Aquino Gives a Lecture and Leads a Seminar at the University of St. Thomas (MN)
Dr. Frederick Aquino (Graduate School of Theology) gave a public lecture at the University of St. Thomas (MN; www.stthomas.edu/theology/events/eventarchive/interdisciplinary-conversations-dr-aquino.html). The lecture drew from his book, An Integrative Habit of Mind (Northern Illinois University Press), and focused on the relevance of John Henry Newman for tackling the question of what it means to pursue wisdom in an information age. It was co-sponsored by the Center for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Notre Dame, College of Arts and Sciences, and the Aquinas Chair.
He also led a faculty seminar on spiritual perception. Dr. Mark Spencer and Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk (University of St. Thomas) co-organized an interdisciplinary faculty seminar funded by an external cluster grant from the Templeton Foundation via the University of Notre Dame. One outcome of the seminar will be a research project in which Dr. Aquino will co-direct (with Paul Gavrilyuk) an international Spiritual Senses Symposium and co-edit a related volume of essays under the working title, Sensing Things Divine: Toward a Constructive Account of Spiritual Perception.
Aquino Co-edits a book on Newman with Oxford University Press
Dr. Frederick Aquino (Graduate School of Theology) published (with Dr. Benjamin King, The School of Theology, University of the South) Receptions of Newman (Oxford University Press, 2015; http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199687589.do ). In this collection of essays, scholars from across the disciplines of theology, philosophy, education, and history examine the different ways in which John Henry Newman has been interpreted. Some of the essays attempt to rescue Newman from his opponents then and now. Others seek to save him from his rescuers, clearing away misinterpretations so that Newman’s works may be encountered afresh. All the essays show why Newman’s ideas about religion were so important in the past and continue to inform the present.
Dr. Michael Baur (Fordham University) organized a session on the book at the American Catholic Philosophical Association (http://www.acpaweb.org/meetings/77/2015). Dr. Aquino, along with two other contributors to the book (Dr. Benjamin King, University of the South, Dr. Mark McInroy, University of St. Thomas) made presentations, followed by a response (Brandon Dahm; Baylor University) and a time for answering questions. The session was a wonderful opportunity to put ACU (and the GST) in conversation with other schools, perspectives, and disciplines.
Aquino Co-directs an International Symposium
Dr. Frederick Aquino (Graduate School of Theology) and Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk (University of St. Thomas, MN) are currently co-directing the Spiritual Perception Project. The project builds on the historical groundwork provided in the collection of essays, The Spiritual Senses: Perceiving God in Western Christianity, ed. Paul Gavrilyuk and Sarah Coakley (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). The second phase of the project will focus on contemporary (as well as some historical) models of spiritual perception, using the methods of analytic philosophy, philosophy of religion, philosophy of perception, phenomenology, and cognitive science.
As a part of the second phase, Aquino and Gavrilyuk recently convened a one-day international symposium on the Spiritual Perception in Atlanta, Georgia, a day before the official beginning of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion. The Symposium participants hailed from four countries (Canada, Germany, UK, and the US) and fourteen universities (ACU, Boston College, Cambridge University, Concordia University of Edmonton, Fordham University, Fuller Theological Seminary, Saint Louis University, St. Olaf College, Southern Methodist University, University of California (Santa Barbara), University of Missouri–Columbia, University of Notre Dame, University of St. Thomas (MN), Universität Konstanz. The interdisciplinary breadth of the proposed project requires cooperation among scholars with competencies in different areas of philosophy, religion, and theology.
One outcome of the symposium will be a volume tentatively entitled, Sensing Things Divine: Towards a Constructive Account of Spiritual Perception
The following scholars have agreed to contribute to the volume: William Abraham (Southern Methodist University), Frederick Aquino (ACU), Sarah Coakley (Cambridge University), Boyd Taylor Coolman (Boston College), Paul Gavrilyuk (University of St. Thomas, MN), John Greco (Saint Louis University), Mark McInroy (University of St. Thomas, MN), Michael J. McClymond (Saint Louis University), Paul Moser (Loyola University, Chicago), Catherine Pickstock (Cambridge University), Michael Rea (University of Notre Dame), Mark Spencer (University of St. Thomas), Mark Wynn (University of Leeds), and Sameer Yadav (Indiana Wesleyan University).