Valor Institute Events
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.
This retreat is invitation only. Please contact us if you’d like to join our list of potential invitees.
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.
Paradise Lost: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Benedict Whalen
Paradise Lost: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Benedict Whalen
This retreat will turn to Paradise Lost, John Milton’s retelling of the angelic rebellion and the Fall of Man in Genesis. In the famous opening section of the epic poem, Milton states that he aims to “justify the ways of God to men.” What accounts for our frailty and fallenness? Do people suffer needlessly at the hands of an uncaring God, or are there more interior causes for human waywardness? Vast in scope yet precise in analysis, Paradise Lost searches for the origins of human misfortune as well as the great reasons for hope.
Led by Dr. Benedict Whalen, participants will consider Milton’s through seminars and lectures. Through careful attentiveness to the poetry, we will not only grow in our appreciation of Milton’s style and depth, but also deepen our understanding of the person as depicted in his verses.
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. Benedict Whalen is Associate Professor of English at Hillsdale College. He received his B.A. in English from the University of Dallas and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His scholarship focuses on Renaissance and early modern literature. He has served as Book Reviews Editor for Ben Jonson Journal and is the co-editor of Lyra Martyrum: An Anthology of the Poetry of the English Martyrs 1503–1681.
At Hillsdale Colelge, Dr. Whalen has taught courses ranging from the works of Shakespeare and other Renaissance British authors to twentieth-century American literature, including the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. He was named Professor of the Year by the Graduating Class of 2020, received the Emily Daugherty Award for Teaching Excellence in 2024, and is the newly appointed Chair of the Hillsdale Department.
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.
A Philosophy of Belonging: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. James Greenaway
A Philosophy of Belonging: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. James Greenaway
This academic retreat will concentrate on A Philosophy of Belonging by the philosopher James Greenaway. The desire for belonging is a fundamental human experience. How does this desire, along with its fulfillment or disappointment, shape our perception of ourselves, one another, and the world? Ranging from the cosmic order to political community and interior reflection, Greenaway explores how belonging can inform reality and the person’s place within it.
Led by the author himself, this retreat explore the text in seminar and lecture. Through shared reading, discussion, and reflection, participants will deepen their understanding of belonging and its illumination of the human condition.
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. James Greenaway holds the San José-Lonergan Chair in Catholic Philosophy at Saint Mary’s University. He received his Ph.D. from the University College Dublin, where he wrote on medieval political philosophy. In addition to A Philosophy of Belonging, he has also published The Differentiation of Authority: The Medieval Turn toward Existence (Catholic University of America Press, 2012) and has co-authored and edited Human Dignity, Education, and Political Society: A Philosophical Defense of the Liberal Arts (Lexington Press, 2020).
As the San José-Lonergan Chair, Dr. Greenaway facilitates interdisciplinary seminars for faculty, administration and professional staff across campus, using Bernard Lonergan’s work on interiority as a foundation. In addition to his academic responsibilities at Saint Mary’s, he has also taught in prisons through courses that aim at restoring and cultivating a reverence for human dignity among inmates.
Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Richard Dougherty
Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Richard Dougherty
This academic retreat, led by Dr. Richard Dougherty, 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. Richard Dougherty is Dean of the Braniff Graduate School and Professor of Politics at the University of Dallas. After completing his B.A. in Political Science at Belmont Abbey College, he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from the University of Dallas. A scholar of political philosophy, classical political thought, and Catholic political theory, he is the author of numerous essays and peer-reviewed studies on Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, natural law, federalism, and the American constitutional order. Some recent major studies include “St. Augustine and the Problem of Political Ethics,” “Natural Law in Augustine,” “St. Thomas Aquinas on the Nature of Man in the Treatise on Law,” and “St. Thomas Aquinas on the Importance of the Best Regime.”
In addition to his service as dean, Dr. Dougherty has served in numerous leadership roles at the University of Dallas, including Chairman of the Politics Department from 2011 to 2019 and Director of the Center for Christianity and the Common Good since 1993. He has lectured nationally and internationally on topics ranging from Augustinian political ethics and Thomistic anthropology to executive power and immigration.
The Gospel of John: Academic Retreat Led by Fr. Stephen Gregg
The Gospel of John: Academic Retreat Led by Fr. Stephen Gregg
This retreat will consider the Gospel of John. What is divine glory? Is it something hopelessly removed from humanity, or does it call out to heart of every person? Both a Christian sacred text and tremendously important document in the history of western civilization, the Gospel of John speaks across the centuries and responds to those deepest human desires for consolation and new creation.
