Graduate Student Conference: “From Res Publica to the Republic of Letters: The Common Good in Transition and Translation”

This October, graduate students from the University of Notre Dame are hosting a regional conference for their colleagues in the humanities and social sciences, welcoming participants from eight Midwestern universities as well as two East Coast institutions.

The purpose of the conference is for graduate students in the region to gain experience by presenting research to their peers while participating in ongoing debates—historical, philosophical, religious, and political—about the common good. 

The conference will be held at the Hesburgh Center for International Studies, Thursday, October 9–Saturday, October 11, 2008. The event is sponsored jointly by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the University of Notre Dame Graduate School, and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.

Notre Dame students, faculty, and the general public are cordially invited to attend all sessions and presentations, including the opening address, which features David Nirenberg (University of Chicago – History, Committee on Social Thought), as well as two special guest lectures featuring Constance Furey (Indiana University-Bloomington – Religious Studies, History) and Jonathan Daly (University of Illinois-Chicago – History).

For panel and speaker times, please see the conference schedule, below; for locations, simply follow the signs in the Hesburgh Center for International Studies on the days of the conference.

Thursday, October 9, 2008 – Hesburgh Center Auditorium

6:00-6:45pm
Opening Address: David Nirenberg (University of Chicago)
“The Place of Judaism and Islam in Benedict XVI's Dialectic of Faith and Reason”

Friday, October 10, 2008 – Hesburgh Center Rooms

9:00-10:30am
Panel:  Contemplating the Common Good

11:00-12:30pm
Panel:  God, Us, and Others           

1:45-2:30pm
Guest Speaker:  Constance Furey (Indiana Univ.-Bloomington)
“Excluding All Others: Religious Affinities and the Common Good”

2:45-4:15pm
Panel: Gendering the Common Good in Early Modern English Literature (concurrent panel)

2:45-4:15pm
Panel: Envisioning an American Common Good (concurrent panel)

Saturday, October 11, 2008 – Hesburgh Center Rooms

9:00-10:30am
Panel: National Goods and Common Goods

11:00-12:30pm
Panel: For Your Own (Common) Good           

1:45-2:30pm                       
Guest Speaker:  Jonathan Daly (University of Illinois, Chicago)
“Hijacking the Idea of the Common Good”

2:45-4:15pm
Panel: Reading the Common Good