Hildebrand Project

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Summer Reading Course & Graduate Residency

July 17-23, 2022

The Hildebrand Project is pleased to announce a new graduate-level reading course as well as our 4th annual graduate residency. 

  1. Reading Course (July 17-20). This course will be led by our master faculty (each a student of either Dietrich von Hildebrand or Karol Wojytla), will be devoted to the close reading of some of the central texts in the philosophy of Dietrich von Hildebrand, notably his value-philosophy as articulated in his Ethics. The course does not require close familiarity with Hildebrand’s work; in fact, it is meant to provide an entry point for those interested in his work and to allow those already familiar with it to gain a deeper understanding of its key claims and contours. Participation is limited to MA students and above, though exceptions may be made for advanced undergraduates. There will be multiple sessions each day; each session will consist of a summary presentation followed by discussion.
  2. The Residency (July 20-23). The residency will follow immediately upon the reading course. Its aim is 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 the chance to present drafts of an MA thesis, dissertation chapter, or scholarly article. The daily schedule will be a blend of group discussions of work-in-progress, private consultations with faculty, and time for reading and writing.

    Applicants may apply to attend the reading course or the residency; however, we highly encourage residency participants to also attend the course. 

    While a focus on Hildebrand is the key condition for eligibility to attend the residency, 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. 

    Detailed schedule to come. Check back soon.

Faculty

The Reading Course and Graduate Residency will both be led by our Senior Scholars: Rocco Buttiglione, John F. Crosby, and Josef Seifert, each of whom was a student either of Dietrich von Hildebrand or Karol Wojtyla/St. John Paul II.

Senior Scholar

Rocco Buttiglione
Senior Scholar

John F. Crosby
Senior Scholar

Josef Seifert

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

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

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.

The Application Process

The application process for both events is based on interest but subject to space limitations.

The application window ends June 5, 2022. The application is available online

You will be able to select one, two, or both events during the application process.

Submit an Application with the Form Below
Room, Board, and Travel

The Reading Course and Graduate Residency will be held on the campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where participants will be lodged in university housing. Participants also have the option of staying at the Franciscan Square Inn at their own expense. Participants will have access to the university library, internet, and other basic amenities.

Travel to and from Pittsburgh International Airport will be provided. Parking will be available on campus for those who drive.

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