Berkeley Institute Graduate Conference 2016

Has Liberalism Failed? Of the three dominant ideologies of the twentieth century—fascism, communism, and liberalism—only the last remains. This has created a peculiar situation in which liberalism’s proponents, on both the left and right, sometimes forget that...

Theology Amid the Revolution In the autumn of 1968, the world seemed on the verge of collapse. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the growing American entanglement in Vietnam, and the assasinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy left the entire Western...

Thinking with Bad Feelings Human life isn’t a safe space–and thankfully so. Bad feelings can lead to good thoughts, and losing one’s temper can be morally productive. This seminar will argue that human reactions like anger, hatred, envy, confusion, frustration,...

The First Conservative The Thought of Edmund Burke Edmund Burke is often called the “first conservative.” His writings on the French Revolution and other political movements are widely understood to be the earliest articulation of modern conservatism, and have offered...

AI in a Human Context Artificial Intelligence promises much. According to some, it will not only rival human intelligence but surpass it entirely, bringing with it incalculable gains in knowledge, power, and wealth. According to others, it will lead to a loss of human...

Dear Lord Pay Attention to Me: How to Read Christian Poetry What do poetry and prayer have in common? In our contemporary world, poetry is often thought of as an art form of personal expression, or a meditation on personal identity. Prayer, on the other hand,...

Catholic Theology Reading Group Dates: Wednesday afternoons on 2.21, 2.28, 3.14, 3.21. Time: 2:30-3:30pm Student Leaders: Alexander Huber and Jule Coppa Reading: Selections from Thomas Joseph White, The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism Reading schedule:...

Do We Have Free Will? It seems hardly possible to lead a meaningful life without assuming the freedom to choose and to pursue goals and purposes. Nevertheless, throughout history this assumption has been challenged, be it by Marxists, psychologists or, more recently,...