Summer Residency

9th Annual Summer Residency

June 12-18, 2025

Kartause Gaming, Austria

It has been seven years since the Hildebrand Project has held an event in Europe. We are thrilled to announce our return to Europe for our 2025 Residency, June 12-18!

As we journey back to the lands where the Christian personalist tradition was born, we are eager to deepen our ties with European students, scholars, and others with a desire to engage the thought and spirit of Dietrich von Hildebrand and kindred personalists like Karol Wojtyła, Edith Stein, Romano Guardini, Joseph Ratzinger, and others. The Residency offers a unique opportunity to join a vibrant, expanding community dedicated to contending with and creatively extending the profound and enduring legacy of these towering figures.

With the future of Western thought and culture ever more precarious, we deliberately choose to gather in a place that uniquely embodies the Christian West so dear to Hildebrand: the breathtaking Kartause Maria Thron in Gaming, Austria, a restored 14th-century monastery nestled in the foothills of the Austrian Alps. With its natural and artistic beauty, history and culture, the Kartause provides an ideal setting for philosophical inquiry and deep contemplation.

Participants will hear daily lectures from invited scholars and will also engage in intensive, seminar-style discussions of two of Hildebrand’s seminal works, The Metaphysics of Community (1930) and his habilitationsschrift on moral character and the knowledge of moral values (1918). These works, our latest English translations and forthcoming publications, offer profound and timely insights into the nature of true community and the factors influencing moral knowledge, underscoring philosophy’s vital role in addressing today’s existential challenges.

We invite graduate students, post-docs, and professionals with a deep interest in personalism to apply. Participants can expect a week of rigorous intellectual engagement, personal enrichment, and welcome into a growing community of wisdom, truth, and love.

Speakers

Senior Scholar

John F. Crosby

Senior Scholar

Rocco Buttiglione

Franciscan University of Steubenville
Javier Carreño

President & Founder

John Henry Crosby

Vice President & Publisher
Christopher T. Haley

Associated Scholar

Maria Wolter

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.

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.

Associated Scholar

Martin Cajthaml

Cajthaml studied philosophy at the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University in Prague from 1991-1993. He went on to study philosophy and psychology at the International Academy of Philosophy in the Principality of Lichtenstein (IAP). In 2000, he earned his PhD in philosophy at the IAP with the dissertation Kritik des Relativismus. In 2000-2007 he worked as assistant-professor at the IAP. He is a full professor and the Head of the Department of Philosophy and Patrology at the Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology of Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Palacký University Olomouc

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Research Areas:

Philosophical Ethics; Intellectual and Spiritual Roots of European Culture; Value Theory

More about Martin Cajthaml

Select Bibliography

Cajthaml, M., Vohánka V. The Moral Philosophy of Dietrich von Hildebrand . Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2019.

Cajthaml, M. “Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Moral Epistemology.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 92, no. 4 (2018): 615-640

Cajthaml, M. “Von Hildebrand on Acting against One’s Better Knowledge: A Comparison with Plato.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 91, no. 4 (2017): 637–653.

Cajthaml, M. “Von Hildebrand’s Concept of Value.” Studia Neoaristotelica 15, no. 1 (2018): 95-130.

Cajthaml, M. “Love as a Value Response. Von Hildebrand´s Philosophy of Love.” Reflexe 39 (2010): 19-33.

Cajthaml, M. “Moral Virtue according to von Hildebrand with Respect to Aristotle.” Reflexe 43 (2012), 59-78.

Cajthaml, M. “The Moral Value of Emotions in Respect to Aristotle, Kant, and von Hildebrand.” Studia Neoaristotelica 12, no. 3 (2015): 5-25.

Cajthaml, M. “Value Blindness according to von Hildebrand.” Studia Neoaristotelica 2 (Series bohemoslovaca), no. 5/3 (2017): 39-67.

Cajthaml, M. “Love as Desire of the Good or Love as Value-Response? Plato and von Hildebrand on the Essence of Love.“ AITHÉR, no. 4 (2016): 54-65.

