International symposium takes a multi-disciplinary look at Augustine

From Nov. 9 to 11, Augustinian scholars from the United States, Canada, France and the United Kingdom lectured, listened and discussed the giant legacy of St. Augustine and how it applies not only to philosophy and theology but across almost every discipline included in the liberal arts.

The Rev. Edmund J. Dobbin, O.S.A. ‘58, welcomed the participants on the evening on Nov. 9 and spoke of his particular pleasure in hosting such a gathering. He thanked Dr. Mark Vessey of the University of British Columbia, who this semester held the Augustinian Chair in the Thought of St. Augustine, for organizing the event.

Father Dobbin recalled that during at the 1999 inauguration of the Augustinian chair, he had stated that the University’s identity as Augustinian was threefold. "The University is sponsored by the Augustinian Order, which has been a presence here for 158 years," he said and described as the second sign of Augustinian identity the fact that the University is called to embody the spirit and the educational philosophy of St. Augustine by its stress on the role of the liberal arts, by the interdisciplinary pursuit of truth, and by service to the community or "doing truth" as he put it.

Thirdly, the president said, "our task is to be a center in which the Thought of St. Augustine is presented."

Dr. R.A. Marcus of Nottingham University, one of the foremost Augustinian scholars of the last half of the 290^th century, gave the keynote speech and, appropriately addressed the disciplinary contexts for the study of Augustine that have evolved during the past 50 years. Dr. Peter Brown of Princeton University, arguably the most important biographer of Augustine of this period introduced his colleague and good friend.

During the following days, Augustine was studied from the contexts of the liberal arts, philosophy, music, literature, history and more. The final session looked to the future by focusing on evolving disciplinary concepts for the study of Augustine in the coming 50 years.