News
The Witherspoon Institute congratulates Ryan T. Anderson on his appointment to serve on the Religious Liberty Commission. President Trump established the commission on May 1, 2025 to examine the state […]
The Witherspoon Forum provides a space for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are serious about their studies to discuss foundational questions of human existence and contemporary cultural issues […]
The Witherspoon Institute congratulates Professor Bradford Wilson on his new appointment. Dr. Wilson, a senior fellow at the Witherspoon Institute, was selected by Utah Valley University’s Center for Constitutional Studies […]
The Witherspoon Institute announces the Spring 2024 seminars and dates for the Witherspoon Forum, the new online seminar forum for high school students in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades. Continuing […]
The Witherspoon Institute is excited to launch a new online seminar forum for high school students in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades. The Witherspoon Forum provides a space for high […]
On August 7th, Alexandra Davis joined the Witherspoon Institute’s staff as the new Managing Editor of Public Discourse, the Witherspoon Institute’s online journal. Alexandra received a B.A. in English and Comparative […]
This upcoming December 8th and 9th, the Witherspoon Institute will host a two-day undergraduate colloquium for Princeton University students that will explore the theological implications of astrobiology, with a focus […]
On May 31st, Routledge published the paperback version of The Multiverse and Participatory Metaphysics by Jamie Boulding, the Witherspoon Institute’s Associate Director of Programs and Development. The book offers a new theological […]
Public Discourse, Witherspoon’s online journal, is hiring for a new managing editor. The journal publishes daily essays to foster constructive discussions about the five pillars of a decent and dynamic […]
The Witherspoon Institute is excited to announce five seminars for the Spring Semester. The seminars explore the following themes: the significance of our bodily limits and differences; good, evil, and […]
Witherspoon’s Summer Seminars are a series of intense courses that examine different areas of human knowledge using the insights of the western intellectual tradition, including the theory of natural law, […]
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) will welcome R.J. Snell, the Witherspoon Institute’s Director of Academic Programs and Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse, to give the keynote address for their Spring 2023 […]
In October 2022, the Witherspoon Institute published the second edition of Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles. To celebrate the book’s publication, Public Discourse is hosting a webinar discussion with […]
Need recommendations or ideas for your 2023 reading list? See what the Public Discourse editorial team and Witherspoon staff read this past year from classic to contemporary literature. If you enjoy reading Public […]
This Spring the Witherspoon Institute will host three online seminars for high school juniors and seniors. Dr. Jamie Boulding will lead seminars on Faith and Reason and C.S. Lewis’ Abolition […]
On November 13, CanaVox hosted documentary filmmaker Jennifer Lahl for a screening of her latest piece, “The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters.” This powerful documentary chronicles the journeys of three […]
The Witherspoon Institute is excited to announce four seminars for the Fall Semester. The seminars explore the following themes: roots and freedom; the nature of hope; good, evil, and happiness […]
The Witherspoon Institute is delighted to announce the publication of the second edition of Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles. The book brings together scholarship from economics, history, law, philosophy, […]
Witherspoon welcomed 24 high school women to the second week of the Moral Life & Classical Tradition seminar, June 19 – 25, 2022. Students were introduced to ancient philosophy and […]
Witherspoon welcomed 21 high school men from around the United States to the first week of the Moral Life & Classical Tradition seminar June 12-18, 2022. Students read Plato, Aristotle, […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce its seminars for the Spring Semester on ambition, the character of anxiety, Dostoevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov, and an introduction to metaphysics. To read more […]
Witherspoon’s Summer Seminars are a series of intense courses that examine different areas of human knowledge using the insights of the western ethical tradition, including the theory of natural law. […]
Witherspoon’s Senior Fellow, Robert P. George, and Academic Director of Canavox, Ana Samuel, will be featured speakers at the Love & Fidelity Network’s Annual Conference on Friday, October 29, 2021 […]
The Institute is excited to announce its academic seminars for Fall 2021 on work and rest, education, relationships, and more. Learn more here about each seminar and how to sign […]
Witherspoon Distinguished Senior Fellow in Human Rights, Chen Guangcheng, spoke at the International Religious Freedom Summit in July in Washington, D. C and was recently interviewed on EWTN News Nightly. […]
The Witherspoon Institute has been pleased to welcome high school, college, and graduate students, as well as young professionals, to its 2021 summer seminars. The Moral Life & Classical Tradition […]
