Philosophy Alumni Newsletter, Spring 2012

University Philosophy Department of Dallas Alumni Newsletter Issue 2 Spring, 2012 From the Chair Inside this issue: The 2012 Aquinas 2 Dear Alumni and Alumnae, Lecture Another academic year has come to a close, with its joys—and occasional head- Notable Publications 2 aches as well! The Department can look back on 2011–2012 with a degree of satisfaction. Most importantly, our graduating class was very strong—both quantita- The Graduating Class 3 tively (with 22 seniors) and qualitatively. Indeed, our seniors’ theses were so out- of 2012 standing that, in March, we organized our First Senior Conference, devoted to “Philosophical Aspects of the Digital Age.” The digital revolution is fundamentally Some News from our 4 transforming the way in which human beings read, think, and live together. Philoso- Alumni phy must have (and does have!) something to say to clarify the meaning of these developments. More News from our 5 Alumni Thank you to those of you who have contacted the Department after receiving our first newsletter. Several alumni have shared detailed information about their Philosophy and the 6 plans and careers. Much of the present newsletter is therefore devoted to our Religious Life: alumni, both those from the more distant past and those who have graduated Reflections by a Young Cistercian more recently. Indeed, we are featuring two alumni whose graduation dates and vocations could hardly be more different: one, a graduate of the year 1963 who Professor Emeritus 7 went on to become a soldier, artist, and professor; the other, a graduate of the What we are Reading 8 year 2006 who has joined the abbey Our Lady of Dallas to become a Cistercian monk. Yes, these two alumni are different—but philosophy and the UD experience have shaped them both. Keep the mail coming! With all good wishes, Philipp W. Rosemann Upcoming Events: Chair • Fall 2012 Semester Philosophy Colloquium Fridays, 3:30 pm–4:30 pm UD Braniff Building, B201 Philosophy Department Faculty and Staff Open to the Public • January 28, 2013 (tentative) William A. Frank, Professor Dennis L. Sepper, Professor 2013 Aquinas Lecture Fr. James Lehrberger, O. Cist., Assoc. Professor Lance Simmons, Assoc. Professor John F. Boyle, PhD Christopher V. Mirus, Asst. Professor John Tutuska, Affiliate Asst. Professor Open to the Public Griffin T. Nelson, Affiliate Asst. Professor Matthew D. Walz, Asst. Professor • January 28, 2014 Joshua S. Parens, Professor Robert E. Wood, Professor 2014 Aquinas Lecture Rev. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J. Philipp W. Rosemann, Professor Marie Azcona, Administrative Asst. Open to the Public Philosophy Department Alumni Newsletter Page 2 The 2012 Aquinas Lecture On Thursday, February 2, 2012, Professor Eleonore Stump, the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University, delivered our 30 th annual Aquinas Lecture. Professor William Frank was the respondent. Professor Stump is one of the best-known “analytic” Thomists. Together with her teacher, the late Norman Kretzmann from Cornell, she helped introduce the serious study of medieval philosophy into the circles of those contemporary philosophers who believe that philosophy requires the logical approach championed by thinkers such as Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein. In her more recent work, exemplified by her book Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering (Oxford University Press, 2010), Professor Stump has inte- grated a more narrative and biblical approach into her work (she also holds an MA in Biblical Studies from Harvard). In her Aquinas Lecture, Professor Stump offered a Thomistic critique of St. Anselm’s theory of atonement—a theory according to which original sin of- fended God’s honor, thus requiring a satisfaction that no mere human being could provide. According to Professor Stump, however, the Thomistic account of God’s love rules out the Anselmian interpretation of the atonement, which is too legalistic. God’s work of salvation through Christ brings about a change in our own hearts—and only that conversion of heart and will, which unites us Professor Eleonore Stump delivering in charity to Christ, constitutes meaningful satisfaction. the 30th annual Aquinas Lecture Notable Publications Dr. Joshua Parens just published Maimonides and Spinoza: Their Conflicting Views on Human Nature (University of Chicago Press, 2012), a book that challenges an interpretation of the two Jewish thinkers according to which Maimonides anticipated in significant ways Spinoza’s move toward modern secularism. Instead, Maimonides and Spinoza argues in favor of an older account, namely, the view that “Maimonides was a great defender of Judaism and Spinoza was one of its great opponents” (p. 1). The book seeks to support this view not by studying how Maimonides and Spinoza understood the relationship between religion and politics but the two thinkers’ different anthropologies. Dr. Jeffrey P. Bishop’s book, The Anticipatory Corpse (University of Notre Dame Press, 2011), which is a revised version of his UD doctoral dissertation, was