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Javier Carreño

Javier Carreño is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of Faculty at Franciscan University
of Steubenville’s study abroad program located in Gaming, Lower Austria.
Since 2011 he has offered undergraduate as well as graduate courses in various
philosophical disciplines – including Aesthetics – as well as in English literature, Visual
Arts, Theology, and Honors. For a few years now he has also led reading groups for the
Hildebrand Project, of which he is an Associated Scholar.

Javier is primarily a scholar of Edmund Husserl’s work (esp. Phantasy and Image-
Consciousness), and in his articles he explores its significance for current questions in
Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Religion. He is also co-editor (with Kasia Dudek) of a
volume on the Phenomenology of Christian Imagination, to appear later this year
published by Bloomsbury.

Javier received his education at the University of Dallas, where he obtained a B.A. in
Philosophy and English, and then at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, where he
obtained both an M.A. as well as a Ph.D. in philosophy.
Originally from Bucaramanga, Colombia, Javier is married to Bea, from Hungary.
Together they are blessed with four children.

Select Bibliography

“Husserl and Dufrenne on the Temporalization of Image Space” Anuario Filosófico vol. 51/2, pp. 301-323

“Religious Experience and Photography: The Phenomenology of Photography as Revelatory of the Religious Play of Imagination.” De Gruyter Open Theology vol. 3, pp. 224-234.

“Seeing Temporality in Still Images: A Phenomenological View.” In Humanities Across the Borders: More Interdisciplinary Issues, ed. E. Hornackova Klapicova and E. Smetanova (Madrid: Ediciones Xorki) pp. 317-329.

President & Founder

John Henry Crosby

John Henry Crosby is a translator, writer, critic, and cultural entrepreneur.

Late in 2003, searching for a life’s work that could integrate the quest for truth, the existential need for beauty, and the service of a great good, and beginning to despair of ever finding such a mission, he called Alice von Hildebrand to propose that he spend one year translating her late husband’s Aesthetics. Would she help, he asked.

She did, and her blessing transformed his one-year plan into lifelong mission that soon attracted the collaboration of others. Thus, the life’s work he had sought found him. Established in February 2004, the Hildebrand Project’s mission to renew culture has grown to encompass publications, events, fellowships, and online resources that draw on the continuing vitality of Dietrich von Hildebrand’s thought and witness.

Under his leadership, the Hildebrand Project has become the world’s leading organization dedicated to Dietrich von Hildebrand’s legacy. The Project has been supported by many leading foundations and donors, including the Bradley Foundation, Chiaroscuro Foundation, Earhart Foundation, Fieldstead & Company, Henry Luce Foundation, Luddy Charitable Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Our Sunday Visitor Institute, Papal Foundation, and the Raskob Foundation.

He was the editor of a new edition of Dietrich von Hildebrand’s The Heart (St. Augustine’s Press, 2007). He joined John F. Crosby as co-translator of Hildebrand’s major philosophical work, The Nature of Love (St. Augustine’s Press, 2009). He edited Selected Papers in the Philosophy of Dietrich von Hildebrand (2012), the first major volume of essays on von Hildebrand in two decades. Most recently he is the primary compiler, editor, and translator of Hildebrand’s anti-Nazi papers, My Battle Against Hitler (Random House, 2014).

His work has been featured in both popular (e.g., The Daily Beast) and scholarly publications (Logos Journal). His numerous radio appearances have taken him from PRI’s The Takeaway to the Hugh Hewitt Show. He was host of He Dared Speak the Truth, a 14-part television series on the life of Dietrich von Hildebrand, which aired on EWTN (2014).

Son of an Austrian mother and an American father, his mother tongue was German. Both his undergraduate studies in philosophy, history, and literature (2000) as well as his graduate studies in philosophy (2001) were pursued at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

He was for many years a violinist. As a student of Daniel Heifetz, he was formed in the great violinistic traditions of Henryk Szeryng, David Oistrakh, and Ivan Galamian.

He serves as a trustee of The Personalist Project.

In 2010 he married Robin-Marie Bobak. Through their marriage—and all the more with the birth of their children Magdalene (2011), Robin (2013), John Henry, Jr. (2015), and Peter—he has found (or, again, been found by) an integration of the good, true, and beautiful far greater than any he has ever known.