Led by Cistercian monk and scholar of literature Fr. Stephen Gregg, participants will enter into the Gospel of John through lectures and seminars. Drawing on additional scriptural reflections from Saint Augustine, this retreat will foster a closer attentiveness to the texts as well as a the gift our humanity.
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. Stephen Gregg is a monk of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas and an Affiliate Assistant Professor of English at the University of Dallas. He earned his BA at The University of the South and entered the Cistercian Order in 2006, making his solemn profession in 2011 and being ordained to the priesthood in 2012. After earning an S.T.B. from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm and S.T.L. from the Augustinian Patristic Institute in Rome, he earned his Ph.D. through the Institute of Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas.
In addition to his service at the University of Dallas, Fr. Gregg has taught in the Cistercian Preparatory School. At both institutions, he has instructed students of varying levels in a wide range of subjects, including English Literature, Grammar, Music, Latin, Philosophy, Theology, Church History, and Fine Arts.
Silence: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Scott Roniger
Silence: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Scott Roniger
This academic retreat will consider the novel Silence by the Japanese writer Shusaku Endo. What is the experience of an outsider in a hostile new world? How does a person respond to suffering? Following Jesuit missionaries in feudal Japan, Endo’s masterpiece investigates conflict between different communities, the nature of belief, and the human response to divine silence.
Under the guidance of Dr. Scott Roniger, this retreat explore Endo’s novel through both seminars and lectures. Entering into the world of seventeenth-century Japan through reading, discussion, and reflection, participants will grapple with fundamental questions about the person and society.
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. Scott J. Roniger is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, where he directs the Los Angeles Lonergan Center for Catholic Faith and Culture. He earned an S.T.B. and M.A. in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, and a Licentiate in Philosophy (Ph.L.) from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America under the direction of Robert Sokolowski.
He has published numerous scholarly articles on metaphysics, phenomenology, Catholic social teaching, natural law, ethics and political philosophy, and philosophy of literature. He is the editor of F. Russell Hittinger's book, On the Dignity of Society: Catholic Social Teaching and Natural Law (CUA Press, 2024). His research recapitulates themes in Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Husserlian phenomenology. He regularly teaches classes on these topics and figures, as well as classes at the intersection of literature, philosophy, and theology.
Ulrich on Childhood: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. D. C. Schindler
Ulrich on Childhood: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. D. C. Schindler
This academic retreat will concentrate on Man in the Beginning: Towards a Philosophical Anthropology of Childhood, one of the Three Short Works by German philosopher Ferdinand Ulrich. What can the experience of a child teach us about all of human existence? In these only recently translated reflections, Ulrich offers childhood as a key to understanding the drama of being, a mystery characterized by gift and love.
Led by renowned scholar and previous Valor Symposium speaker D. C. Schindler, participants will encounter Ulrich’s philosophy through seminars and lectures. In addition to Man in the Beginning, we will also read Atheism and Incarnation, another selection within The Three Short Works. Together, these writings will introduce participants to Ulrich’s account of reality, a vision guided by gift.
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. D. C. Schindler is Professor of Metaphysics and Anthropology at the John Paul II Institute in Washington, D.C. where he teaches courses that explore themes such as “Being as Gift,” “Faith and Reason,” and “Person and Community,” among many others. He previously served as Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Humanities at Villanova University. He received his BA from the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame and his PhD in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America.
Dr. Schindler has published widely in academic journals and has written numerous books of original philosoph, including Retrieving Freedom, The Politics of the Real, Love and the Postmodern Predicament, and Plato’s Critique of Impure Reason: On Truth and Goodness in the Republic. He has translated more than a dozen books, including seminal works by Robert Spaemann and Ferdinand Ulrich. He is an editor of Communio, a theological journal founded by Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, and Joseph Ratzinger, and he has also served as the President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.
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.
Phenomenology of the Human Person: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Chad Engelland
Phenomenology of the Human Person: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Chad Engelland
In this Valor Institute Academic Retreat, we will undertake a careful reading of Phenomenology of the Human Person by renowned philosopher Monsignor Robert Sokolowski. What is most distinctive about the Human Person? Drawing on ancient philosopher Aristotle and modern phenomenologist Edmund Husserl, as well as contemporary developments in linguistic theory and neuroscience, Sokolowski invites us to consider the person as desirer and agent of truth.
