Religion and Responsibility: Moral Reflection in a Global Age
A Conference in Honor of William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Theological Ethics, On The Occasion of His Becoming an Emeritus Professor
Throughout his time at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Theological Ethics, has advocated in his research and teaching for theological and philosophical ethics rooted in responsibility and hermeneutical thinking. Schweiker’s theological humanism is deeply influenced by classical and contemporary thinkers. His multidimensional approach aims to provide ways for cross-cultural and inter-religious moral reflection.
The first day of the conference will be organized around the so-called Quadrilateral of sources for theological and ethical reflection: reason, scripture, experience, and tradition. The second day will explore major themes in his work: comparison, hermeneutics, technology, and humanism. The conference will draw on the resources of history, literature, philosophy, sociology, and religion.
Given that Schweiker’s engagement with the history of ideas always serves a contemporary orientation, the contributions seek to explore the potential of his thinking for the contemporary university, society, and global realities even as they make their own constructive proposals.
Conference Schedule
Religion and Responsibility: Moral Reflection in a Global Age will take place at Swift Hall, Third Floor Lecture Hall. Swift Hall is located on the University of Chicago's Hyde Park Campus on the historic main quad.
Lecture Hall- Third Floor, Swift Hall
1025 E. 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
*This schedule is subject to updates and changes.
April 16, 2026
Day One Chair: Kristine Culp, Associate Professor of Theology and Dean of the Disciples Divinity House
Third Floor Lecture Hall Lobby
10:00 a.m. Welcome Remarks
James T. Robinson, Dean and Nathan Cummings Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School
10:05 a.m. "Reasons and the Paradox of Rationality"
Kevin Jung, Professor of Theological Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Wake Forest University
Kevin Jung is a Professor of Theological Ethics and Moral Philosophy at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. As a theological ethicist, his scholarly passion lies in demonstrating the enduring relevance of theological concepts and ideas to contemporary moral life by elucidating their meanings and significance. His primary research interests encompass a broad range of metaethical and normative issues, including moral epistemology, value theory, moral psychology, action theory, and the philosophy of religion.
11:15 a.m. "Cacophonous Authority: Scripture as resource in theology and ethics"
Swenson-Lengyel teaches courses in environmental ethics, religion and the environment, theology, and religious ethics. Her goal is to help students grapple with fundamental questions such as:
- What might it mean to live a good life in a world shot through by injustice and tragedy?
- How does environmental harm inflect and intensify those injustices and tragedies? How does understanding our environmental context impact our understanding of what it means to live well?
- How might religious symbols, rituals, and intellectual traditions help us to make sense of ourselves, our societies, and our place in the natural world?
Much of Swenson-Lengyel's research focuses on inaction in the face of climate change. She asks: why is inaction so persistent, especially among privileged and powerful actors, when the consequences of such inaction are practically and morally disastrous? She has drawn on religious, philosophical, and social scientific research in answering this question. In relation to these concerns, she has published several articles: on the role of hope and hopelessness in climate inaction; on the desires for ‘environmental purity’ as they influence climate inaction; and on the role that ‘apocalyptic imagination’ plays in climate inaction.
Swenson-Lengyel's recent work has turned to examine what the moral life looks like for those undergoing natural and environmental catastrophes. She is particularly focused on the way in which undergoing catastrophe can reveal aspects of being human and living morally that may not be apparent in safer, more controlled circumstances.
Session to be chaired by Michael Le Chevallier, MDiv'11, PhD'19, Sr. Associate Director and Director of National Partnerships, Lumen Christi Institute
Lunch Break
1:15 p.m. "Tradition as Source of Moral Resilience"
Darlene Weaver, Ph.D. is Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. She joined the University in July 2023 as provost, where she has led transformation throughout the academic enterprise, including strengthening the university's financial performance and implementing decision support. Her focus on student success includes increasing student accessibility, improving student retention, expanding programs for first-generation and underresourced students, implementing holistic advising, and extending experiential learning opportunities throughout the student body. She has supported faculty scholarship through the creation of the Office for Academic Research and improved learning spaces with attention to technology and innovation. She continues to champion curricular improvements, including cultivating new programs and majors.
Dr. Weaver previously served as associate provost for academic affairs and professor of theology at Duquesne University, and she spent 11 years at Villanova University, where she earned tenure and was promoted to associate professor. She was also a visiting assistant professor at Georgetown University.
Her academic expertise is in ethics, and she holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Religious Studies. She is the author of dozens of articles and two monographs. In addition to serving on several boards in the Dayton region and beyond, Dr. Weaver is an associate editor for the Journal of Religious Ethics and is a former series co-editor for the Moral Traditions series at Georgetown University Press.
2:30 p.m. "On Moral Experience"
Per Sundman, Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Religion at Uppsala University
3:45 p.m. “'Conscious of its responsibility before God and humankind…' The Preamble to the German Federal Constitution as a Theological Reminder"
Join for light bites and libations in the Swift Hall Common Room
Conference Schedule
April 17, 2026
Day Two Chair: Elizabeth Bucar, Professor of Religion; Dean's Leadership Fellow, Northeastern University
Join us for coffee before panels begin.
