The Thomistic Institute

Dr. Lydia Dugdale argues that physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are morally and medically dangerous because they normalize suicide, undermine the physician-patient covenant, and place vulnerable people at risk.

This lecture was given on February 12th, 2026, at Vanderbilt University.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Lydia Dugdale is the Silberberg Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University in New York City. As a medical doctor and ethicist, she cares for patients, consults on complex ethical issues in the hospital, and teaches medical trainees and undergraduate students. Her scholarly work focuses on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, the need to prepare well for death, and questions of moral injury and human flourishing. She is author of the book The Lost Art Of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom (HarperOne, 2020) and is currently writing a book on hope.

Keywords: Autonomy, Canada, Euthanasia, MAID, Medical Ethics, Oregon, Physician Assisted Suicide, Suffering, Vulnerable Patients, Life And Death

Prof. Nina Sophie Heereman shows how the Cross is a marriage feast by reading the Paschal Mystery through Old Testament nuptial imagery and the Gospel of John’s depiction of Christ as the divine Bridegroom uniting Himself to His people.

This lecture was given on March 5th, 2026, at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Heereman was born and raised in Germany. Originally trained to become a lawyer and after completing her bar exam, she experienced a deep encounter with the Lord which led her to consecrate her life to the study and teaching of the Word of God. She subsequently attended the ICPE school of Evangelization in India, Banglore, and studied theology in Frankfurt and Rome. She received an STB from the Pontifical Gregorian University, an SSL from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and the SSD from the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem and the Université de Fribourg. She has taught as a visiting professor at the Collège des Bernhardins in Paris, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, the DSPT in Berkley, and is currently Associate Professor for Sacred Scripture at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University. Her scholarly interests include a reintegration of Exegesis with Systematic and Spiritual Theology. She is the author of Behold King Solomon on the Day of His Wedding (Leuven: Peeters, 2021), and Athirst for the Spirit (Steubenville: Emmaus Press, 2023).

Keywords: Ancient Near East, Bridegroom, Covenant, Divine Human Marriage, Eucharist As Nuptial Banquet, Gospel Of John, Marriage Feast, Nuptial Mysticism, Paschal Mystery, Song Of Songs

Prof. Rik Van Nieuwenhove argues that Thomas Aquinas’s theology of hope offers a needed response to quiet despair by reorienting human life toward God, eternal beatitude, and the Paschal Mystery.

This lecture was given on March 12th, 2026, at University of Edinburgh.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Rik Van Nieuwenhove is Professor of Medieval Theology at Durham University, UK. He has published scholarly articles on medieval theology (especially Aquinas) and spirituality, theology of the Trinity, and soteriology. His books include: Providence, Evil and Salvation. A Thomist Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2026); Thomas Aquinas on Contemplation (Oxford: OUP, 2021); Introduction to Medieval Theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2nd ed., 2022); Jan van Ruusbroec. Mystical Theologian of the Trinity (IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003); Introduction to the Trinity (with D. Marmion) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011); and he is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Apophatic Theology (with John Betz) (Oxford: OUP, 2026); The Theology of Thomas Aquinas (with J. Wawrykow) (IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005); and Late Medieval Mysticism of the Low Countries (with R. Faesen & H. Rolfson) (NJ: Paulist Press, 2008).

Keywords: Aquinas, Assisted Dying, Despair, Divine Beatitude, Hope, Paschal Mystery, Presumption, Quiet Despair, Suffering, Theological Virtues

Prof. Christopher Frey argues that Stoicism offers real insights about freedom and detachment from externals, but its ideal of self-sufficient serenity risks flattening human emotion, moral life, and the need for grace.

This lecture was given on November 7th, 2024, at United States Military Academy.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Christopher Frey is currently the McFarlin Professor of Philosophy at The University of Tulsa. Prof. Frey works primarily in Ancient Greek philosophy, especially Aristotle’s natural philosophy and metaphysics. He also works in contemporary philosophy of perception and mind and has written extensively on the relationship between the intentionality and phenomenality of perceptual experience.

Keywords: Ancient Philosophy, Aquinas, Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, External Goods, Grace, Sorrow, Stoicism, Volition

Sr. Anna Wray argues that sorrow can either deform the soul as acedia or save it when rightly faced, and she offers a Thomistic account of how sorrow, friendship with God, and spiritual remedies shape the Christian life.

This lecture was given on November 6th, 2025, at Iowa State University.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Sister Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia of Nashville, TN. Sister received her PhD in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, having written her dissertation on Aristotle’s account of the activity of contemplation. Sister is an assistant professor on the faculty of CUA's School of Philosophy in Washington, DC, where she regularly teaches courses in rhetoric, philosophy of religion, and philosophical psychology. She is also an adjunct professor for Aquinas College, where she teaches metaphysics and epistemology to her sisters in formation. Her research and conversational interests include imagination and attention in human agency and speech, the effects of technology on human agency, and form as function and unifying activity.

Keywords: Acedia, Contemplation, Friendship With God, Gratitude, Sorrow, Sabbath, Thomistic Psychology, Spiritual Remedies