Through seminars and lectures, participants will encounter this rich text through under the leadership of Dr. Chad Engelland. Fostering intellectual communion between new friends, this retreat will deepen our understanding of Monsignor Sokolowski’s thought through the lived experience of personal community.
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. Chad Engelland is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dallas, where he has served as Graduate Studies Director, Department Chair. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Xavier University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America. Before joining the University of Dallas in 2014, he taught philosophy at John Carroll University and Borromeo College Seminary in Cleveland. He is the author of multiple scholarly works, including Ostension: Word Learning and the Embodied Mind (2014), Heidegger's Shadow Kant, Husserl, and the Transcendental Turn (2017), and Heidegger on Transcendence (2025). In his scholarship, he seeks to clarify central and enduring questions concerning being, language, and God, engaging both classic texts and contemporary methods of phenomenology and linguistic analysis.
For his excellence in the classroom, Dr. Engelland has received the Haggerty Teaching Excellence Award (2018) and was named Michael A. Haggar Fellow (2019). He has published popular articles on philosophy and other topics in Word on Fire, Dallas Morning News, National Catholic Register, America Magazine, and Philosophy Now. His popular works on philosophy include The Way of Philosophy (Cascade) and Phenomenology (MIT), which has been translated into Chinese and Arabic.
The Violent Bear It Away and Wise Blood: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Farrell O’Gorman
The Violent Bear It Away and Wise Blood: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Farrell O’Gorman
This retreat will explore the novels The Violent Bear It Away and Wise Blood by the Southern writer Flannery O’Connor. How do we hide from the ultimate realities of life, and what are the consequences? Through O’Connor’s characteristic juxtaposition of violence and grace, these novels illuminate the hidden workings of providence in the lives of those most resistant to its movement.
Guided by Dr. Farrell O’Gorman, a trustee of the Flannery O’Connor Estate, participants will explore both novels through a series of seminars and lectures. Walking alongside O’Connor’s poignant characters and their series of revelations, we will wonder at the author’s rich prose and meditate upon her keen understanding of the human person.
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. Farrell O’Gorman is Professor of English at Belmont Abbey College and has taught previously at both Mississippi State University and DePaul University. He earned his B.A at the University of Notre Dame and his M.A. and 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). At Belmont Abbey College, his teaching focuses on O’Connor, Catholicism, and gender in American Gothic literature.
Dr. O’Gorman has spoken on Flannery O’Connor at a variety of regional and national events as well as international conferences in France and Italy. In 2014, he served on the organizing committee for “Flannery Abroad: A Conference in Celebration of Flannery O'Connor's Centenary” in Ireland. He is also co-trustee of the Flannery O'Connor Charitable Trust, which oversees the author’s literary estate.
Beowulf: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Nicholas Babich
Beowulf: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Nicholas Babich
This retreat will consider the Old English epic poem Beowulf. Surviving only in one manuscript, this tale of a warrior and his trials depicts the perennial human quest for community in an uncertain world. While chronicling the rise and fall of a monster-slaying king, Beowulf ushers modern readers into a world not dissimilar to our own, where unchecked ambition can undo even the mightiest man.
Led by scholar of Anglo-Saxon literature Dr. Nicholas Babich, participants will encounter the text through seminars and lectures. The retreat will nurture an appreciation for the beauty and depth of Beowulf’s verse as well as its insight into human nature, especially its vivid articulation of our most deeply felt hopes, fears, and longings.
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. Nicholas Babich is an Assistant Professor of Communications and Literature at Ave Maria University. After receiving his BA in English from Penn State University, earned MAs in English and Classics from the University of Notre Dame as well as a PhD in English from the same institution. His ongoing book project, Failure in Early Medieval England: Poetics and Prayer, examines the poetic and spiritual responses to failure in Old and early Middle English texts. He has written articles for Religion & Literature, Anglia, Neophilologus, and Church Life Journal, and his poetry has appeared in both The Harper Review and The Lamp.
In his current academic post, Dr. Babich teaches courses on Old and Middle English, Classical and Medieval Rhetoric, and the History of the English Language. Aside from his writings on allegory theory and medieval marginalia, he pursues ongoing projects on medieval riddles, courtly love, and early fantasy literature, including the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert Hugh Benson.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.”
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.
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!
