The topic of our eleventh annual Fall Conference was “Younger than Sin: Retrieving Simplicity through the Virtues of Humility, Wonder & Joy.” Scholars, artists, professionals, laymen, and students gathered November 18–20, 2010, to reflect on the cultivation of virtue for authentic Christian freedom. Taking as its theme Pope Benedict XVI’s notion of simplicity of soul as the wellspring of humility, wonder, and joy, the conference explored virtue’s contribution to human flourishing through the lenses of philosophy, theology, literature, art, and more. Watch video recordings of the presentations using the links below.

Featured Presentations

• “Giving Wisdom to the Little Ones’ (Psalm 18:8): St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor the Little Way,” Rev. John Saward, University of Oxford
   
• “The Humility of the Door Keeper: The Case of Brother Andre Bessette, C.S.C.,” Lawrence Cunningham, University of Notre Dame
   
• “The Immaculate Conception and the Song of Bernadette: Reflections on Theological Anthropology, Fiction, and Film,” Sr. Ann Astell, University of Notre Dame
   
• “The Lady Who Looks on Gladiators in Grapple: Chesterton’s Marian Poems,” Ralph Wood, Baylor University
   
• “Mother Teresa of Calcutta at 100 and Why Her Influence Is Just Beginning,” Jim Towey, Ave Maria University
   
• “Humility without Humiliation: A Capacitation for Life in Elfland in the Thought of G. K. Chesterton,” David Fagerberg, University of Notre Dame
   
• “The Mighty Child: Visions of Youth in Dante and Shakespeare,” Anthony Esolen, Providence College
   
• “A Condition of Greater Simplicity: Beyond the Value Discourse of Human Dignity and Human Rights,” H. Tristram Engelhardt Jr., Baylor University
   
• “Sucking the Life from Our Children: Hollywood and the Romance of the Living Dead,” Daniel McInerny, Trojan Tub Entertainment
   
• “Paradigm Lost: Gertrud Von Le Fort’s Eternal Woman,” Margaret Monahan Hogan, University of Portland