Murphy Institute Inaugural Conference: "The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Good Society"

On Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9, the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis will host its inaugural conference, “The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Good Society.” The Murphy Institute, named for St. Thomas's longtime president and chancellor, is a collaboration of the Center for Catholic Studies and the School of Law. The inaugural conference will be held at the School of Law Building at 11th and Harmon Place in Minneapolis, beginning at 9 a.m. Friday the 8th and concluding with a mass at 4:30 p.m. Saturday the 9th.

The keynote addresses will be by James Gordley of the Boalt Hall Law School at the University of California-Berkeley, one of the world’s leading jurisprudence scholars (Friday morning); and John Finnis of the Universities of Oxford and Notre Dame, one of the world’s leading moral philosophers and the leading natural-law theorist (Saturday morning). There will also be plenary panels on two subjects of current interest and importance: “Sacrifice and the Common Good” (Friday afternoon) and “Disagreement and Dissent in a Good Society” (Saturday morning). In addition, there will be sixteen other speakers presenting papers in a number of concurrent sessions meeting Friday morning and Saturday afternoon. The various speakers will include scholars in law, theology, philosophy, political science, history, business, sociology, and other disciplines. Among those confirmed as penalists are Rev. John Coughlin, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School; Louis Gasper, Associate Professor of Management, and Director of the Center for Business Ethics, University of Dallas Graduate School of Management; Paul Griffiths, Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Catholic Studies, University of Illinois-Chicago; Mark Sargent, Dean and Professor of Law, Villanova University Law School; Elizabeth Schiltz, Associate Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law; and Christopher Wolfe, Professor of Political Science, Marquette University.

The weekend events will also include a program of music from the University's Liturgical Choir (at lunchtime Friday) and a mass at noon Friday with music sung by the St. Thomas School of Law Choir.

Further information on the conference, including a detailed schedule of events, is available at http://www.stthomas.edu/law/centers/murphyinstitute/conferences.asp. There is no charge for the conference, but we ask that if you plan to attend any conference events, you take a few moments to register – especially if you wish to join us for lunch on either Friday or Saturday, or for a reception to be held for speakers and attendees at 4 p.m. Friday in the Law Building atrium. You may register at the conference web page, listed above.

Best wishes,

Professor Robert Kennedy, Center for Catholic Studies
Professor Thomas Berg, School of Law
Co-Directors, Terrence J. Murphy Institute