Art as an Intellectual Virtue: Dr. Randall Colton
Readings for the retreat:
Art and Scholasticism by Jacques Maritain
Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford
The Crisis of Western Education: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Andrew Seeley
Topic: The Crisis of Western Education
Texts: The Crisis of Western Education, Christopher Dawson
Leader: Dr. Andrew Seeley is Director of Advanced Formation for Educators and Concurrent Professor of Philosophy at the Augustine Institute. He received a Licentiate from the Pontifical Institute in Medieval Studies in Toronto and a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto. In three decades as a Tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, Dr. Seeley taught every subject in its integrated Great Books curriculum. He is co-author of Declaration Statesmanship: A Course in American Government. Desiring to share his love of learning, Dr. Seeley co-founded the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education in 2005, where he served as Executive Director for 12 years, and continues as a Faculty Consultant. He became Executive Director of the Arts of Liberty Project in 2021, and recently co-founded the Boethius Institute for the Advancement of Liberal Education with Dr. Jeffrey Lehman. For his work in the renewal of liberal education, he was named as the 2023 recipient of the Circe Institute’s Paideia Prize. He is an avid devotee of the works of JRR Tolkien, and an amateur director of the plays of William Shakespeare.
Yves Simon’s A General Theory of Authority: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Daniel Connelly
Topic: Philosophy of Authority
Texts: A General Theory of Authority
Leader: Dr. Daniel Connelly serves as Assistant Professor and Course Director of the Department of Leadership at the US Air Force's Air Command and Staff College and serves on the Board of Valor Education. Prior to his current post, he served there as Assistant Professor of International Security and the college's Director of Faculty Development. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Auburn University, an M.S. from the Joint Military Intelligence College, an M.A. from American University, and a B.A. from Trinity College in Russian Studies. During his doctoral matriculation, he specialized in Organizational and Social Psychology. He offers elective courses in Russian strategic culture and the contemporary applications of the Just War Tradition. Dr. Connelly was assigned to the Air Force's Squadron Officer College in 2004, returned there as Dean of Academic Affairs and Faculty Development in 2010, and was assigned to the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) in 2015 for his last military assignment before retirement from the US Air Force.
Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Dutton Kearney
Topic: Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park
Leader: Dr. Dutton Kearney, Associate Professor of English, Hillsdale College and Dr. John Finley, Academic Director of the Valor Institute
The Human Person and Modernity: Dr. Jon Kirwan
Topic: “The Human Person and Modernity”
Texts: End of the Modern World, Romano Guardini, “Violence and Modern Gnosticism,” Augusto Del Noce, “The End of Modernity,” Robert Spaemann
Leader: Dr. Jon Kirwan, Director of Graduate Programs at University of St Thomas (TX) and Dr. John Finley, Academic Director of the Valor Institute
Dante’s Paradiso: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Jason Baxter
Topic: Dante’s Paradiso
Leader: Dr. Jason Baxter, Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Humanities at Wyoming Catholic College
Dr. Baxter has been with WCC for eleven years. His primary research interests include medieval and Renaissance ideas of beauty, the long-lived legacy of the thought of Plato, and the poetry of Dante. He is also interested in medieval mysticism, humanism, the relationship between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and increasingly, the relationship between science and the arts. You can read more about that on his personal website, JasonMBaxter.com)
His scholarly publications include articles on the Platonic tradition in the Latin West, and writings on Dante. Dr. Baxter worked with Wyoming Catholic College’s Distance Learning Program to produce a free, eighteen-part introduction to the Comedy: “Dante in the Year of Mercy.” His A Beginner’s Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy, which focuses on the spiritual meaning of Dante’s poetics, is available from Baker Academic. He has also published Falling Inward: Humanities in the Age of Technology, An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life. He has made multiple media appearances and frequently writes and speaks on his own experiences in travel, the relevance of the liberal arts, the relationship between humanistic studies and technology, and topics on Dante for both popular and scholarly audiences.
His monograph, The Infinite Beauty of the World: Dante’s Encyclopedia and the Names of God (Oxford, UK: Peter Lang, 2020), explores the spiritual meaning of the Comedy’s famous “encyclopedism.” He recently published The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis (IVP, 2022). He is currently working on a new translation of the Comedy and a trade book tentatively entitled, What Were Humans?
Can We Master Nature?: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Adrian Walker
Topic: “Can We Master Nature?” An Academic Retreat on Nature and Technology
Leader: Dr. Adrian Walker, Professor of Philosophy at St. Patrick’s Seminar
Dr. Walker has taught theology and philosophy at The Catholic University of America’s School of Theology and Religious Studies, The Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America, and the Pontificio and Istituto Giovanni Paolo II per Studi su Matrimonio e Famiglia. He is an editor of Communio.
