Valor Institute is honored to host poet and critic Dana Gioia for a lecture exploring the vital role of poetry in education. Gioia is an internationally acclaimed poet, writer, and arts advocate. Born in Los Angeles to Italian and Mexican parents, he was the first in his family to attend college, earning degrees from Stanford and Harvard before working in business for 15 years. At 41, Gioia left the corporate world to pursue writing full-time, becoming a leading voice in the revival of rhyme, meter, and narrative in contemporary poetry. His works include five poetry collections, such as 99 Poems: New & Selected and Interrogations at Noon, which won the American Book Award.
Gioia is also a celebrated critic, known for his influential essay collection Can Poetry Matter?, which helped restore poetry’s relevance in American public life. As Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, he created transformative programs like Poetry Out Loud and The Big Read, bringing literature to millions. Later, as California Poet Laureate, he became the first to visit all 58 counties, championing the arts statewide. In addition to his literary achievements, Gioia has collaborated with renowned composers and musicians across genres. His lecture promises to inspire educators, students, and lovers of the arts to embrace the enchantment of poetry as a pathway to deeper human flourishing.
About the Valor Institute
The Valor Institute is a creative response to the unique challenges of our time: reductive ideologies, mechanized views of the natural world, and communities fractured through impoverished public discourse. At stake is the meaning of human life in community. Responding to these trends that flatten our culture, the Institute seeks to deepen our engagement with reality by cultivating wisdom, gratitude, and friendship.
Valor Winter Symposium with Dr. Jonathon Sanford
The Valor Symposium is a celebration of Valor Education’s work in the world. We know life is best enjoyed in the company of friends who together share in contemplation of the highest things. True celebrations and festivals are not to be understood simply as days without work but instead as days set aside for participating in the ars liberalis – “in the realm of activity that is meaningful in itself."
Dr. Jonathan Sanford, President of the University of Dallas, will be the Keynote Speaker for the event. Dr. Sanford began as dean of Constantin College of Liberal Arts in 2015, was elevated to provost in 2018, and became president in 2021. He received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Buffalo in 2001 and later served at the Franciscan University of Steubenville for 13 years. Dr. Sanford has published widely on foundational questions of moral philosophy. He is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Hildebrand Project, a member of Legatus, and a Fellow of the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture. Dr. Sanford will speak on Plato's Apology, one of the most famous and beautiful works of philosophy in the Western tradition. The title of his address is "Plato's Apology: Our Times and the Call of Philosophy.”
Dante’s Purgatorio: College Student Retreat Led by Jason Baxter
Collegiate Retreat: Dante’s Purgatorio
The Valor Institute’s College Program offers collegiate Juniors and Seniors the opportunity to spend a week in Austin, TX immersed in study, friendship, and the natural world.
About the Leader
Dr. Jason Baxter is the Director of the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College. He holds a Doctorate in Literature from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to joining Benedictine, he spent time as a visiting associate professor at Notre Dame preceded by twelve years at Wyoming Catholic College. His written works include The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis and A Beginner’s Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy, among others, and he is currently working on an original translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Baxter has written many academic and popular articles, and he frequently makes media appearances ranging from podcasts to EWTN. He is currently translating Dante’s Divine Comedy for Angelico Press.
About the Text
This retreat will explore Purgatorio, the second part of Dante’s Divine Comedy. In his Divine Comedy, writes Dr. Jason Baxter, Dante “intentionally gathered creatures, places, landscapes, and practices from across the world and types of encyclopedic texts and then filled his book with their imagines; and, second, the poet consistently and insistently constructs moments in which we—along with the pilgrim—must take it all in at a glance, as if we are viewing the whole imago mundi from above.”
Valor Fall Symposium with Dr. Daniel Coupland
The Valor Symposium is a celebration of Valor Education’s work in the world. We know life is best enjoyed in the company of friends who together share in contemplation of the highest things. True celebrations and festivals are not to be understood simply as days without work but instead as days set aside for participating in the ars liberalis – “in the realm of activity that is meaningful in itself."
Dr. Daniel Coupland will deliver a keynote address, and seminar readings include selections from Vigen Guroian’s Tending the Heart of Virtue and “Beauty and the Beast,” from Andrew Lang’s The Blue Fairy Book.
