Institute Programming

The Gary L. McDowell Institute hosts a wide variety of events for students, faculty, and the University community. Institute programming focuses on the history of ideas and stresses the importance of viewpoint diversity as a way of realizing the prospects of leadership.

Participants in the McDowell Student Fellows Program and faculty seminars discuss works that address the place of the classics in a liberal education, freedom of thought and expression, and potential solutions to social and political problems. The Institute is also home to a longstanding lecture series. Open to students, faculty, staff, and the larger Richmond community, the lectures feature some of the world's top scholars and most influential thinkers.

2022-23 Student Fellows Activities

	Sept. 30, 2022 Meeting with Dr. Alison McQueen, followed by her public lecture Reading: "The Wages of Fear" by Dr. Alison McQueen
	Oct. 18, 2022 Dinner and discussion at the Jenkins Greek Theatre Reading: "Apology" by Plato
	Oct. 24, 2022 Jepson Leadership Forum lecture "Free Speech and Open Inquiry in Higher Education" given by Dr. Alice Dreger
	Nov. 30, 2022 Jepson Leadership Forum lecture "U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan" given by Congressman Seth Moulton
	Spring 2023 Bi-weekly meetings to discuss Dr. Roosevelt Montás' "Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation" in preparation for the author's March 16 visit.

2022-23 Faculty Workshops 

Dec. 2, 2022 • 3 p.m. Do We Need Less Moralistic Humanities?  A faculty workshop led by Dr. Nicolas Langlitz, associate professor and chair of anthropology at The New School for Social Research, and Dr. Christopher von Rueden, associate professor of leadership studies at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond.

2022-23 Public Lectures 

	March 16, 2023 • 5 p.m.   Lecture by Dr. Roosevelt Montás Senior lecturer in American studies and English, Columbia University, and author of "Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation"
	Sept. 30, 2022 • 4 p.m. • Ukrop Auditorium Lecture titled "Realism, Ethics, and Catastrophe" by Dr. Alison McQueen  Associate professor of political science and, by courtesy, of history,  Stanford University Watch the video. Listen to the audio.

2023-24 Public Lectures 

	Sept. 28, 2023 • 5 p.m. Lecture titled "Why Thomas Sowell Matters" by Jason L. Riley Senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and columnist for the Wall Street Journal
	Nov. 9, 2023 • 5 p.m. Lecture titled "Don't Cancel the Classics, Broaden and Diversify Them" by Dr. Angel Adams Parham Associate professor of sociology, University of Virginia
	March 21, 2024   Lecture by Dr. Zena Hitz  Tutor at St. John’s College and author of "Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life"