Associated Scholar

Elisa Grimi

Elisa Grimi is Executive Director of the European Society for Moral Philosophy and the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Philosophical News. On May 30, 2014, she received the Paolo Michele Erede Foundation First Prize with a work on “Politics and Network”. She has studied and worked at various universities throughout the world, in countries including Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, England, France, and the United States. She is the author of numerous publications.

The European Society for Moral Philosophy

Executive Director

Research Areas:

Ethics, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Analytic Philosophy

More about Elisa Grimi

Select Bibliography

D. von Hildebrand. L’arte del vivere. Introduction by E. Grimi. Preface by J.F. Crosby. Morcelliana, 2022.

D. von Hildebrand. Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven. Afterword by E. Grimi. Abscondita, 2022.

E. Grimi. Epistemologia della morale nel pensiero di Dietrich von Hildebrand. Con un saggio di Dietrich von Hildebrand “La detronizzazione della verità.” Mimesis, 2020.

E Grimi, “Ritorno a Dio. Bonaventura e von Hildebrand”. Vivens Homo, 31/2, Dehoniane, Bologna.

E. Grimi (ed.). Romano Guardini, modernità e post-modernità. Stamen 2nd ed. 2020.

E. Grimi (ed.). Virtue Ethics. Retrospect and Prospect. Springer, 2019.

E. Grimi – L. Di Donato. Metaphysics of Human Rights 1948–2018: On the Occasion of the 70th Anniversary of the UDHR . Vernon Press, 2019.

E. Grimi (ed.). “Dietrich von Hildebrand and Christian Personalism”. Philosophical News, N. 16, July 2018, Mimesis International, Milan-London.

E. Grimi. G.E.M. Anscombe. Guida alla lettura di Intention. Carocci, 2018.

E. Grimi (ed.). Dossier La philosophie de l’humilité. Recherches Philosophiques, ICT, 2017.

E. Grimi – R. Brague. Contro il cristianismo e l’umanismo. Il perdono dell’Occidente. Cantagalli, 2016.

E. Grimi (ed.). Tradition as the Future for Innovation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.

E. Grimi. G.E.M. Anscombe: The Dragon Lady. Edizioni Cantagalli, 2014.

Vice President & Publisher

Christopher T. Haley

“Only the brave return to the source.” — a favorite line from a Hölderlin poem. For Christopher, the source was beauty. Philosophy has always captured his interest, but it was beauty that was his first love, that first broke his heart (and a broken heart the Lord will not refuse, Ps. 51). After many years in school studying philosophy at St. Edward’s University (where he discovered Catholicism) ancient languages at the University of Texas (where he converted from atheism to Catholicism), and the University of Dallas (where he was introduced to Christian Personalism) Christopher misread Aristotle’s Rhetoric and decided that he needed to do something “practical;” so he began working in teaching, marketing, and politics, striking out in new areas with innovative ideas drawn from classical sources (he has a restive habit of starting new projects and companies).

But his restless soul brought him back to philosophy. He had heard of Dietrich von Hildebrand while studying St. Edith Stein at the University of Dallas, and was eagerly awaiting the publication of Hildebrand’s Aesthetics, when one day his mentor at UD suggested that he apply for a Summer Fellowship with the Hildebrand Project. So he dropped everything and applied. Now, Christopher has always had the strange practice of including his favorite poets and composers on his resume, and for once, it worked (he always knew it would!): at the Hildebrand Project, he finally found a place where a love for beauty mattered—and thus he returned to the source.

At the end of his Summer Fellowship, he was so excited about the potential of the Hildebrand Project that he refused to leave, finding clever ways to insert himself into vital operations and creating entire program areas with no one to manage them but himself. As a result, he now oversees the Hildebrand Project’s publishing enterprise, marketing, communications, and has helped pioneer a number of innovative and successful programs.

In his free time—when he gets free time—he likes to listen to classical music, write essays, ride two-wheeled vehicles, and build things. He also hosts a weekly theology symposium at a bar in his beloved state of Texas.

