THE AUGUSTINIAN INSTITUTE

Painting of St. Augustine next to image of Villanova Church steeples at sunset

SHINING AUGUSTINE'S LIGHT
ON TODAY'S WORLD

Perhaps as at few other moments in the history of Christianity and Western culture is the figure and thought of Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) as pertinent as at the present. As a seeker after truth and love and as a thinker who faced the deepest human questions, he speaks to contemporary men and women with extraordinary pertinence.

For Villanova, as a Catholic university in the Augustinian tradition, this offers a unique challenge and opportunity. With its rich heritage, Villanova plays an important role in allowing that voice of Augustine to continue to speak effectively to today’s world. The Augustinian Institute serves the University as an agent and resource to support its efforts to give Augustine’s thought a vibrant and integral place within Villanova’s academic and community life.

Beyond the University, the Institute reaches out to the wider culture through conferences, publications, fellowships and other initiatives. Villanova University seeks to play a leading international role in bringing to our world the profound as well as timely heritage associated with the name and figure of St. Augustine of Hippo.
 

        

FROM THE DIRECTOR

The Augustinian Institute at Villanova, housed on the fourth floor of the Saint Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts, has a twofold mission. We aim to promote the study of Augustine, and his legacy, at Villanova, the nation’s Augustinian university. Equally important, if not more so, we want to let Augustine out of the house, so to speak, and introduce him to a world struggling for insight into that most burdened (and yet indispensable) of notions: the spiritual life. Augustine would have been the first to admit that his wisdom is piecemeal and partial and at times sadly lacking. But we feel he is good company to have along a road that winds through chastened certainty and wends its way toward honest seeking. That road is all of us. Or as Augustine liked to say, regarding the difficulty of the times, “we are the times” (Sermon 80).

James R. Wetzel, PhD

James Wetzel, PhD, Director of The Augustinian Institute, The Augustinian Endowed Chair in the Thought of St. Augustine

        

RESOURCES AND PROGRAMS

AUGUSTINIAN STUDIES

Augustinian Studies, Journal of the Augustinian Institute

Augustinian Studies is the journal of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University. Augustinian Studies is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal devoted to the study of the life, teachings and influence of Augustine of Hippo. It publishes articles from a variety of disciplines and perspectives including philosophy, theology and history, as well as article-length reviews of appropriate publications.

CONFESSIONS eBOOK

Confessions eBook displayed on laptop, iPad and iPhone

Augustine's classic text and a whole lot more. Designed for use in the classroom, the Confessions eBook is packed with special features including audio narration of the text, image galleries, expert commentaries, historical overviews and more. The Confessions eBook is regularly updated with new content.

 

 

FELLOWSHIPS

Augustine of Hippo painting

The Thomas F. Martin Saint Augustine Fellowship is designed to foster scholarship with the Augustinian tradition. Villanova, from its very outset, has sought to promote the study of Saint Augustine, both within the university and beyond.

All applications will be reviewed by a selection committee which will weigh the quality of the proposal as well as the merits of the proposed course.
 

Invited Thomas F. Martin Fellows

2024 Fall Semester
Dr. James K.A. Smith, Calvin University

2022 Fall Semester
Dr. Michael Cameron, University of Portland

2021 Fall Semester
Professor Philip Cary, Eastern University

2019 Fall Semester
Professor Geoffrey Dunn

2018 Fall Semester
Professor David G. Hunter, University of Kentucky

2017 Fall Semester
Professor Gerd Van Riel, KU Leuven

2016 Fall Semester
Dr. Jane Ellen Merdinger, Independent Scholar

2015 Fall Semester
Professor M. Burcht Pranger, University of Amsterdam

2014 Fall Semester
Dr. Carol Harrison, Durham University

2013 Fall Semester
William Harmless, S.J., Creighton University

2012 Fall Semester
James Patout Burns, Vanderbilt Divinity School

2011 Fall Semester
Dr. Maureen Tilley, Fordham University

The Imbesi Family Saint Augustine Fellowship is offered each spring semester to an outstanding scholar whose work contributes to the study of Augustine or of the Augustinian tradition.

All applications will be reviewed by a selection committee which will weigh the quality of the proposal as well as the merits of the proposed contributions.
 

Invited Imbesi Family Fellows

2023 Fall Semester
Dung B. Trang, LHC, Villanova University

2022 Spring Semester
Kathleen Bonnette, THD

2021 Spring Semester
Dr. Thomas R. Clemmons, The Catholic University of America

2020 Spring Semester
Dr. Han-luen Kantzer Komline, Western Theological Seminary

2019 Spring Semester
Matthew Puffer, Valparaiso University

2018 Spring Semester
Rev. Brian Dunkle, SJ, Boston College

2017 Spring Semester
Dr. Erika Kidd, University of St. Thomas

2016 Spring Semester
Gerald P. Boersma, St. Bonaventure University

2015 Spring Semester
Dr. Brian Matz, Carrollo College 

2014 Spring Semester
David Vincent Meconi, SJ, Saint Louis University

2013 Spring Semester
Dr. Kimberly Baker, Saint Meinrad Seminary & School of Theolog

2012 Spring Semester
Dr. Sarah Byers, Boston College

THE AUGUSTINE BLOG

banner for Augustine blog, "theology for transitional times" is written over a painting of Augustine

The Augustine Blog publishes short pieces from a wide range of authors who are engaged with the writings and legacy of St. Augustine. Experimenting with a variety of public-facing forms – such as reflections, essays, conversations, interviews, book reviews, etc. – these pieces may also adopt any number of postures towards Augustine and his wider influence.

LECTURES

screenshot of a recorded lecture in a large seminar room

To give Augustine’s thought a vibrant and integral place within Villanova’s academic and community life, the Institute offers the following lectures:

The Saint Augustine Lecture is presented annually at Villanova University and is currently published in Augustinian Studies and is available online. Prior to 1987, the lecture was published by Villanova University Press.

2024 
Reconsiderations VI - July 24-26
Charles Matthewes
University of Virginia
Politics After Augustine: Prospects for Unitas in a Foundationless Age

2023
Eric Gregory, Professor of Religion, Princeton University
Remythologizing Augustine: History and Politics at the Edge of Time
Recording

2022
Oliver O'Donovan
Fellow of the British Academy and professor emeritus of Christian ethics and practical Theology at the University of Edinburgh
Augustine's Treatment of the Great Psalm
Response by Michael Cameron, Professor of Historical Theology, University of Portland

ARCHIVES

September  2024
Dr. Ian Hutchinson
Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Explaining Nature Naturally .... and Faithfully

November 2023
Mary Ann Meyers, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow, John Templeton Foundation
Border Crossings:  Science and Religion in Conversation for Half a Century

ARCHIVES

AUGUSTINIAN HISTORICAL INSTITUTE

painting of St. Augustine

The Augustinian Historical Institute serves as a resource center for the study of the history of the Augustinian Order. Besides maintaining an extensive collection of materials on the history of the Order, the institute publishes scholarly books and articles on these topics along with some studies of St. Augustine.

CONTACT US

The Augustinian Institute
451 St. Augustine Center (SAC)
Villanova University
800 E. Lancaster Ave.
Villanova, PA 19085

Phone: 610.519.4780
Fax: 610.519.6098

Email The Augustinian Institute