PROGRAMS
Come learn with us
Our programming offers opportunities to explore the intellectual and cultural resources of the Christian tradition through stand-alone events, multi-week reading groups, as well as more sustained communities of intellectual and moral formation for students and faculty.
All of our programs embody our commitment to hospitality, generous conversation, and the integration of faith and life.
Classes
Guest Lectures
"The Most Peculiar Gift"
Dr. Talbot Brewer
Tuesday, July 21 at 7:00pm
Christian Study Center of Gainesville (in the Classroom)
Appetizers and refreshments provided
Join us for an evening lecture with Dr. Talbot Brewer (Philosophy, University of Virginia) as we explore the gift of being. Drawing from the works of Aristotle and Plato, Brewer will discuss the roles of language, thinking, and virtue in this gift of being and the threat that new information technologies pose to properly receiving this gift.
Speaker Bio:
Talbot Brewer is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. He specializes in ethics and political philosophy, with particular attention to moral psychology and Aristotelian ethics. He has been a visiting professor in the Harvard University Philosophy Department and has authored two books, the most recent of which is The Retrieval of Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2009).
Reading Groups
Symposium Reading Group
Dr. Nathan Rothschild
Thursdays, July 9 - August 6 | 11:45 AM -12:35 PM
CSC Classroom
Plato’s Symposium weaves together themes of love, transcendence, and the power of beauty to change our lives for the better. We will spend five weeks reading Plato’s dialogue in the attempt to better understand what Plato has to say about these topics as well as explore how they embody a conception of human beings as essentially aspiring (or, as Plato would put it, “erotic”) creatures. We will also spend some of our time thinking about the figure of Socrates, since, in addition to being a dialogue about love, Symposium is also a dialogue about loving Socrates. In addition to Symposium, this group will read an excerpt from Jonathan Lear’s The Concept of Irony.
About the facilitator:
Nathan Rothschild did his PhD work at the University of Chicago and was briefly a post-doc at Bowdoin College before coming to the University of Florida. He is a specialist in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, whose main interest is in philosophical psychology which he understands as an intersection of metaphysics and ethics. The philosophers he cares about most are Plato, Aristotle, and Heidegger. He also has a deep respect for the psychoanalytic tradition of depth psychology. Currently, he is working on Plato’s account of thumos (narcissism) and concept of intra-psychic persuasion. One day he hopes to be able to write a book on Plato’s belief that all desire is erotic.
Till We Have Faces Reading Group
John Mark Vondruska and Ethan Williamson
Mondays, July 6 - August 3 | 11:45 AM - 12:35 PM
Christian Study Center Classroom
How does one love without an end? C.S. Lewis’s retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche lingers long on this question. Till We Have Faces masterfully interweaves human fallibility against the silent and mysterious workings of a higher power––all while staying true to the glittering ferocity of the Bronze Age. Join us as we plumb the depths of this hauntingly beautiful text and explore what Lewis’s last novel has to say about being human.
This group will meet weekly on Mondays from July 6 to August 3 at 11:45am in the Study Center classroom.
About the facilitators:
Ethan Williamson received his PhD in history from UF in spring 2025. His specializations include medieval Christianity, Byzantine history, and teaching world history. He is a passionate educator who is currently teaching as a postdoctoral fellow with the University Writing Program at UF. Ethan is also involved in religious education and teaching catechism at St. Elizabeth the Wonderworker Greek Orthodox Church.
John Mark is a wrapping up his last Summer as a Barista Fellow and is going into his first year in the Hamilton School’s MA in Intellectual History. He also unofficially lives at Pascal’s and enjoys deeply the conversations and coffee contained within the place where his imagination was baptized.
Special Events
Walker Percy Fellows Program
Walker Percy Fellows pursue the integration of faith, life, and learning during their undergraduate years. The program combines readings in the Christian tradition, fellowship around shared meals, and rich conversations to foster a community of intellectual and spiritual formation.
The 2025-2026 cohort will begin meeting this fall for Year One of the curriculum focused on the cultivation of the Christian Mind. During this year, students will receive a grounding in the biblical story and in a Christian understanding of the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.
Applications for the 2026-2027 cohort are closed.
