Vincentian Chair of Social Justice 2025-26

Lecture 1 Information

Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the University: “God, Philosophy and Catholic Universities”
Wednesday, September 10
1:50  p.m.
St. Thomas More Church

Each year, the Vincentian Chair of Social Justice (VCSJ) selects a justice theme with the help of the wider St. John’s community. National and international scholars then contribute to the theme’s exploration. The Catholic Intellectual Tradition( CIT) has a 2,000 year history in the origin and expression of human and Christian development. Across all fields of culture and education it has contributed to the values and voices of believing participants. From Liberal Arts to modern science, the CIT engages in the affirmation of human dignity and the search for truth. Faith and reason are companions on the path to human knowledge that draws together people of all traditions in the search for the truth that touches us all. 

Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. is the first speaker in the  2025-26 Vincentian Chair of Social Justice Lecture Series. 
Fr. Shanley is the President of St. John's University, and a Dominican priest and scholar deeply committed to Catholic higher education. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Toronto and advanced theological degrees from The Catholic University of America and the Dominican House of Studies. A lifelong educator, Fr. Shanley has taught philosophy at Providence College, The Catholic University of America, Emory University's Candler School of Theology, and currently at St. John's, where he teaches ethics to honors students. Since beginning his tenure in 2021, he has led St. John's with a clear emphasis on its Catholic and Vincentian mission, launching a five-year Strategic Plan to guide the University's future. Prior to St. John's, he served as the longest-tenured president of Providence College, where he championed academic excellence rooted in faith and tradition. A noted scholar of Thomas Aquinas and medieval philosophy, Fr. Shanley has published extensively in the areas of philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and ethics