The University of Dallas will host this year’s conference of the American Maritain Association (AMA), an academic society of Catholic scholars inspired by the late philosopher Jacques Maritain. The conference will take place April 27-29.

UD’s own Timothy Shah, Ph.D., will deliver a plenary address at the conference. Shah, a distinguished research scholar of the Politics Department, specializes in religious freedom, political thought and global politics. Additionally, Shah has served as a senior fellow of the Archbridge Institute and is the principal investigator for the Freedom of Religious Institutions in Society project at the Religious Freedom Institute. Shah has written and edited several books on religious freedom, including “Under Caesar’s Sword: How Christians Respond to Persecution.”

Shah’s speech, “How to Resist the Siren Song of Catholic Integralism: Lessons from Jacques and Raïssa Maritain,” will address questions of the proper role of faith in government.

A panel on “Aesthetics, Spirituality and Realism” will also include UD Ph.D. candidate Michael Potts, who will speak on art and the soul.

Maritain, one of the 20th century’s foremost Catholic philosophers, applied the classical logical methods of the Thomistic tradition to the questions of modern ethics, science, art and politics.

For over 40 years, the AMA has been holding annual conferences and publishing peer-reviewed collections of the papers presented at their meetings. AMA President James Jacobs, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at Notre Dame Seminary, pointed out that this year’s conference will mark a half century since Maritain’s passing.

“We have met annually since 1977, being hosted by institutions from every corner of the country. We are happy to have the University of Dallas serve as host for this year’s meeting, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Jacques Maritain,” Jacobs said.

Those interested in attending may register here. The association has generously waived the fee for any UD students who would like to attend.

About the University of Dallas

The University of Dallas is the premier Catholic liberal arts university in the country, nationally known for its undergraduate Core Curriculum. With campuses in Texas and Italy, UD is committed to the pursuit of wisdom, truth and virtue as the proper ends of education. For more information, visit udallas.edu.