Third Floor Lecture Hall Lobby
10 a.m "The Comparative Self: Fitting Scholarship and Religion in Time"
David Clairmont, Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Notre Dame University
Clairmont studies comparative religious ethics, particularly the moral thought of Roman Catholicism and Theravada Buddhism, issues of method in religious ethics, and the connection between ethics and spirituality. He is interested in questions of moral formation, inter-cultural dialogue in the Church, and the history of Christian spirituality (especially the Benedictine and Franciscan traditions). He is the author of Moral Struggle and Religious Ethics: On the Person as Classic in Comparative Theological Contexts (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011) and Religious Ethics: Meaning and Method (with William Schweiker, Wiley-Blackwell, 2020). He is the co-editor (with Don S. Browning) of American Religions and the Family: How Faith Traditions Cope with Modernization (Columbia University Press, 2007), the three volume Encyclopedia of Religious Ethics (with William Schweiker, Maria Antonaccio, and Elizabeth Bucar, Wiley-Blackwell, 2022) and the recently completed essay collection (with Kimberly Hope Belcher) Accountability, Healing, and Trust: Interdisciplinary Reflections for Ministry in the Midst of the Catholic Sex Abuse Crisis (Liturgical Press, 2025 [forthcoming]). His articles have appeared in the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the Journal of Religious Ethics, and the Journal of Moral Theology. His current projects include a book on the religious ethics of Thomas Merton, a co-authored book on theology and business ethics, and a book on the religious ethics of Native American/First Nation communities.
11:15 a.m. “How, if at all': Becoming Human in the Age of AI”
Sara-Jo Swiatek, Instructor of Theology and Religious Studies, Seattle University
Sara-Jo Swiatek holds a PhD in Religious Ethics from the University of Chicago Divinity School. She specializes in theological and philosophical ethics, particularly Kantian moral philosophy and the ethical dimensions of human-technology relations. Her scholarly work brings theological resources to contemporary moral debates, demonstrating how religious perspectives offer important insights into the complexities of the moral life.
Lunch Break
1:15 p.m. "Hermeneutics in the Post-Truth Era: The Perils of Making Sense in an Environment of Unmitigated Bullshitting"
W. David Hall, W. George Matton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy & Religion at Centre College
David Hall is the W. George Matton Professor Emeritus at Centre College. He taught for 23 years at Centre College in Kentucky before moving to Augsburg University. His recent publications include How to Think Philosophically (2024) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theology, and Political Resistance (2020). He completed doctoral work at the University of Chicago.
2:30 p.m. "Corrupting the Conditions for Radical Interpretation: Theological Humanism and the Problem of Phronetic Injustice"
Blaize Gervais, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith
3:45 p.m. Panel Discussion: Rememberance and Pedagogy
Panelists
- David Barr Assistant Professor of Religion and Theology at Berry College
- Foster Pinkney Independent Scholar
- Virginia White Teaching Fellow, University of Chicago Divinity School
- Kelly Danner Rogalla Ph.D. Student, University of Chicago Divinity School
Chair: Santiago Piñon, Associate Professor of Religion and Gender at Texas Christian University
4:45 p.m. Keynote Speech "Enchiridion: On the Integrity of Life"
William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Theological Ethics
William Schweiker works in the field of theological ethics. His scholarship and teaching engage theological and ethical questions attentive to global dynamics, comparative religious ethics, history of ethics, and hermeneutical philosophy. He is best known as a visiting professor at universities worldwide and has been deeply involved in collaborative international scholarly projects. His books include Mimetic Reflections: A Study in Hermeneutics, Theology and Ethics (1990); Responsibility and Christian Ethics (1995); Power, Value and Conviction: Theological Ethics in the Postmodern Age (1998); Theological Ethics and Global Dynamics: In the Time of Many Worlds (2004); Religion and the Human Future: An Essay in Theological Humanism (2008, with David E. Klemm); Dust that Breathes: Christian Faith and the New Humanisms (2010); and Religious Ethics: Meaning and Method (2020, with David Clairmont).
6 p.m. Reception in the Swift Hall Common Room
Professor Willemien Otten to emcee
Speakers and Panelists
William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Theological Ethics
Günter Thomas, Chair of Systematic Theology, Ethics and Fundamental Theology at Ruhr University, Bochum
Kevin Jung, Professor of Theological Ethics and Moral Philosophy at Wake Forest University
Willa Swenson-Lengyel, Holmes Rolston III Chair in Religion and Science, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Davidson College
Darlene Weaver, Professor; Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at University of Dayton
Kristine A. Culp, Associate Professor of Theology and Dean of the Disciples Divinity House
Day One Chair
David Clairmont, Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Notre Dame University
W. David Hall, W. George Matton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy & Religion at Centre College