About our Speaker
Dr. Daniel B. Coupland is dean of the Diana Davis Spencer Graduate School of Classical Education and a professor of education at Hillsdale College, and he formerly served as the dean of faculty at Hillsdale. He earned a B.A. in Spanish from Liberty University, an M.A. in Linguistics from Oakland University, and a Ph.D. in Education from Michigan State University. He began his career in education as a high school teacher. At Hillsdale College, he teaches courses on English grammar and classic children’s literature. In 2013, Dr. Coupland was named Hillsdale College’s “Professor of the Year.” In 2016, he was a Resident Scholar at the C. S. Lewis Study Centre in Oxford, England. In 2017, Dr. Coupland received the Emily Daugherty Award for Teaching Excellence. He is the former editor for the Journal of the Society for Classical Learning. He currently serves as an advisor to the Barney Charter School Initiative, and he sits on the advisory board for the Institute for Classical Education. His research focuses on classic children’s literature and English grammar instruction. He is a co-author of an English grammar curriculum titled Well-Ordered Language: The Curious Child’s Guide to Grammarpublished by Classical Academic Press.
Valor Winter Symposium with Peter Crawford
The Valor Symposium is a celebration of Valor Education’s work in the world. We know life is best enjoyed in the company of friends who together share in contemplation of the highest things. True celebrations and festivals are not to be understood simply as days without work but instead as days set aside for participating in the ars liberalis – “in the realm of activity that is meaningful in itself."
This Symposium’s texts include Viktor Frankl’s classic Man’s Search for Meaning and Robert Spaemann’s essay “Education as an Introduction to Reality.”
About our Speaker
Peter Crawford is the Dean of Academics for the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. Prior to joining ICLE, Peter was the founding headmaster of the St. Jerome Institute, a private liberal arts high school located in Washington, DC. A graduate of Ave Maria University, he received his Master’s and MPhil degrees in philosophy from the University of Leuven. He taught ancient, medieval, and modern European history and humane letters at Glendale Preparatory Academy, a classical charter school in Phoenix, Arizona, from 2009-2013. In 2013, he founded two Great Hearts Academies in San Antonio, Texas.
Valor Fall Symposium with Dr. James Matthew Wilson
The Valor Symposium is a celebration of Valor Education’s work in the world. We know life is best enjoyed in the company of friends who together share in contemplation of the highest things. True celebrations and festivals are not to be understood simply as days without work but instead as days set aside for participating in the ars liberalis – “in the realm of activity that is meaningful in itself."
Dr. James Matthew Wilson will deliver a keynote address titled “Tradition, Gratitude, and Poetry.” Seminar readings include T.S. Eliot’s “Tradition and the Individual Talent” and Josef Pieper’s Tradition.
Ferdinand Ulrich on Childhood: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Andrew Shivone
Ferdinand Ulrich on Childhood
An Academic Retreat at the Kingfisher Center in La Jolla, CA led by Andrew Shivone.
Ferdinand Ulrich (1931-2020) was a German philosopher whose thought is only beginning to be appreciated in the English-speaking world. Yet during the second half of the twentieth century his contemporaries considered Ulrich a profoundly significant thinker for the modern era. His writings on the nature of the human being, God, and reality place him in conversation with the great Western philosophers and theologians. Mr. Andrew Shivone is completing his doctoral research on the thought of Ulrich, particularly on the theme of childhood, an under-appreciated topic in the history of philosophy. We are grateful for the opportunity to explore the texts of Ulrich under the guidance of Mr. Shivone.
The Wisdom of Josef Pieper: College Student Retreat Led by Dr. John Finley
Collegiate Retreat: “The Wisdom of Josef Pieper”
One of the most readable and profound philosophers, Joseph Pieper brings ancient wisdom into conversation with the contemporary world. He explores topics such as technology, art, human virtue, and play, constantly suggesting new insights into thinkers like Plato, Aquinas, and Nietzsche. At the heart of Pieper’s concerns are the meaning of human existence and the nature of our relationship to reality, even to the Divine. Speaking from the vantage point of the twentieth century, Pieper has much to offer a society increasingly dominated by distraction and technological alienation from the world. Led by Dr. John Finley, the Valor Institute’s College Program offers collegiate Juniors and Seniors the opportunity to spend a week in La Jolla, CA immersed in study, friendship, and the natural world.
Eric Voegelin’s The New Science of Politics: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Michael Hickman
Eric Voegelin's The New Science of Politics
An Academic Retreat at the Kingfisher Center in La Jolla, CA led by Michael Hickman, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of Mary.
Considered one of the most important political thinkers of the 20th century, Eric Voegelin escaped from Nazi-occupied Vienna and spent most of his later career in the United States. In his most famous work, The New Science of Politics, Voegelin presents a compelling view of human beings, reality, and society. He argues that the modern age involves a resurfacing of ancient Gnosticism, resulting in an alienation of individuals from the political order. Dr. Michael Hickman from the University of Mary has lectured and written on Voegelin’s thought. Hickman's forthcoming book Husserlian Phenomenology and Contemporary Political Realism in some ways continues Voeglin’s project. We are excited to learn from Dr. Hickman in our journey through The New Science of Politics!
