History & Publications

Founded in 1970 with the cooperation of three academic units of Boston University—the Department of Philosophy, Department of Religion, and School of Theology—the institute was envisioned as a home for serious philosophical and religious reflection. Under the successive directorships of Professor Lee Rouner and Professor M. David Eckel, the institute has become one of the premier locations on the American academic landscape for interdisciplinary conversation about perennial and pressing intellectual concerns. Over the years, the institute’s lecture series have focused on issues that cross the boundaries between different academic disciplines, and between scholars and the educated public. Past topics have included “Courage,” “Loneliness,” “Civility,” “Life, Death, and Immortality,” “Responsibility,” and “Evil.”

Past lecturers and participants have included Karen Armstrong, Robert Bellah, Wendy Doniger, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Charles Hartshorne, Bernard Lonergan, Jürgen Moltmann, W.V. Quine, Christopher Ricks, Paul Ricoeur, Ninian Smart, Huston Smith, Robert Thurman, and Elie Wiesel.

Publications

Boston Studies in Philosophy, Religion and Public Life

The institute is proud to announce the publication of the first volumes in its renewed research series (now published by Springer).

Boston University Studies in Philosophy and Religion

For further information and to purchase past volumes, please contact the University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (www.undpress.nd.edu).

Click on the volume title to see a list of contributors.