Associated Scholar

Robert McNamara

Robert is an Associate Professor of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he teaches philosophy and theology, an associate member of faculty of the International Theological Institute and the Maryvale Institute, an Associated Scholar of the Hildebrand Project, and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland, for which he currently holds the position of secretary. Robert was educated at the National University of Ireland Galway, where he studied physics and applied science, Maynooth University and St. Patrick’s College, where he studied philosophy and theological studies, the International Theological Institute, where he received a master’s degree in the theology of marriage and family, and Liverpool Hope University, where he completed a doctorate of philosophy detailing Edith Stein’s engagement with the thought of Thomas Aquinas in her mature philosophy of the human person. Robert is originally from Galway, Ireland.

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Research Areas:

Ethics, Moral Philosophy, Metaphysics, Personalism, Edith Stein, Thomas Aquinas (Thomism)

More about Robert McNamara

Select Bibliography

‘The Concept of Christian Philosophy in Edith Stein’, in American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 94.2 (2020), pp. 323-46.

‘The Cognition of the Human Individual in the Mature Thought of Edith Stein’, in Philosophical News, a Publication of the European Society for Moral Philosophy, ed. Elisa Grimi, 16 (forthcoming).

‘Human Individuality in Stein’s Mature Works’, in Edith Steins Herausforderung heutiger Anthropologie, ed. by Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz and Mette Lebech (Heiligenkreuz: Be&Be, 2017), pp. 124-39

‘Essence in Edith Stein’s Festschrift Dialogue’, in Alles Wesentliche lässt sich nicht schreiben, ed. by Andreas Speer and Stephen Regh (Freiburg i. Br.: Herder, 2016), pp. 175-94. Paper Presentations:

‘Edith Stein’s Understanding of Human Flourishing’, St. Saviour’s Symposium, Dominican House of Studies, Dublin, Ireland (2020).

‘Edith Stein’s Understanding of Human Unity and Bodily Formation’, 5th biennial International Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Philosophy of Edith Stein (IASPES), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany (2019).

‘Edith Stein’s Understanding of the Soul as Form of the Body’, The International Theological Institute, Trumau, Austria (2018).

‘The Cognition of the Human Individual’, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, U.S.A. (2018).

‘Individuality in Stein Reading Aquinas’, 3rd biennial International Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Philosophy of Edith Stein (IASPES), University of Vienna, Austria (2016).

‘Essence in Husserl and Aquinas’, International Conference: ‘What’s essential can’t be written: Edith Stein’s Life and Thought as reflected in her oeuvre’, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany (2014).

Academic Advisor

Mark K. Spencer

University of St Thomas, MN Professor of Philosophy

Research Areas: Philosophical Anthropology, Aesthetics, Metaphysics, Philosophical Theology

Dr. Mark K. Spencer, Ph.D. is a Professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Spencer fell in love with philosophy in high school when he first encountered the writings of Albert Camus and St. Thomas Aquinas. He earned his Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo, and his M.A. and B.A. from Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he first encountered the work of Dietrich von Hildebrand. He is the author of 2 books and over 60 papers and reviews, mostly focusing on the nature of the human person, beauty, and God’s relations to us. In his research, he above all tries to synthesize many traditions’ approaches to these topics, drawing on the scholastic, phenomenological, analytic, and Greek Patristic traditions. Among the things he takes greatest delight in is introducing students to the insights of these traditions, so as to help them better perceive and contemplate reality, for which he finds the work of von Hildebrand an indispensable guide. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife, Susanna, and their four children. Together, they especially enjoy hiking, camping, reading novels, watching films, gardening, and homeschooling.

More about Dr. Mark Spencer

Select Bibliography

“Created Persons are Subsistent Relations: A Scholastic-Phenomenological Synthesis.” Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 89, Analyzing Catholic Philosophy (2015): 225-243.

“Aristotelian Substance and Personalistic Subjectivity.” International Philosophical Quarterly 55:2 (June 2015): 145-164.

“Divine Causality and Created Freedom: A Thomistic Personalist View.” Nova et Vetera 14:3 (Summer 2016): 375-419.

