Dear Friends of the Witherspoon Institute,

The Witherspoon Institute is a research organization dedicated to enhancing public knowledge of the principles necessary for democratic societies, particularly in the American context. Last year I wrote in about three summer seminars that we were offering to university students at various levels. This year, we will be holding those three in addition to three more. Click on the links for more details:

Summary:
I. The Moral Life and the Classical Tradition (for rising high-school seniors). (NEW)
II. God Politics and the Jewish Tradition (for graduate and undergraduate students). (NEW)
III. The Moral Foundations of Law (for those entering their second or third year of law school). (NEW)
IV. Marriage, the Family, and the Social Sciences (for graduate students in all of the social sciences).
V. First Principles: Moral and Political Philosophy in the Natural Law Tradition (for graduate, pre-professional, and undergraduate students).
VI. The Thomistic Seminar (for graduate students in philosophy).

Among our new offerings are the following:

I. For rising high school seniors(those who will be high school seniors in the fall of 2008) there is the seminar The Moral Life and the Classical Tradition, a week-long program for those interested in the origins of Western moral thought and its influence on Christian ethics. The seminars for young men and women are separate. The seminar is led by Professor Michael Sugrue (Ave Maria University) in collaboration with Professors Seana Sugrue (Ave Maria University) and Paul Macdonald (Bucknell University), and will be held on the campus of Princeton University, June 15 – 21, 2008.

II. Graduate and undergraduate students interested in exploring the relevance of Judaism’s political and theological dimensions to public life are invited to apply for the two-week seminar entitled God, Politics, and the Jewish Tradition. The seminar will be led by led by Professors Leora Batnitzky (Princeton University) and David Novak (University of Toronto). Additional faculty presenters at the seminar will include Professors Lenn Goodman (Vanderbilt University), Leon Kass (University of Chicago), Alan Mittleman (Jewish Theological Seminary), David Myers (UCLA), Suzanne Stone (Yeshiva University), and Michael Walzer (Institute for Advanced Study). The seminar will take place on the campus of Princeton University, July 27 – August 7, 2008.

III. Law school students entering their second or third year are invited to apply for the Moral Foundations of Law Seminar, an intensive, week-long program for law school students interested in the interaction among moral thought, legal theory, and moral legislation. The seminar is directed byProfessor Gerard Bradley (Notre Dame Law) in collaboration with Professors Robert George (Princeton University) and John Finnis (Oxford University), and the Honorable Edith Clement (5th Circuit Court of Appeals), among others. The seminar will take place at the Princeton Theological Seminary, August 10 – 16, 2008.

The three seminars that we have held in past years will again be held this summer:

IV. Graduate students in all of the social sciences are invited to apply for the second annual Marriage, the Family, and the Social Sciences Seminar, which will focus this year on gender and the family. The seminar is a three-day program for graduate students in the social sciences (sociology, economics, psychology, political science, and related disciplines) under the direction of Professor W. Bradford Wilcox (University of Virginia). Professors Paula England (Stanford), Sara McLanahan (Princeton), Rob Palkovitz (Delaware), Steven Rhoads (Virginia), and Robin Wilson (Washington and Lee) will also help to lead the seminar. A number of guest lecterurs will also address participants, including Kay Hymowitz (Manhattan Institute). It will take place on the campus of Princeton University, June 11 – 14, 2008.

V. Graduate, pre-professional, and advanced undergraduate students are invited to apply for our flagship seminar, First Principles: Moral and Political Philosophy in the Natural Law Tradition. This year’s seminar will separately explore two topics: Aquinas’s Treatise on Law and the New Natural Law Theory of Germain Grisez and John Finnis. The seminar is directed by Dr. Thomas D’Andrea (University of Cambridge) and Professor Christopher Tollefsen (University of South Carolina), with guest lecturers Professors Hadley Arkes (Amherst College), Robert George (Princeton University) and Daniel Robinson (Oxford University). It will be held on the campus of Princeton University, July 28 – August 8, 2008.

VI. Graduate students in philosophy are invited to apply for the third annual Thomistic Seminar that deals with Thomistic and Analytic philosophy. This year’s seminar’s topic will be “Elizabeth Anscombe: Ethics, Value, and Practice,” and Professor John Haldane (University of St Andrews, Scotland) will lead the seminar. Other presenters include Professors Gavin Lawrence (UCLA), Michael Pakaluk (Clark University), Thomas Pink (Kings College, London) and David Soloman (Notre Dame). The seminar will take place at the Princeton Theological Seminary, August 17 – 23, 2008.

Take a look to see if any of these seminars interest you, and please do pass along the information to any colleagues, classmates, or friends whom you think might also be interested.

All the best,

John F. Doherty

The Witherspoon Institute