The Santayana Seminar Series is a forum for scholars to present their work on Santayana or to lead focused discussions on an important work by or about Santayana. The Seminar encourages both the deep inquiry into Santayana’s thought and the broad exploration of Santayana’s relation to other thinkers, writers, or artists. Students and scholars from philosophy and other disciplines are invited to participate in the ongoing conversation about Santayana’s writings.

The Seminar meets irregularly and is sponsored by the Institute for American Thought and The Santayana Edition. The Institute and the Edition are located on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 902 West New York Street, Education/Social Work Building 0010, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202.

Upcoming PresentationS

There are no upcoming presentations at this time.

Past Presentations

Katarzyna Kremplewska, Polish Academy of Sciences
“Mask and Thought: The Conceptions of ‘the Self’ in Santayana’s Philosophy
Thursday 25 April 2013, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Samuel Kahn, Indiana U. Purdue U. Indianapolis
“Santayana’s Criticism of Kant”
Thursday 20 September 2012

Michael Brodrick, Vanderbilt University
“Reflections on Living Well”
Wednesday 15 April 2009

Matthew C. Flamm, PhD., Rockford College
“The Impious Naturalism of the New Atheists”
Thursday 10 April 2008

“Varieties of Naturalism: The Nature of Faith and Naturalist Responses to Atheism”: A panel discussion with Matthew C. Flamm, PhD, Rockford College; John Shook, PhD, Center for Inquiry; Beth Eddy, PhD, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Thursday 10 April 2008

Michael Brodrick, Vanderbilt University
“Aging and Spirituality”
Thursday 20 March 2008

Jessica Wahman, Ph.D., Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
“Eyes of the World: Santayana’s Ontology Set to Music”
Thursday 15 November 2007

James Seaton, Ph.D., Department of English, Michigan State University
“Is The Closing of the American Mind a Classic? Allan Bloom in Light of George Santayana”
Friday 27 April 2007

Richard M. Rubin, Ph.D., Washington University, St. Louis
“How Can a Person Committed to Social Progress Read Santayana Sympathetically?”
Thursday 21 September 2006