“The Many Powers of the Human Soul: Von Hildebrand’s Contribution to Scholastic Philosophical Anthropology,” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 91:4, Special Issue on Dietrich Von Hildebrand (Fall 2017): 719-735.

“Perceiving the Image of God in the Whole Human Person,” The Saint Anselm Journal 13:2 (Spring 2018): 1-18.

“Sense Perception and the Flourishing of the Human Person in von Hildebrand and the Aristotelian Traditions,” Tópicos, Revista de Filosofía 56 (2019): 95-118.

“Beauty and Being in von Hildebrand and the Aristotelian Tradition,” The Review of Metaphysics 73:2 (December 2019): 311-334.

“Covenantal Metaphysics and Cosmological Metaphysics: An Aesthetic Critique and an Aesthetic Synthesis”, The Saint Anselm Journal 15:2 (Spring 2020): forthcoming.

“Beauty and the Intellectual Virtues in Aristotle,” in Beauty and the Good: Past Interpretations and Their Contemporary Relevance ed. Alice Ramos, (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2020).

Associated Scholar

Maria Wolter

Dr. Wolter graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy, Theology, and History from Franciscan University of Steubenville. She pursued her M.A. in Philosophy, as well as her STB, M.A., and STL in Theology at the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven (KUL), Belgium, where she also received her Ph.D. in Philosophy. An Austrian-American national, she returned to Austria upon receiving her present appointment at Franciscan University of Steubenville at its Study Abroad Program in Gaming, Austria, in 2007.

Franciscan University, Austria Program

Instructor of Philosophy

Research Areas:

Phenomenology, Modern and Renaissance Philosophy, Axiology, Personalism, and Ethics.

Format

The Residency will begin with an opening dinner on Thursday, June 12, and conclude with dinner and symposium on Wednesday, June 18. Participants will depart on Thursday, June 19.

Mornings begin with daily presentations exploring core themes in Dietrich von Hildebrand’s thought, followed by in-depth seminar discussions of selected readings from his works.

Afternoons focus on special topics and diverse activities, including:

A half-day symposium examining the relevance of the Christian West in a post-Christian society, drawing on readings from Hildebrand, John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, and Roger Scruton.
A half-day symposium on the philosophical contributions of Josef Seifert.
Opportunities for graduate student presentations.
Optional one-on-one conversations with faculty.
Cultural exploration opportunities, including a guided tour to experience the historical and artistic significance of the Kartause.
Several hours of free time will be available each afternoon for reading, writing, or exploring the countryside.

Evenings begin with dinner followed by cultural evenings and informal presentations.

Apply for the Residency

Eligibility

The intended audience comprises three main groups:

Academics and researchers with an existing interest in Dietrich von Hildebrand and personalism, particularly those new to Hildebrand Project events, to establish new contacts and renew existing relationships.
Graduate students and scholars seeking to deepen their understanding of Dietrich von Hildebrand’s thought.
Professionals in business, government, intellectual, cultural, or social fields with a relevant interest in personalism.

Room, Board, & Travel

Single-occupancy dormitory housing and all meals will be provided for participants. Participants are responsible for their travel to and from Gaming. A shuttle service will be offered between St. Pölten (accessible by direct train from Vienna International Airport) and Gaming. Limited travel assistance will be available.

Cost

The Residency would not be possible without our generous benefactors, who have underwritten most, but not all, of the cost. We therefore kindly ask participants to contribute at one of the following two levels:

€300 for those with regular income; or attendees who are institutionally supported.
€100 for attendees without regular income, or who do not have institutional support.

While the true cost to host each participant is much higher than the fees, the fees play a critical role in making our annual program possible.

Aspiring and current scholars in extenuating circumstances may request travel support to attend the Residency by writing to events@hildebrandproject.org. Attendees are asked to pursue all possible funding sources (e.g. university departments, family, friends, outside grants, fundraisers, etc.) before reaching out. Please be specific with your request and note that the Hildebrand Project cannot commit to supporting all requests.

Apply for the Residency