"Understand in order to believe; believe in order to understand." - AUGUSTINE, Serm.43,9
Lecture 4 Information
Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the University: “Business, Economic Life, and The Catholic Intellectual Tradition.”
Monday, November 9
1:50 p.m.
D'Angelo Center, Room 416
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. Albino Barrera, O.P., STL, Ph.D.,
Professor, Economics and Theology, Providence College
Fr. Barrera is the fourth speaker in this years VCSJ Speaker Series. Fr. Barrera is a member of the St. Joseph Province (New York) of the Order of Preachers and was ordained to the priesthood in 1993. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from Yale University with a specialization in development economics. He earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC. Fr. Barrera teaches and writes on the theology of economic life and on the economics of the Catholic Church’s care for the marginalized. He has explored how economics and moral theology can mutually reinforce each other in facilitating human flourishing. His most recent book is Compassion-Justice Conflicts and Christian Ethics (Cambridge, November 2023). He is the lead editor of The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Economic Ethics (Oxford, February 2024).
Watch Lecture 3 Recording Here:
VCSJ 25-26 Lecture Series Full Schedule
Vincentian Chair of Social Justice Archives
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
Lecture 2 Information
Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the University: “The Soul of Catholic Education”
Thursday, October 9
1:50 p.m.
D'Angelo Center, Room 416
WATCH RECORDING HERE
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.
Jason King, Ph.D. is the second speaker in the 2025-26 Vincentian Chair of Social Justice Lecture Series.
Jason King, Ph.D., is the Beirne Chair and Director of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. As an undergraduate student, he majored in Mathematics and Philosophy and graduated from Berea College in Kentucky. King has published extensively, including several books.
King has received several honors for teaching, including the Thoburn Teaching Award at Saint Vincent College and the San Damiano Service Learning Award from Lourdes University. He was a Faculty Fellow at the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media. He has served on boards and committees for the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church, College Theology Society, Society of Christian Ethics, as well as New Wine, New Wineskins. He currently serves as Editor Emeritus for the Journal of Moral Theology.
Lecture 3 Information
Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the University: “The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in an Era of AI”
Monday, November 17
1:50 p.m.
D'Angelo Center, Room 416
Watch Recording Here
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.
Joseph M. Vukov, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director,
The Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University, Chicago, IL
Dr. Vukov is the third speaker in this years VCSJ Speaker Series. Dr. Vukov is the author of three books, most recently, Staying Human in an Era of Artificial Intelligence (New City Press. 2024). Dr. Vukov’s writing has been published in many academic journals, as well as The Chicago Tribune and America Magazine, and on the websites Religion News Service and Fox News Media Opinion. He serves in the Artificial Intelligence Research Group for the Dicastery for Culture and Education and is the current President of Philosophers in Jesuit Education. In 2025, he was awarded the St. Ignatius Loyola Award for Excellence in Teaching.