Hildebrand Project

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Summer Graduate Residency

Summer Graduate Residency
July 10-14, 2023
Franciscan University of Steubenville

The Hildebrand Project is pleased to announce our fifth annual graduate residency. 

This Residency will be led by our master faculty (each a student of either Dietrich von Hildebrand or Karol Wojytla) and will provide attendees scholarly support, including intellectual, professional, and mentorship. 

The Summer Graduate Residency aims to support MA and PhD students, postdocs, and scholars working on Dietrich von Hildebrand or in conversation with some aspect of his thought by giving them a chance to present drafts of an MA thesis, dissertation chapter, or scholarly article. The daily schedule will be a blend of lectures, group discussions of work-in-progress, private consultations with faculty, and time for reading and writing.

The Hildebrand Project invites work that brings his thought into conversation with:

  • Philosophical traditions like analytic philosophy or phenomenology 
  • Specific contemporary issues in emotion theory, virtue ethics, aesthetics, etc. 
  • The intersection of faith and reason and the rehabilitation of reason in the sense of Wojtyla and Ratzinger 
  • The broader Catholic intellectual tradition, especially efforts to locate Hildebrand within this tradition 
  • Jewish, Protestant, and Orthodox philosophical and theological thought

We also welcome applicants working on other philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, John Henry Newman, Edmund Husserl, Adolf Reinach, Max Scheler, Edith Stein, Karol Wojtyla, Romano Guardini, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jacques Maritain, Joseph Ratzinger, Norris Clarke SJ, Emmanuel Levinas, Joseph Soloveitchik, Dallas Willard, et alia, provided their work is in substantive dialogue with Hildebrand.

Exceptions may be made for work in which Hildebrand’s thought is not central provided it is focused on close kindred spirits (e.g. Karol Wojtyla or Max Scheler) or on the intellectual tradition he represents. Please contact us before applying to find out if your work would fit our guidelines. 

In addition to intellectual support, the program will include professional development sessions on how to approach writing a dissertation, balancing a research agenda, and traversing the academic job market. 

The application deadline is June 1, 2023. Please note that letters of recommendation are required to be considered for travel scholarships.

Submit your Application

Seminar Faculty

Senior Scholar

John F. Crosby
Senior Scholar

Rocco Buttiglione
Senior Scholar

Josef Seifert
Senior Scholar

John F. Crosby

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Professor Emeritus of Philosophy

Research Areas:

Personalism, John Henry Newman, John Paul II, Dietrich von Hildebrand

Prof. Crosby was himself a student of Dietrich Hildebrand. Besides writing major studies on the thought of John Henry Newman, Max Scheler, and Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II, and making his own contributions to personalist philosophy, Prof. Crosby has devoted his long and distinguished academic career—first at the University of Dallas, then at the International Academy of Philosophy, and currently at Franciscan University of Steubenville—to introducing his students to the intellectual legacy of Hildebrand, and also to making Hildebrand better known in scholarly circles. Prof. Crosby was the translator of the English edition of  Hildebrand’s philosophical masterpiece, The Nature of Love, and he also serves as the General Editor of all our present and future translations of Hildebrand’s works.

Senior Scholar

Rocco Buttiglione

A trusted collaborator of Pope St. John Paul II, and is an authority on his philosophical anthropology. His book Karol Wojtyla: The Thought of the Man who became Pope John Paul II is a fundamental work on the pope’s early philosophy. A member of the Italian Parliament for over two decades, he serves on the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and holds the John Paul II Chair for Philosophy and History of European Institutions at the Lateran University in Rome. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Hildebrand Project.

Senior Scholar

Josef Seifert

Professor Seifert received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Salzburg in 1969 and, under Professor Robert Spaemann, his habilitation from the University of Munich (Privatdozent) in 1975. He studied chiefly under Balduin Schwarz, the most distinguished German former student of Dietrich von Hildebrand, at the University of Salzburg, and under Gabriel Marcel in Paris. Already as a child (from age 3 on) he knew Hildebrand personally, because Seifert’s mother had been a student of Hildebrand in Munich and both of his parents were Hildebrand’s friends. He is the author of many books, and Europe’s leading student and teacher of Hildebrand’s philosophy.

Dr. John Crosby speaks with a colleague.

Format

Each day will begin with research presentations, followed by talks on Hildebrand’s thought by our senior scholars. After lunch, participants will receive professional development support on topics such as “Dissertation 101” or “The Academic Job Market,” followed by office hours with our faculty. The schedule will include breaks for participants to access the library or the Hildebrand Archives.

Submit your Application
Room and Board

The residency is free to attend for all accepted candidates. It will be held on the campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where participants will be lodged in university housing. Participants will have access to the university library, internet, and other basic amenities. All costs for room and board are included.

Travel Scholarship Opportunities

Scholarships for travel are available. Scholarship requests are included on the application, due June 1, 2023. Please note that letters of recommendation are required to be considered for travel scholarships.

July 10, 2023 9:00 am – July 14, 2023 5:00 pm EDT