Each year, the American Maritain association gathers together to share the current research being pursued by our members, as well as to hear presentations by invited speakers. Each year, we choose a topic which provides the general guidelines for our talks and, ultimately, the overall theme for the sub-selection of texts that are included in the volumes that we publish in order to make the best work of our members’ and presenters’ available to the general public.

We are in the process of expanding our web presence. In the future, we will add details for our conferences, including the overall schedule of speakers. Below, you will find an outline of forty-three years of active philosophical and theological reflection inspired by the thought of Jacques Maritain.

Conference History

45th Annual Conference—Thomism and Contemporary Ideologies

April 7-9, 2022

DeSales University (Center Valley, Pennsylvania)

44th Annual Conference—Thomism and Freedom

March 19-20, 2021

Video Conference Meeting, hosted by DeSales University (Center Valley, Pennsylvania)

43rd Annual Conference—Whose Thomism? Which Tradition?

March 5-7, 2020

Co-hosted by The Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Ss. Cyril and Methodius (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and Franciscan University of Steubenville (Steubenville, OH)

42nd Annual Conference—Thomism and Theology

March 28-30, 2019

DeSales University (Center Valley, Pennsylvania)

41st Annual Conference—Thomism and Science

March 1-3, 2018

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

40th Annual Conference—Metaphysics and Politics: Jacques Maritain’s Existence and the Existent and the Person and the Common Good

March 2-4, 2017

Notre Dame Seminary (New Orleans, Louisiana)

39th Annual Conference—Along Unbeaten Pathways: Jacques Maritain’s Pursuit of Wisdom in Untrammeled Approaches

February 25-27, 2016

Fordham University (New York City, New York)

38th Annual Conference—Maritain Engagé: Thomism Faces the Global Challenge

February 26-28, 2015

University of San Francisco (San Francisco, California)

37th Annual Conference—The Young Jacques: Bergson, Raïssa and Friends

February 27-March 1, 2014

Providence College (Providence, Rhode Island)

36th Annual Conference—Art and Faith

October 11-13, 2012

La Salle University(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

35th Annual Conference—Ransoming the Time: Human Nature, Earthly Destiny and Christian Wisdom

October 13-15, 2011

St. Mary’s College (Notre Dame, Indiana)

34th Annual Conference—Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Scholasticism and Politics

October 14-16, 2010

Walsh University (North Canton, Ohio)

33rd Annual Conference—St. Thomas and the Problem of Evil

October 22-24, 2009

The University of St. Thomas (Houston, Texas)

32nd Annual Conference—Love and Friendship

October 23-25, 2008

Cohosted by Boston College & St. John’s Seminary (Boston, Massachusetts)

31st Annual Conference—The Majesty and Poverty of Metaphysics

October 25-27, 2007

University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Indiana)

30th Annual Conference—Nature, Science, and Wisdom: The Role of the Philosophy of Nature

November 2-5, 2006

Aquinas College
 (Nashville, Tennessee)

29th Annual Conference—Philosophy and Vocation: Conditions for Renewal; Commemorating Vatican II

October 13-16, 2005

The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.)

28th Annual Conference—The Renewal of Civilization: Toward Justice and Peace

October 21-24, 2004

Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia)

27th Annual Conference—The Human Person and a Culture of Freedom

October 16-19, 2003

University of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois)

26th Annual Conference—Jacques Maritain and America

October 17-20, 2002

Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey)

25th Annual Conference—Truth and Human Fellowship

October 18-21, 2001

Co-hosted by Mercer University & Walsh University (Boca Raton, Florida)

24th Annual Conference—Faith, Scholarship, and Culture in the 21st Century

October 19-22, 2000

University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Indiana)

23rd Annual Conference—Maritain, Gilson, and the Many Ways of Knowing

October 21-24, 1999

Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, California)

22nd Annual Conference—Pluralism, Politics, and Philosophy: Revisiting Maritain’s Man and the State

October 1-4, 1998

United States Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

21st Annual Conference—Maritain and the Arts

October 23-26, 1997

Co-hosted by Boston College & St. John’s Seminary (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts)

20th Annual Conference—Maritain and the Tradition: Continuity in Change

October 31-November 2, 1996

Arizona State University (Phoenix, Arizona)

19th Annual Conference—Education at the Crossroads: Maritain and the Academy

November 30-December 2, 1995

The College of Charleston (Charleston, South Carolina)

18th Annual Conference—Maritain and the United Nations: Human Rights, Human Nature and Politics

November 9-12, 1994

NYU & The Carnegie Institute (New York City, New York)

17th Annual Conference—The Silence of St. Thomas: On Thomism and Postmodernism

November 4-7, 1993

University of Dallas (Irving, Texas)

16th Annual Conference—The Present Crisis in Moral Philosophy: Ethics, Metaphysics and Religion

November 5-7, 1992

Rockhurst University (Kansas City, Missouri)

15th Annual Conference—Maritain and the Jews

October 10-12, 1991

Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)

14th Annual Conference—The Future of Thomism

October 25-27, 1990

Fordham University, Lincoln Center (New York City, New York)

13th Annual Conference—Philosophy and the Future of Civilization: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Twilight of Civilization

October 25-28, 1989

University of San Francisco (San Francisco, California)

12th Annual Conference—Freedom in the Modern World: Jacques Maritain, Yves R. Simon, and Mortimer J. Alder

October 28-30, 1988

University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Indiana)

11th Annual Conference—Jacques Maritain’s Existence and the Existent

October 29-November 1, 1987

Canadian Maritain Association (Montreal, Canada)

10th Annual Conference—Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Integral Humanism

October 3-5, 1986

The Center for Thomistic Studies (Houston, Texas)

9th Annual Conference—Jacques Maritain on Religion and Culture

October 11-13, 1985

Mercer University & Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia)

8th Annual Conference—Human Rights and Morality in Public Life

October 19-20, 1984

Loyola University (Chicago, Illinois)

7th Annual Conference—The Responsibility of the Contemporary Philosopher

October 28-29, 1983

Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey)

6th Annual Conference—The Moral and Political Philosophy of Jacques Maritain

May 24-27, 1982

University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Indiana)

5th Annual Conference—Art and Beauty

April 3, 1981

American Catholic Philosophical Association (St. Louis, Missouri)

4th Annual Conference (Seminar and Symposium)

A Conference-Seminar on Jacques Maritain’s The Degrees of Knowledge

May 9-10, 1980

St. Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri)

A Maritain-Merton Symposium: Spirituality in Secularized Society

September 25-26, 1980

International Jacques Maritain Institute (Louisville, Kentucky)

3rd Annual Conference—The Centenary of Aeterni Patris

April 20-29, 1979

The Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies (Toronto, Canada)

2nd Annual Conference—Human Rights

April 27-29, 1978

The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.)

1st Annual Conference—Art and Contemplation

May 25-28, 1977

Niagara University (Niagara, New York)