Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Throughout the year, the University of Dallas and the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts hosts exceptional guest lecturers and distinguished faculty members on thought-provoking topics within the Western tradition. Prominent scholars have spoken on Homer, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Plato, Dante, St. Thomas Aquinas, Locke, Tocqueville and Leo Strauss, to name a few.

In an effort to facilitate deep engagement with the ideas of the works of great thinkers, the University of Dallas provides the recordings of past events for all who wish to continue the cultivation of their minds or to supplement a liberal arts education.

• The Pleasures of Philosophizing and its Moral Foundations
  Date: March 15, 2012
  Author: James Carey
  Description: The Braniff Graduate Student Association (BGSA), along with the Politics and Philosophy Departments and the Dean of the Braniff Graduate School, are honored to welcome James Carey to give the BGSA second annual lecture.

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• Eugene McDermott Lectureship
  In 1974, the university established the Eugene McDermott Lectureship, an endowed lecture series created in honor of Eugene McDermott, the late scientist, businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist.

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• Ancients and Moderns
  Did Leo Strauss Exaggerate the Break
  Date: April 1, 2011
  Description: A Politics Faculty Roundtable, featuring Leo Paul de Alvarez, Jonathan Culp, Richard Dougherty, Tiffany Jones Miller, and Thomas G. West, discuss whether Leo Strauss exaggerated the break between Ancient and Modern thinkers regarding such matters as virtue, morality, politics, human nature, and theology. 
  

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• Aristophanes' Critique of the Gods
  Date: March 18, 2011
  Description: Wayne Ambler of the University of Colorado at Boulder explores Aristophanes’ hilariously radical, but yet not atheistic, critique of the gods in three of Aristophanes' comedies—Peace, Wealth, and especially Birds—which feature mortal heroes who find fault with Zeus, challenge his authority, and even prove victorious over him.
  

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• Is Man the Measure of All Things?
  Plato's Analysis of Relativism
  Date: November 19, 2010
  Author: Matthew K. Davis
  Description: The Braniff Graduate Student Association (BGSA) invites Matthew K. Davis of St. John's in Santa Fe, New Mexico to speak at the 1st Annual BGSA Lecture.

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• The Scandal of Dante's Catholicism - Part I
  Date: March 18, 2009
  The Scandal of Dante's Catholicism - Part II
  Date: March 23, 2009
  Author: Robert Hollander
  Description: Dr. Robert Hollander visits the University of Dallas to give two lectures titled "The Scandal of Dante's Catholicism for Many Contemporary Readers."

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• The Poetic Imagination & Education
  The Continuing Influence of Louise S. Cowan
  Date: March 22-23, 2007
  Description: Alumni of the IPS gather along with its founder, Dr. Louise S. Cowan, to articulate the centrality of imagination to their various disciplines in the pursuit and expression of wisdom. Includes a major address by Dr. Cowan.