Summer Humanities Symposium
Summer Humanities Symposium: ‘Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New’
June 20 – 23, 2022
Providence College is never more beautiful than in the summer. The campus is awash with blooming flowers. Sunsets are long and sunrises bright. It’s quiet, too. You can hear the notes of sung Vespers drifting from the Priory. There is time and space for real reflection; a stillness to read and think deeply.
This summer, Providence College invites alumni, parents, and friends to experience the humanities through a purposeful blend of text, film, art, music, and conversation. Led by campus scholars, this intimate program is intended to bring together like-minded participants who have a love of learning, appreciation for the richness of the humanities, and a desire to connect with God.
About the Summer Humanities Symposium
The Providence College Humanities Program is pleased to offer a three-night engagement symposium shaped by the richness of the Dominican intellectual tradition and the pleasures of summertime beauty. This blended experience includes small reading seminars led by faculty in the Ruane Center for the Humanities, daily Mass offered in St. Dominic Chapel, and carefully curated on- and off-campus experiences to promote further growth in knowledge and awareness of God’s grace.
The theme, Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New, will shape selected texts and guide reflection on questions like: What is the relation between beauty and truth? What is the Catholic understanding of beauty? What changes and what remains timeless in our human sense of beauty?
Participants will discuss readings curated from the four semesters of Providence College’s defining Development of Western Civilization Program, screen a film, contemplate artworks, hear poetry and music, socialize, and enjoy the stillness of summer.
Symposium Schedule
Monday, June 20
- 3 p.m.
Guests Hotel Arrival at Omni - 4 p.m.
Shuttle Arrives at the Omni to transport guest to campus - 4:30 p.m.
Mass, St. Dominic Chapel - 5:15 – 8 p.m.
Welcome Reception
Join Providence College President Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78, ’82G & Executive Vice President Ann Manchester-Molak ’75, ’11P for a reception on the patio of the Ruane Center for the Humanities with a musical performance by the Hillbilly Thomists. - 8 p.m.
Shuttle service to the Omni
Tuesday, June 21
How does beauty draw us ever upwards to our Creator?
We will begin with hourlong seminars on Socrates’ “Ladder of Love” from Plato’s Symposium and a recent translation of the mystical Old Testament love poetry in the Song of Songs. In the afternoon, a guided tour of St. Dominic’s Chapel will show how church architecture and stained glass direct our minds towards God. We will then enjoy a private concert with [an internationally-renowned pianist] and a reception in PC’s Smith Center for the Arts.
- 8:15 – 8:30 a.m.
Shuttle Arrives at the Omni to transport guests to campus - 8:45 a.m.
Arrive on campus
Ruane Center for the Humanities - 8:45 – 9 a.m.
Continental Breakfast
Ruane LL49 - 9 – 10 a.m.
Seminar – Plato’s Symposium
Dr. Raymond Hain and Dr. Patrick Macfarlane - 10 – 10:15 a.m.
Coffee Break - 10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
Seminar – The Song of Songs
Dr. Raymond Hain and Dr. Iain Bernhoft - 11:35 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Mass, St. Dominic Chapel - 12:30 – 1:15 p.m.
Lunch in Martin Pavilion - 1:25 – 2:45 p.m.
Tour of St. Dominic Chapel or Ruane Stained Glass - 3 – 4:30 p.m.
Afternoon break - 5 – 6 p.m.
Musical Performance
Suzanne Laramee, Pianist & President of the Newport Musical Festival - 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Dinner and Conversation
Smith Art Gallery - 8:30 p.m.
Shuttle service to the Omni Hotel
Wednesday, June 22
How does beauty draw us ever inwards to a love of all creation?
In our morning seminars we will discuss the poetry of John Keats before turning our attention to Jacques Maritain’s writing on the metaphysics of beauty from Art and Scholasticism, the twentieth century’s most important expression of Catholic reflection on beauty. In the afternoon we will watch and discuss Babette’s Feast, the 1987 Danish film directed by Gabriel Axel, followed by a guided tour of selected exhibits at the RISD Museum. In keeping with the spirit of the film, the day will conclude with a festive conversation at Fleming’s Steakhouse.
- 8:15 – 8:30 a.m.