Texts:
“Thinking About Technology,” George Grant
Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
Ernest Hemingway's Farewell to Arms and Other Stories: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Benedict Whalen
Topic: Hemingway's Farewell to Arms and Other Stories
Leader: Dr. Benedict Whalen, Kingfisher Fellow in Residence at the Valor Institute and Associate Professor of English at Hillsdale College.
Dr. Benedict Whalen is the Valor Institute’s Kingfisher Fellow in Residence for the 2021-2022 academic year. Dr. Whalen currently serves as an associate professor of English at Hillsdale College. Much of his teaching is in the literature of the Renaissance, including especially the works of Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights. He also regularly teaches courses on English Renaissance lyric poetry, including the metaphysical poets. For his excellence in teaching, Ben was awarded Professor of the Year at Hillsdale for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Texts:
Farewell to Arms
"In Another Country", "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place", and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"
Greek Comedy and Tragedy: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Kent Lasnoski
Topic: Greek Comedy and Tragedy
Leader: Dr. Kent Lasnoski, Associate Professor of Theology at Wyoming Catholic College.
Texts:
Frogs, Aristophanes
Antigone, Sophocles
Dante’s Purgatorio: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Jason Baxter
Topic: Dante’s Purgatorio
Leader: Dr. Jason Baxter, Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Humanities at Wyoming Catholic College
Dr. Baxter has been with WCC for eleven years. His primary research interests include medieval and Renaissance ideas of beauty, the long-lived legacy of the thought of Plato, the poetry of Dante. He is also interested in medieval mysticism, humanism, the relationship between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and, increasingly, the relationship between science and the arts (you can read more about that on his personal website, JasonMBaxter.com).
His scholarly publications include articles on the Platonic tradition in the Latin West, and writings on Dante. Dr. Baxter worked with Wyoming Catholic College’s Distance Learning Program to produce a free, eighteen-part introduction to the Comedy: “Dante in the Year of Mercy.” His A Beginner’s Guide to Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” which focuses on the spiritual meaning of Dante’s poetics, is available from Baker Academic. He has also published Falling Inward: Humanities in the Age of Technology, An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life. He has made multiple media appearances, and frequently writes and speaks on his own experiences in travel, the relevance of the liberal arts, the relationship between humanistic studies and technology, and topics on Dante, for both popular and scholarly audiences.
His monograph, The Infinite Beauty of the World: Dante’s Encyclopedia and the Names of God (Oxford, UK: Peter Lang, 2020), explores the spiritual meaning of the Comedy’s famous “encyclopedism.” He recently published The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis (IVP, 2022). He is currently working on a new translation of the Comedy and a trade book tentatively entitled, What Were Humans?
Shakespeare's Roman Plays: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Benedict Whalen
Topic: Shakespeare’s Roman Trilogy
Leader: Dr. Benedict Whalen, Kingfisher Fellow in Residence at the Valor Institute and Associate Professor of English at Hillsdale College.
Dr. Benedict Whalen is the Valor Institute’s Kingfisher Fellow in Residence for the 2021-2022 academic year. Dr. Whalen currently serves as an associate professor of English at Hillsdale College. Much of his teaching is in the literature of the Renaissance, including especially the works of Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights. He also regularly teaches courses on English Renaissance lyric poetry, including the metaphysical poets. For his excellence in teaching, Ben was awarded Professor of the Year at Hillsdale for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Texts: Corliolanus, Julius Casear, and Mark Antony
Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. John Finley
Topic: Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue
Leader: Dr. John Finley, Professor of Philosophy, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
Ovid's Metamorphoses: Academic Retreat Led by Dr. Benedict Whalen
Topic: Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Leader: Dr. Benedict Whalen, Kingfisher Fellow in Residence at the Valor Institute and Associate Professor of English at Hillsdale College.
Dr. Benedict Whalen is the Valor Institute’s Kingfisher Fellow in Residence for the 2021-2022 academic year. Dr. Whalen currently serves as an associate professor of English at Hillsdale College. Much of his teaching is in the literature of the Renaissance, including especially the works of Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights. He also regularly teaches courses on English Renaissance lyric poetry, including the metaphysical poets. For his excellence in teaching, Ben was awarded Professor of the Year at Hillsdale for the 2019-2020 academic year.