This talk will be held in-person and streamed live on our YouTube channel. Vist the event main page to find the viewing link. About the Talk Patriotism is integral to the European political tradition, and the Middle Ages rehabilitated and transformed amor patriae of the ancient origins. However, the history of patriotism is complicated and notoriously elusive. This lecture proposes an analytical framework of what I call ‘three prototypes of patriotism’: military, civil, and endemic. The lecture will survey medieval variations of military patriotism (pro patria mori) and civil patriotism (the exercise of civic virtues for the common good) before turning to an examination of endemic patriotism in the late Middle Ages, which eulogised the native land and naturalised the love of country. An exploration into the medieval legacy will highlight a central theoretical issue of contemporary relevance: what constitutes the patria? About the Speaker Takashi Shogimen is professor of history at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Originally from Japan, Takashi obtained a Ph.D. in medieval history at the University of Sheffield. Subsequently he was a research Fellow at Clare Hall in the University of Cambridge before arriving at the University of Otago in 2004. Takashi is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Foreign Member of Academia Europaea. He has published 12 books and more than 50 articles and book chapters in English and Japanese. His publications include Ockham and Political Discourse in the Late Middle Ages (Cambridge University Press, 2007), The Birth of European Political Thought (University of Nagoya Press, 2013), which won the 2013 Suntory Prize, one of Japan’s most prestigious awards for scholars in humanities, and most recently, an edited volume, Rethinking Medieval and Renaissance Political Thought (Routledge, 2023).About the Series In 2002, the Medieval Institute inaugurated a lecture series in honor of Robert M. and Ricki Conway. Robert Conway was a 1966 graduate of Notre Dame and trustee of the University, He was (and his wife Ricki continues to be) a long-time friend and supporter of the Medieval Institute. The annual Conway Lectures bring senior scholars of international distinction to Notre Dame each fall to speak on topics across a variety of disciplines. Originally published at medieval.nd.edu.

This talk will be held in-person and streamed live on our YouTube channel. Vist the event main page to find the viewing link. About the Talk Around 1350, Pierre Ceffons intervened with some writings in the political and ecclesiological debate of his time. His Letter of the Devil, recently reissued by Christopher Schabel, is perhaps his most famous writing. However, Ceffons also dealt with political issues in other as yet unpublished treatises. It is clear from reading these works that, in his view, one of the fundamental problems was the interpretation of Christ's kingship. On this point, believing he was criticising Marsilius of Padua and John of Jandun, Ceffons actually attacks Ockham and the Franciscan exiles in Munich at the court of Ludwig IV. About the Speaker Roberto Lambertini is an associate professor of history of medieval Europe and a full professor of medieval history at the University of Macerata. He is also a member of the Consiglio Direttivo of the Società Internazionale di Studi Francescani, editor of the journal Picenum Seraphicum, and director of the Centro Interuniversitario di Studi Francescani. His work focuses on ethical, ecclesiological and political issues between ca.1250-1350.About the Series In 2002, the Medieval Institute inaugurated a lecture series in honor of Robert M. and Ricki Conway. Robert Conway was a 1966 graduate of Notre Dame and trustee of the University, He was (and his wife Ricki continues to be) a long-time friend and supporter of the Medieval Institute. The annual Conway Lectures bring senior scholars of international distinction to Notre Dame each fall to speak on topics across a variety of disciplines. Originally published at medieval.nd.edu.

This talk will be held in-person and streamed live on our YouTube channel. Vist the event main page to find the viewing link. About the Talk The maxim Quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbari debet (often abbreviated Qot), or some variant thereof, was commonly employed in medieval political and legal writings. Translated into English as “what touches all must be approved by all,” it has ordinarily been understood by scholars to express a nascent justification of constitutionalism, democracy or popular sovereignty, or at any rate a principle underlying some system of representative government that limited the power of rulers. By contrast, I assert that Qot constituted a sort of rhetorical flourish, a cipher, that could be manipulated to suit a vast array of legal and political arguments. In support of this claim, I investigate the deployment of Qot in several of William of Ockham’s writings on the relation between the church and temporal power. Ultimately, it will become evident Ockham made it serve many purposes according to his polemical particular requirements. About the Speaker Cary J. Nederman is a professor of political science at Texas A&M University. His research concentrates on the history of Western political thought, with a specialization in Greek, Roman, and early European ideas up to the seventeenth century. The author or editor of more than 25 books, Nederman’s latest monographs are The Rope and the Chains: Machiavelli’s Early Thought and Its Transformations (Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield, 2023), The Bonds of Humanity: Cicero’s Legacies in European Social and Political Thought, c.1100-c.1550 (Penn State University Press, 2020), and Thomas Becket: An Intimate Portrait (Paulist Press, 2000). He recently co-edited The Research Handbook on the History of Political Thought (Edward Elgar, 2024). He has also published 175 journal articles and book chapters.About the Series In 2002, the Medieval Institute inaugurated a lecture series in honor of Robert M. and Ricki Conway. Robert Conway was a 1966 graduate of Notre Dame and trustee of the University, He was (and his wife Ricki continues to be) a long-time friend and supporter of the Medieval Institute. The annual Conway Lectures bring senior scholars of international distinction to Notre Dame each fall to speak on topics across a variety of disciplines.Originally published at medieval.nd.edu.

This talk will be held in-person and streamed live on our YouTube channel. Vist the event main page to find the viewing link. The final event in the 2024 Conway Lectures is our speaker roundtable on this year's theme, "Medieval Political Thought and its Legacy," featuring our three speakers. About the Conway Lectures In 2002, the Medieval Institute inaugurated a lecture series in honor of Robert M. and Ricki Conway. Robert Conway is a 1966 graduate of Notre Dame and trustee of the University, and he and his wife are long-time friends and supporters of the Medieval Institute. The annual Conway Lectures bring senior scholars of international distinction to Notre Dame each fall to speak on topics across a variety of disciplines.Originally published at medieval.nd.edu.

Register here  The Center for Social Concerns hopes you will join it each month for the Virtues & Vocations lunchtime webinar series, Conversations on Character & the Common Good. There is always time for audience questions. Angel Adams Parham is an associate professor of sociology and a senior fellow with the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Virginia. She is the author of The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature. We will consider how questions of moral purpose and character are integral to education. Virtues & Vocations is a national forum for scholars and practitioners across disciplines to consider how best to cultivate character in pre-professional and professional education. Virtues & Vocations hosts faculty workshops, an annual conference, and monthly webinars, and engages issues of character, professional identity, and moral purpose through our publications.

Javier Zamora is a Salvadoran poet and activist. In his debut New York Times bestselling memoir, Solito, Javier retells his nine-week odyssey across Guatemala, Mexico, and eventually through the Sonoran Desert. Zamora was a 2018-2019 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and holds fellowships from CantoMundo, Colgate University (Olive B. O’Connor), MacDowell, Macondo, the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation (Ruth Lilly), Stanford University (Stegner), and Yaddo. He is the recipient of a 2017 Lannan Literary Fellowship, the 2017 Narrative Prize, and the 2016 Barnes & Noble Writer for Writers Award for his work in the Undocupoets Campaign. Co-sponsors: Creative Writing Program, Department of American Studies, Institute for Latino Studies -- Join the Center for Social Concerns on Friday afternoons of home football weekends for MVP Fridays: lectures by national leaders, journalists, and writers on questions of meaning, values, and purpose.Learn more