The Witherspoon Institute is looking to hire an operations manager for its marriage and family initiative, CanaVox. Please see the job description below for more details and for directions on […]
Professor Margarita Mooney Suarez, Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute and founder of the Scala Foundation, has just published her new book, The Love of Learning. This work tells the stories […]
The editors of Public Discourse invite conservatives of various schools to participate in the debates that will best advance our common cause. We believe that disagreement is not something to […]
The Witherspoon Institute is offering more online seminars for high school students in March on Thomas Hobbes and Thomas Aquinas on law, Aquinas on faith and reason, and Thornton Wilder […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce that as of February 1, 2021, R. J. Snell, Director of Academic Programs, will become Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse. Prior to joining Witherspoon in […]
The Witherspoon Institute is offering more online seminars for high school students on C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and the Federalist Papers in January. Applications are due December 31st. […]
CanaVox, Witherspoon’s grassroots marriage and family initiative, has launched a new curriculum for college students, graduates, and young professionals to help them discuss academic research on sexual integrity and issues […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce that applications for Summer 2021 seminars and internships are now open! Visit this page to learn more about each seminar and how to […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to offer new online seminars for high school students. During this unprecedented time, many young people are finding their education disrupted. We are offering opportunities […]
Witherspoon Research Scholar Sherif Girgis, faculty member of the Natural Law and Public Affairs seminar, and Professor Anna Moreland of Villanova University, faculty member of the First Principles seminar, will […]
Candace Vogler, director of the Witherspoon Institute’s summer Thomistic Seminar, will lead a new seminar series with David Brooks of the New York Times entitled “On Liberty for a New […]
Michael C. Maibach, Trustee of the Witherspoon Institute and Distinguished Fellow on American Federalism at Save Our States, recently appeared in a fascinating new documentary on the Founders’ Electoral College design. “Safeguard: An Electoral College […]
Witherspoon Distinguished Senior Fellow in Human Rights, Chen Guangcheng, spoke at the Republican National Convention at the end of August. He used this honor and national platform to draw attention […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce its seminars for Fall 2020 on cultural revolution, philosophy of education, Plato and the meaning of words, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, beauty & […]
The work of the Austin Institute and Mark Regnerus, contributing editor to The Witherspoon Institute’s online journal, Public Discourse, and professor of sociology at UT-Austin, continue to pay dividends in […]
In early July, Witherspoon’s Natural Law and Public Affairs seminar, led by Christopher Tollefsen (University of South Carolina), Robert P. George (Princeton University), Sherif Girgis (The Witherspoon Institute) and Ryan […]
Josh Hawley (R), United States Senator from Missouri, published his floor speech delivered on June 15, 2020, in Public Discourse. He responds to the recent Supreme Court decision on Bostock […]
The second edition of CanaVox’s booklet, Tips for Talking to Your Kids About Sex, is available on Amazon in English and Spanish. It includes practical advice and word-for-word conversation suggestions, […]
Sen. Marco Rubio published a piece in the Witherspoon Institute’s online journal, Public Discourse, observing, The murder of Mr. Floyd at the hands of law enforcement officers was an outrageous crime […]
Andrew T. Walker, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics and Apologetics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Executive Director and Fellow of the Carl F. H. Henry Institute for Evangelical […]
Robert P. George, Director of the James Madison Program at Princeton University and senior fellow of The Witherspoon Institute, Dr. Jacqueline Rivers, sociologist at Harvard University, Dr. Charles Camosy, bioethicist […]
Dr. R. J. Snell, Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute, spoke on February 15, 2020 at the Friendship, Love and Happiness Conference sponsored by the Scala Foundation and […]
Chen Guancheng, distinguished senior fellow in human rights at the Witherspoon Institute and faculty member of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America, […]
Recently, Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University and senior fellow of The Witherspoon Institute […]
Join renowned scholars Robert P. George, Candace Vogler, Anna Moreland, Chris Tollefsen and others in Princeton and DC for our 2020 summer seminars! The application deadline is February 11th. We […]
This spring semester, we are excited to announce four seminars for Princeton students: on C. S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain, a series on disputed questions, a three-part exploration of […]
We will be holding an intersession seminar for Princeton undergraduate and graduate students on integralism and liberalism. We will try to understand the nature of the common good, political freedom, […]
