Columbia University’s Department of Philosophy, the Morningside Institute, and the Thomistic Institute are pleased to present “The Moral Imagination of the Novel.”

The conference will examine the ways in which individual novels and the novel as a literary genre can be understood both to depict the search for moral, philosophical, and religious truth and to engage in this very search themselves. Is the novel a realistic or idealistic genre? Can novels expand our sense of moral possibilities? Can they contract them? 

The conference will begin with four twenty-minute graduate student papers on Friday, October 4, followed by talks that day and the next from faculty. Confirmed speakers include Paul Elie (Georgetown), Lauren Kopajtic (Fordham), Dhananjay Jagannathan (Columbia), Sr. Ann Astell (Notre Dame), and Thomas Pavel (Chicago).

This event is free and open to the public, but please register for the conference using the link below.

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Schedule

Friday, October 4

1:00 PM Two graduate student papers in Philosophy Hall 302, Columbia University

2:20 PM Two graduate student papers in Philosophy Hall 302, Columbia University

5:00 PM Paul Elie (Georgetown) in Riverside Church, Room MLK 411

6:30 PM Reception 

Saturday, October 5 - Riverside Church, Room 9T

9:30 AM Breakfast

10:00 AM Lauren Kopajtic (Fordham)

11:15 AM Break

11:30 AM Dhananjay Jagannathan (Columbia)

12:45 PM Break

2:15 PM Ann Astell (University of Notre Dame)

3:30 PM Break

3:45 PM Thomas Pavel (Chicago)

5:00 PM Break

5:15 PM Roundtable Discussion