Georgetown University

The Thomistic Institute at Georgetown University presents a lecture by Dr. Zena Hitz of St. John’s College titled “The Intellectual Life of the Mother of God”.

Bunn Intercultural Center 115

Wednesday, February 12

7:00 PM

This lecture is free and open to the public.

About the lecture: One of the oldest and most pervasive European images of intellectual life features a teenaged girl who loved reading. In medieval and Renaissance art, Mary is very commonly pictured reading a book or a number of books. What does this image mean, and what does it tell us about Our Lady and about the life of the mind?

About the speaker: Zena Hitz is a Tutor at St. John's College where she teaches across the liberal arts. She is interested in defending intellectual activity for its own sake, as against its use for economic or political goals. Her forthcoming book, Intellectual Life, is rooted in essays that have appeared in First Things, Modern Age, and The Washington Post. Her scholarly work has focused on the political thought of Plato and Aristotle, especially the question of how law cultivates or fails to cultivate human excellence. She received an MPhil in Classics from Cambridge and studied Social Thought and Philosophy at the University of Chicago before finishing her PhD in Philosophy at Princeton.