Professor James Schall, S.J. to Speak at Annual Aquinas Convocation

January 7, 2005

COLUMBUS, OH - Professor James V. Schall, S.J. will be the keynote speaker at Ohio Dominican University's annual Convocation in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas, to be held on Wednesday, January 26, 2005.

The convocation will begin at 10:30 a.m., when Professor Schall will deliver a lecture on the theme, "Relevance of Thomas Aquinas." The lecture will be held in The Little Theatre on the second floor of Erskine Hall on Ohio Dominican's main campus, 1216 Sunbury Road. The event is open to the public and free parking is available in the Visitor's Lot to the west of Sunbury Road.

At noon, immediately following the lecture, there will be a Eucharistic celebration in Christ the King Chapel, located on the ODU campus in Sansbury Hall. The Most Reverend Frederick F. Campbell, Bishop of Columbus, celebrate mass.

James V. Schall, S.J. is a professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. His books include: Another Sort of Learning, At the Limits of Political Philosophy, On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs, Schall on Chesterton, Idylls and Rambles, What Is God Like? and Jacques Maritain: A Philosopher in Society.

The convocation is sponsored by ODU's Division of Theology and Philosophy in honor of the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, which is Monday, January 31, 2005. The Feast is celebrated by Ohio Dominican for special reasons. In 1911, the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs founded the college in the tradition of Dominic de Guzman, who created their order, the "Order of Preachers." One of the most known and well-loved Dominicans was Tommaso de Aquino. Aquinas, who died at the age of 49, taught, preached, and wrote over 90 works. In these, he discusses the mystery of God, creation, and our own meaning. In celebrating Thomas Aquinas, ODU celebrates its own origins as a Dominican community of higher learning.