Featured Speakers
2011 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
Thursday, October 27-Saturday, October 29
Featured Presenters
Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is one of the world's leading interpreters of the Old Testament and a past president of the Society of Biblical Literature. He is the author of numerous books, hundreds of articles, and several commentaries on books of the Bible. His books include The Prophetic Imagination (1978, 2nd ed. 2001), The Creative Word: Canon as a Model for Biblical Education (1982), and Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy (2005). Most recently, he has produced Out of Babylon (2010) and Journey to the Common Good (2010).
Celia Deane-Drummond is professor of theology and a fellow of the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame, positions she took up in Fall 2011. She was most recently professor of theology and the biological sciences and director of the Centre for Religion and the Biosciences at the University of Chester. She holds degrees in natural science, plant physiology, theology, and education, and has published extensively on the intersection of science and theology. Her research focuses on the areas of bioethics, environmental ethics, ecotheology and genetic research. Her books include Brave New World?: Theology, Ethics and the Human Genome (2003), Creation Through Wisdom: Theology and the New Biology (2003), a co-authored volume, Reordering Nature: Theology, Society and the New Genetics (2003), Wonder and Wisdom: Conversations in Science, Spirituality, and Theology (2006), and Christ and Evolution: Wonder and Wisdom (2009).
Andrew Delbanco is director of American Studies and Julian Clarence Levi Professor Chair in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and writes extensively on topics that range from American literary and religious history to contemporary issues in politics and higher education. His essays regularly appear in The New York Review of Books, The New Republic, Raritan, and other journals. His books include The Puritan Ordeal (1991), The Death of Satan: How Americans Have Lost the Sense of Evil (1996), Required Reading: Why Our American Classics Matter Now (1997), The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope (2000), and Melville: His World and Work (2006). His many awards include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2001, Time magazine named him "America's Best Social Critic."
John Haldane is professor of philosophy and the director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at the University of St Andrews. In 2005, he delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen, and was appointed as a councilor to the Pontifical Council on Culture. Additionally, he serves as chairman of the Royal Institute of Philosophy. He is a regular contributor to a number of British journals and newspapers, as well as PBS and BBC radio and television programs. In his books, which include An Intelligent Person's Guide to Religion (2003), Faithful Reason: Essays Catholic and Philosophical (2004), Seeking Meaning and Making Sense (2008), Practical Philosophy: Ethics, Society and Culture (2009), and Reasonable Faith (2010), Haldane seeks to demonstrate that religion and theology offer profound and unique contributions to understanding issues in ethics, social and political philosophy, arts, culture, and education.
Anthony Kronman is Sterling Professor of Law and former dean of Yale Law School. He is the author of several books, including Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life (2008). In this critically acclaimed volume, he offers insightful critiques of the current system of higher education, advocating a return to education that is grounded in the humanities and centered on questions about the meaning of life, fundamental values, and a person's place in the world.
Candace Vogler is David B. and Clara E. Stern Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago. From 2000-2007, she served as co-director of the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities. Her research interests include virtue ethics, social and political philosophy, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, and philosophy and literature. Her books include John Stuart Mill's Deliberative Landscape: An Essay in Moral Psychology (2001), a co-edited volume The Critical Limits of Embodiment: Reflections on Disability Criticism (2001), and Reasonably Vicious (2002).
Featured Panelists
Educating for Wisdom in Christian Universities
Philip Ryken is president of Wheaton College. Prior to his appointment as Wheaton’s eighth president, he was pastor of Tenth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. He is the author of more than thirty books, including The Message of Salvation (2001); City on a Hill: Recovering the Biblical Pattern for the Church in the 21st Century (2003); Art for God's Sake: A Call to Recover the Arts (2006); and expository commentaries on Exodus, Jeremiah, Luke, and other books of the Bible.
Ken Starr is president and Louise L. Morrison Professor of Constitutional Law at Baylor University. Judge Starr has had a distinguished career in academia, the law, and public service. As Solicitor General of the United States from 1989 to 1993, he argued thirty-six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has taught constitutional law at New York University School of Law, George Mason University School of Law, Chapman Law School, and Pepperdine Law School, where he held the position of Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law. He is the author of more than twenty-five publications, including his book, First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life (2002).
Robert J. Spitzer, S.J. is the president of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith and the Spitzer Center for Catholic Organizations and also the Chief Educational Officer for the Ethics and Performance Institute. A priest in the Society of Jesus, he served as president of Gonzaga University from 1998 to 2009. He is the author of five books, including Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations (2000); New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy (2010); and Ten Universal Principles: A Brief Philosophy of the Life Issues (2011).
Educating for Wisdom across the Curriculum
Carter Aikin is director of the Center for Vocation, Faith, and Service, and assistant professor of religion and philosophy at Hastings College. He is a campus consultant for the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) and an award-winning teacher. His research interests include the virtue ethics of Thomas Aquinas, the ethics of calling and vocation, and theories of scriptural interpretation in Christian ethics. His forthcoming book is called Moved by God to Act: An Ecumenical Ethic of Grace in Community.
Anne Carson Daly is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Belmont Abbey College. Previously she taught at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Notre Dame, and Georgetown University. Additionally, she served on the White House's National Advisory Council on Educational Research and Improvement. She co-translated a work on the founding of the Jesuits from French into English, and has published on many topics—including literature, religion, architecture, education, business, and Irish culture.
Shirley J. Roels is director of the Van Lunen Center for Executive Management in Christians Schools at Calvin College. She is also the Council of Independent Colleges senior advisor for the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). She has written widely on management, business ethics, and vocation, producing numerous articles and book chapters. Among her books are the co-authored volume, Business through the Eyes of Faith (1990) and Organization Man, Organization Woman: Calling, Leadership, and Culture (1997). Most recently, she published an edited volume, Reformed Mission in an Age of World Christianity: Ideas for the 21st Century (2011).