Shuttle Arrives at the Omni to transport guest to campus - 8:45 a.m.
Arrive on campus
Ruane Center for the Humanities - 8:45 – 9:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast
LL49 - 9 – 10 a.m.
Seminar – Jacques Maritain’s Art and Scholasticism
Dr. Raymond Hain and Dr. Rick Barry - 10 – 10:15 a.m.
Coffee Break - 10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
Seminar – The Odes of John Keats
Dr. Iain Bernhoft and Fr. Jordan Zajac - 11:35 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Mass, St. Dominic Chapel - 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Lunch and Filming Screening of Babette’s Feast
Guzman 250 - 3:45 – 4:15 p.m.
Travel from campus to RISD Museum - 4:15 – 5:15 p.m.
RISD Tour of Selected Works
Dr. Joan Branham - 5:15 – 6:30 p.m.
Evening Break - 7 p.m.
Private dinner at Fleming’s Restaurant
Thursday, June 23
How shall we seek and celebrate beauty today?
As we reflect on beauty in our own lives and communities, we will discuss St. John Paul II’s 1999 “Letter to Artists” alongside “Leaf by Niggle,” one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s best loved short stories. Each in its own way reminds us of beauty’s eternal place in our hearts, for beauty, ever ancient and ever new, offers us a share in God’s own creative life.
- 8:15 – 8:30 a.m.
Guest Check Out & Shuttle Arrives at the Omni to transport guest to campus - 8:45 a.m.
Arrive on campus
Ruane Center for the Humanities - 8:45 – 9:30 a.m.
Closing Brunch
LL49 - 9:45 – 11:15 a.m.
Seminar – Tolkein’s “Leaf by Niggle” & St. John Paul II, “Letter to Artists”
Rev. Jordan Zajac, O.P., Dr. Raymond Hain & Dr. James Keating - 11:35 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Mass, St. Dominic Chapel - 12:30 p.m.
Shuttle service to the Omni Hotel
Symposium Faculty
Richard J. Barry is an assistant professor of theology at Providence College. Barry has a Ph.D. from Marquette University and an MTS from Notre Dame. He directs the Disputatio Project at Providence College, and his forthcoming book is entitled The Two Goats: The Day of Atonement and the Mystery of the Cross.
Iain Bernhoft is a visiting assistant professor of English at PC. He teaches courses on American literature and political thought, writing and persuasion. He has published on Cormac McCarthy, Colson Whitehead, and Michael Chabon. Bernhoft is also the director of The Frederick Douglass Project at PC, a Humanities Program initiative that aims to cultivate the skills of reasoned debate and persuasion.
Joan Branham is professor of art history and associate dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at PC where she teaches undergraduate, graduate and honors courses in late-antique and medieval art and architectural history. She has been an invited visiting professor at Harvard University and Brown University, and Chairs the Board of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.
Raymond Hain is an associate professor of philosophy and associate director of the Providence College Humanities Program. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. Hain’s scholarly areas of interest include ethics, applied ethics, philosophy and literature, the Catholic intellectual tradition.
James Keating is the director of the Humanities Program and an associate professor of theology. His scholarly work deals with the future of Catholic Education, the integration of faith and reason in a scientific age, Political Theology, and the quest for the Historical Jesus. He is currently working on a book dedicated to the life and work of Avery Cardinal Dulles.
Suzanna Laramee’s early commitment to music led her to earn undergraduate (Oklahoma City University) and graduate (The University of Kansas) degrees in piano performance. After completing her DMA coursework and serving as an assistant at McMurry University, she began the professional development program at Merrill Lynch and went on to a 17-year career in the financial industry, culminating in her retirement from Morgan Stanley in New York.
Patrick Macfarlane earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has taught a wide variety of courses for the Humanities Program, DWC, and the philosophy department. His main intellectual interests are in the history of philosophy, political philosophy, and Catholic culture.
Fr. Jordan Zajac, O.P., ’04 is assistant professor of English. After graduating from PC, he earned his M.A. at the University of Virginia and his Ph.D. at The University of Massachusetts Amherst. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2013. In May 2020, he became the first Dominican Friar to be ordained to the priesthood on campus, St. Dominic Chapel.
