The Austin Institute invites university faculty in Austin to a Happy Hour. Please join us for libations and collegial conversation.

What makes the American soul? The French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville was both a proponent of liberty and a critic of democratic excess and extreme individualism. Join us for a 4-week seminar with Dr. Dana Stauffer as we consider the deeper philosophical roots of the democratic soul.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute is sponsoring an 6-week study of Robert Nisbet's "Quest for Community," an analysis of modern life's search for profound community. Drs. Robert Koons and Ryan Womack will lead the discussion on the campus of UT-Austin.

Why, in the midst of plenty, are we so often sad? How, in the midst of sadness, can we laugh? Please join Dr. Womack for this 4-week seminar exploring the complexities of the self, guided by Walker Percy's satirical self-help book, Lost in the Cosmos (1985).

Nobody loves a commute, but many jobs are located in high-cost areas of the city. How can cities grow in ways that keep housing costs down but flourish economically? Join us for dinner and conversation at The Clay Pit to better understand these politics. Seating is limited to 20.

Most of us feel distracted. It is a cultural, not just an individual problem--and it requires cultural analysis. Join us at Founders Classical Academy as Dr. Ryan Womack (Ph.D., Baylor University) grapples with our modern challenges to cultivating attention.

Will artificial intelligence supersede human intelligence? Avoid the hype and hone your understanding of the nature and future of AI. Join us alongside Robert J. Marks (Computer Engineering) and Jay Richards (Philosophy) for a realistic take on AI and culture.

This one-day workshop is designed to give campus ministers and religious and civic leaders the vocabulary and tools they need to more confidently and productively engage our culture-wide conversation about sexuality and gender issues.

Robert Louis Stevenson said that "Wine is bottled poetry." Part of the Good Life, what Aristotle called "eudaimonia," is discerning culture. This wine-tasting event is meant to unlock some poetry of the vine. Students must be of age, and we're limiting this to 12, so RSVP soon!

Goethe said, "Out of moderation a pure happiness springs." Without moderation, we cannot be free and we cannot be happy. How do we acquire the virtue in the first place? And how do we teach it? Join us at Founders Classical Academy as Dr. Michael Foley (Ph.D., Boston College) to discuss moderation.

The Classical and Christian traditions hold friendship as a measure of both happiness and virtue. But what makes a friendship? Join us for this four-part series with Dr. Erik Dempsey, UT-Austin professor of Core Texts and Ideas, in searching out the long and lasting art of friendship.

How can public policy help, or at least not harm, the family, the "first society"? Join us for dinner and conversation with Texas Public Policy Foundation Executive Director Dr. Kevin Roberts (History, UT-Austin). Please RSVP soon, as seating is limited to 20 people!

What does it mean to "reform" the the prisoner? What effects does this endeavor have on our culture? Join us for an enlightening dinner and conversation with Dr. Byron Johnson (Criminology and Sociology, Baylor) to unpack this issue. Please RSVP soon, as seating is limited to 20 persons!

The Austin Institute invites university faculty in Austin to a Happy Hour. Please join us for libations and collegial conversation.

The Austin Institute invites university faculty in Austin to a Happy Hour. Please join us for libations and a collegial conversation.

We invite you to a closed lecture and dinner with Dr. Matthew Crawford, philosopher, author, and motorcycle mechanic. This informal lecture and dinner conversation will examine what might be called a political philosophy of the gender and the body. RSVP today so we can count you in this conversation

What is education in an age of distraction? How can we better develop the powers of attention necessary for deep formation when so many challenges exist? Distraction is a rampant cultural problem, maybe even more than it is an individual temptation. Join us for a conversation with Matthew Crawford.

What does it mean to be have agency, to see the effect of one's choices in the world? In an increasingly virtual and engineered world of experience, the power to feel and know one's agency is more difficult. Join Dr. Womack for this weekly seminar in anticipation of Dr. Crawford's November visit!