2023: Dust of the Earth
Dust of the Earth: On Persons
Fall Conference | November 2–4, 2023 | University of Notre Dame
The concept of persons is, historically, a vexed one. What is a person? Who counts as a person? What is owed to persons in justice, or friendship, or solidarity? How do persons stand in relation to the created order, to God, to one another? Is the concept of persons (as distinct from human beings) valid or coherent in itself, or is it a term that serves only to exclude members of the human family?
Developments in biotechnology and the biosciences, artificial intelligence, legal doctrine and practice, the social sciences, theological reflection, ethics, art, architecture, and beyond raise distinctive questions of their own, as well as challenges to our understanding of persons, their place in the world, and what they—we—owe to one another.
At our 23rd annual Fall Conference, the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture will consider the concept of persons. More than 140 presentations will explore the ethical, legal, and social concept of personhood; persons with disabilities; artificial intelligence; divine persons and the Trinity; the role of personalism in the thought of John Paul II; bioethics and environmental ethics; and the broader concept of persons as engaged across the disciplines, including philosophy, theology, political theory, law, history, economics, and the social sciences, as well as the natural sciences, literature, and the arts.
At this year’s Fall Conference, the de Nicola Center is honored to once again partner with Stanford University’s “Boundaries of Humanity” project, which seeks to advance dialogue on “human place and purpose in the cosmos.”
Register to Attend
Advance registration has now closed. Walk-in registrants are welcome to attend the sessions. Visit the conference check-in desk at McKenna Hall, 2nd floor.
Schedule
A PDF of the conference schedule is available via this link. A video playlist of recorded presentations is available on our YouTube channel.
| Thursday, November 2 | |
| 1:30-2:45 p.m. | Colloquium Session 1 |
| 2:45-3:15 p.m. | Break |
| 3:15-4:30 p.m. | Colloquium Session 2 |
| 5:15 p.m. |
Opening Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart |
| 8 p.m. |
Josef Pieper Keynote Lecture Persons: Created, Artificial, and Natural |
| 9:15 p.m. |
Reception Morris Inn Private Dining Rooms |
Friday, November 3 |
|
| 8 a.m. | Continental Breakfast |
| 9-10:15 a.m. | Colloquium Session 3 |
| 10:15-10:45 a.m. | Break |
| 10:45 a.m.-12 p.m. | Colloquium Session 4 |
| 12-1:30 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:30-2:45 p.m. |
Invited Speakers Evolving Images of Personhood in Western Law Brain Death, the UDDA, and the Latest Arguments from the Front Lines |
| 2:45-3:15 p.m. | Break |
| 3:15-4:30 p.m. |
Invited Speakers Trinitarian Triptych: The Artistic Struggle to Portray the Divine Persons The Law of Large Numbers: Persons in Data Ethics ‘The Solid Rock of Brotherhood’: Reframing Contemporary Discourse on Race |
| 5:15 p.m. |
Mass celebrated by Bishop Kevin Rhoades (Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend) Music by the Hildegard Project Basilica of the Sacred Heart |
| 6:30 p.m. | Dinner |
| 8 p.m. |
Keynote Personhood, Relationality, and Responsibility: Jewish Philosophers on Contemporary Technology (PDF abstract available here) |
| 9:15 p.m. | Reception |
Saturday, November 4 |
|
| 8 a.m. | Continental Breakfast |
| 9-10:15 a.m. | Colloquium Session 5 |
| 10:15-10:45 a.m. | Break |
| 10:45 a.m.-12 p.m. | Colloquium Session 6 |
| 12-1:30 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:30-2:45 p.m. |
Invited Speakers Conserving Our Grand Cacophony Literature and the Irreducibility of the Human Person The Open Boundaries of Personhood |
| 2:45-3:15 p.m. | Break |
| 3:15-4:30 p.m. |
Invited Speakers How a Resurrection Really Feels: An Interview with Craig Finn on Rock and Roll, Ritual, and Meaning in the 21st Century Transforming the Self in the Company of Others: Relational Personhood, Ethics, and Addiction in Kampala, Uganda Personhood and Our Ancient Faith: How ‘Person’ Became Central to the Catholic Faith, From the Trinity, to Christ, to Us (and What It Means for Today) |
| 5 p.m. |
Closing Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart |
| 6:30 p.m. | Dinner |
| 8 p.m. |
Closing Keynote Are There Failed Persons? Am I One of Them? |
| 9:15 p.m. | Reception |
Transportation
Notre Dame is located in the Eastern time zone, 90 miles east of Chicago (Central time). Transportation to and from Notre Dame is available via South Bend International Airport, five miles from Notre Dame's campus; if you plan on flying into Chicago airports, please note that there is no longer a shuttle bus between the Chicago airports and South Bend. Transportation from Chicago-area airports to the South Bend airport is available via the South Shore Line.
Lodging Information
A small block of rooms is available at the Morris Inn on campus ($139/189 per night), as well as the Fairfield Inn just off campus ($129/night). Additional lodging is available at hotels in the immediate area surrounding campus, including:
- Embassy Suites (Eddy St. Commons)
- Inn at St. Mary’s (Rte 933)
Questions?
Please contact Brooke Tranten (btranten@nd.edu).
Past Conferences
Find information regarding past conferences and lecture videos at the links below.
- 2022: 'And It Was Very Good': On Creation
- 2021 (Fall): I Have Called You by Name
- 2021 (Winter): We Belong to Each Other
- 2019: I Have Called You Friends
- 2018: Higher Powers
- 2017: Through Every Human Heart
- 2016: You Are Beauty
- 2015: For Freedom Set Free
- 2014: Responding to the Cry of the Poor
- 2013: The Body and Human Identity
- 2012: Exploring the Many Facets of Justice
- 2011: Radical Emancipation
- 2010: Younger Than Sin
- 2009: The Summons of Freedom
- 2008: The Family
- 2007: Dialogue of Cultures
- 2006: Modernity
- 2005: Joy in the Truth
- 2004: Epiphanies of Beauty
- 2003: Formation and Renewal
- 2002: From Death to Life
- 2001: A Culture of Life
- 2000: A Culture of Death