The Agnes M. & G. Herbert True Family Lectureship
Sponsored by the Catholic Student Association of the University of Oklahoma and St. Thomas More University Parish, Norman, OklahomaThe Agnes M. and G. Herbert True Family Lecture series brings a Catholic intellectual, writer, or artist to the University of Oklahoma campus each year to deliver a public lecture on a topic of university-wide interest. The lectures are free and open to the public.
The 2023 lecture, by Shannen Williams of the University of Dayton, will be delivered on Wednesday, September 20, 5:30-7:00pm at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. The title of Dr.Williams’s talk is “Still Mining the Forgotten: The Hidden History and Legacies of Black Catholic Nuns in the United States.”
Past Lecturers
2003: Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ (Fordham University, Theology), Public Discourse and Arguments from Theology2004: Michael Buckley, SJ (Santa Clara University, Theology), The Theological Contribution to the Rise of Agnosticism2005: Alasdair MacIntyre (University of Notre Dame, Philosophy), Aquinas and the Extent of Moral Disagreement2006: George Weigel (Ethics and Public Policy Center), The Cube and the Cathedral: Politics without God2007: Linda Zagzebski (University of Oklahoma, Philosophy), What Can Philosophers Say about the Existence of God2008: Lisa Fullam (Berkeley School of Theology, Theology), The Ethics of Stem Cell Research2009: J. Budziszewski (University of Texas, Political Science), Natural Law and the U.S. Constitution2010: Daniel Philpott (University of Notre Dame, Political Science & Peace Studies), Justice after Evil: A Catholic Ethic of Political Reconciliation2011: Robert Ellsberg (Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Orbis Books), A Habit of Seeing: The Spiritual Vision of Flannery O’Connor2012: Carol Zaleski (Smith College, World Religions), The Recovered Image: The Faith and Reason of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Inklings2013: Thomas Farr (Georgetown University, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs), Christians May Dance No Longer: The Global Crisis in Religious Freedom2014: Stephen Barr (University of Delaware, Bartol Institute of Physics), Science and Religion: The Myth of Conflict2015: Don Doll, SJ (Creighton University, Journalism), A Call to Vision: A Jesuit’s Perspective on the World2016: Dan Groody, CSC (University of Notre Dame, Theology and Film), Dying to Live: A Migrant’s Journey (Film) / Passing Over: Theology and Migration (Lecture)2017: Eleonore Stump (Saint Louis University, Philosophy), Wandering in Darkness: Exploring the Problem of Suffering through Narrative2018: Maureen Condic (University of Utah School of Medicine, Neurobiology, Anatomy, and Pediatrics), Virtues and the Utilitarian Frontiers of Science2019: Paolo Carozza (University of Notre Dame, Law/Kellogg Institute for International Studies), Human Dignity and the Practice of Human Development2022: Veronica Higgins, CST (Carmelite Sisters of Saint Thérèse of the Infant Jesus), My Story: Protests, Prayer, and Putting Faith into Action2023: Shannen Dee Williams (University of Dayton), Still Mining the Forgotten: The Hidden History and Legacies of Black Catholic Nuns in the United States* * *
The True Family Lectures are funded in part by an endowment established by Agnes M. and G. Herbert True, whose three sons all graduated from the University of Oklahoma: G. Herbert True Jr. (1924–2009),who taught psychology at the University of Notre Dame and spent more than forty years as a motivational speaker; Robert W. True (1927–2009), who worked for the Mobil Corporation; and Michael D. True (1933–2019), who taught at Assumption College; authored more than a dozen books on nonviolence, peacemaking, and American literature; and edited a collection of poetry, drama, and prose by Daniel Berrigan.