named the most important book published in 2011 by the editor of the Religion and Ethics page at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The influential Journal of the American Medical Association also reviewed it very favorably, as did the Times Higher Education Supplement . Warmest congratulations, Jeff! Dr. Philipp W. Rosemann recently readied for publication the last scholarly work of his teacher, the late Reverend Professor James McEvoy, who died in October, 2010. McEvoy was an expert in the life and thought of the eccentric thirteenth-century thinker and bishop Robert Grosseteste, who translated Diony- sius the Areopagite’s mystical treatises from the Greek and added commentaries to them. Grosseteste having been a lifelong friend of the Franciscans, these commentaries played a large role in Franciscan com- munities across Europe. In this book, entitled Robert Grosseteste at Munich (Louvain: Peeters, 2012), McEvoy edits, translates, and studies a fifteenth-century abridgment of Robert Grosseteste’s commentaries by a Franciscan friar from Munich. The book allows us an insight on how tradition works in practice: how ideas are transmitted, adopted, and adapted through the centuries. Robert Grosseteste at Munich is volume 14 of the Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations series, which Dr. Rosemann edits. DMTT is a major scholarly project which has the goal to make a comprehensive range of medieval Latin texts available to modern readers, in facing-page English translations with scholarly intro- ductions. More info at www.udallas.edu/dmtt. Philosophy Department Alumni Newsletter Page 3 The Graduating Class of 2012 In May, 2012, twenty students graduated from UD with BA degrees in Philosophy, the largest class in the department’s recent memory—which means since the days before the seminarians began to be awarded separate degrees in Philosophy and Letters. Two additional seniors will also be receiving their BA degrees in Philosophy this summer and fall 2012. The seniors devoted their theses to “philosophical aspects of the digital age,” which was the topic of the senior seminar this year. The theses, which endeavored to clarify the anthropological and cultural implications of the dominance of digital media in contemporary life, were presented to the university community in a day-long conference in March. Bernadette Ament Michael Hayes David Perkins Cooper Walker Peter Antich Katarina Lee Luke Safranek Julianne Watkins Michael Benoit Steven Lester Juan Solares Robert Weisenburger Michael Byers Joseph Minardi Joseph Swope Natalie Weisse Daniel Fiedorek Pierina Otiniano Chelsea Tanner Nicholas Furnace Anton Platt Michael Tinawi Congratulations to our Philosophy students! Peter Antich was the recipient of the 2012 Father Thomas Cain Aquinas Medal, which the Department awards to the most outstanding senior. Some of the graduates have shared their career plans with us: Peter Antich is going to pursue doctoral studies in philosophy at the University of Kentucky. Michael Benoit is hoping to se- cure a job or internship at a Washington, DC, think tank. Michael Byers is continuing his education in preparation for medical school, which he hopes to enter in either 2013 or 2014. Daniel Fiedorek has been admitted to medical school at the Univer- sity of Arkansas. Nicholas Furnace is thinking of pursuing a position in marketing or working for an oil company. Michael Hayes is going to move to the University of Kansas to pursue doctoral studies in philosophy there. Katarina Lee has been admitted to an MA in Biomedical Ethics at New York University. Steven Lester , who graduated with a double major in philosophy and classics, will be teaching Latin (and maybe Greek) at Subiaco Academy in Arkansas. Joe Minardi has entered Marmion Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Aurora, Illinois, and will be going on for the priesthood. He will probably teach at the high school that the Abbey runs. David Perkins is planning to embark upon studies at Texas A&M toward a degree in either Envi- ronmental or Civil Engineering. Luke Safranek is going to be taking business classes at the University of Michigan while prepar- ing for the LSAT and/or GMAT. Juan Solares will work for two years at Cobiscorp, a banking technology firm, and then go to grad school and start his own business (probably in the technology sector). Joseph Swope has obtained a teaching position at the Great Hearts Academy in Arizona, where he will be teaching English and music. Chelsea Tanner is excited that her boy- friend is getting a tattoo with her name—she will also take a year off to deepen her reading of works she encountered at UD, then plans to apply to law school. Cooper Walker is staying in the area for a while, having been admitted to the law school at Texas Wesleyan University. Julianne Watkins is pleased to be getting married and moving to Philadelphia; she is also contem- plating studying social work at Penn State. Robert Weisenburger is moving to California, to attend the University of San Diego Warren School of Law.

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