We’re excited to announce that Steve Whelan, Chairman of the Witherspoon Institute Board of Trustees, and Michael Maibach, Witherspoon Institute Trustee, have generously agreed to support a year-end matching campaign […]
We are excited to announce that our applications for the 2020 Summer Seminars and Internships are now open! Join acclaimed scholars Robert P. George, Christopher Tollefsen, Candace Vogler, David Corey, […]
All Princeton students are invited to attend a dinner and discussion with Sanjeev Kulkarni on work and vocation. Kulkarni is a professor of electrical engineering and Dean of Faculty at […]
Archangel Radio, an EWTN affiliate in Fairhope, AL, is featuring a CanaVox series on their LA Catholic Morning show. The series started on August 26 and will run every Monday morning until […]
Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University and senior fellow of The Witherspoon Institute, is […]
When it comes to work and family, young people today have a dizzying array of options available to them. Yet they also face a deafening barrage of contradictory voices, competing […]
Ana Samuel, Research Scholar of the Witherspoon Institute and Academic Director of Canavox is moderating a panel discussion hosted by the James Madison Program in American Institutions and Ideals at Princeton […]
This fall, we are pleased to announce our seminars on Facing Life’s Challenges, Finding Life’s Meaning, and Lyric Poetry. These seminars form part of the Institute’s efforts to assist the […]
Serena Sigillito, Editor of Public Discourse, journal of the Witherspoon Institute, was one of six journalists awarded the 2019 Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship by the Fund for American Studies in […]
Maura Shea, the new Manager of Student & Alumni Affairs of the Institute, was recently chosen as a 2019-2020 Fellow of the Leonine Forum, a program that supports young professionals […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to welcome three new members to its staff: John Corrales, Manager of Marketing & Communications, is a Texan native who new resides in Pennsylvania with […]
In the summer of 2019 the Witherspoon Institute welcomed one-hundred students, from around the country and the globe, to six seminars: Moral Life and the Classical Tradition (two seminars, high […]
A lecture by Robert Louis Wilken Much writing on religious freedom focuses on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and on the Enlightenment. But the developments of those centuries are only […]
On March 20th, R. J. Snell gave a talk entitled “The Natural Law: What it is and Why it Still Matters to Policymaking” at the Family Research Council. The recovery […]
Calling all college undergraduates who are interested in moral philosophy, politics, sociology, and economics! Come participate in a 2019 intellectual retreat hosted by the Witherspoon Institute and Abigail Adams Institute. […]
We are excited to announce that applications for the 2019 Summer Seminars are officially live! For more information about each of the seminars we are offering, please click here. This year, […]
The Witherspoon Institute accepts applications from outstanding undergraduate students and recent college graduates for an extremely limited number of full-time, paid summer internships. Summer interns generally work on a variety […]
Robert P. George and R. J. Snell have co-authored their most recent publication, Mind, Heart, and Soul: Intellectuals and the Path to Rome. Pre-order your copy today! In a series […]
Please join us for a screening of #BigFertility: It’s All About the Money. The showing will take place on Sunday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Princeton Garden Theatre. […]
Enroll now in Civil Liberties, an free online course taught by our very own Prof. George. The course begins on September 13 and will run for seven weeks. Sign up […]
The Institute is pleased to announce its 2018 Fall Seminar Series sponsored by the Center on the University and Intellectual Life. These seminars form part of the Institute’s efforts to assist […]
Teacher: Dr. R.J. Snell Time: 12:45pm-3pm on Fridays, lunch provided Dates: 9/21; 10/5; 10/19; 11/16; 12/7 Place: Whelan Hall, 16 Stockton Street Many of us […]
Teacher: Dr. R.J. Snell Time: 12:45pm-3:00pm on Fridays, lunch provided Dates: 9/28; 10/12; 11/9; 11/30; 12/14 Place: Whelan Hall, 16 Stockton Street In The Abolition […]
Ana Samuel, Research Scholar of the Witherspoon Institute and Academic Director of CanaVox, discusses Sex, Gender, and Identity. Watch the video now. This 38-minute video is a crash course for […]
On Saturday, September 1, Matthew J. Franck, Director of the Witherspoon Institute’s Simon Center, will participate in a roundtable discussion at the 2018 meeting of the American Political Science Association […]
R. J. Snell, Director of the Witherspoon Institute’s Center for the University and Intellectual Life, will serve as a panelist during the 2018 Christian Union Cities Conference in New York […]
R. J. Snell, Director of the Witherspoon Institute’s Center for the University and Intellectual Life, will lecture at a conference at Portsmouth Abbey in mid-June. Other featured speakers include: Cardinal Timothy […]
Since our nation’s founding, conservative Protestantism has been a critical force shaping American culture. Today the evangelical movement is clearly ascendant even as its health and integrity are widely debated. […]
Matthew J. Franck, Director of the Witherspoon Institute’s William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution, will join a distinguished lineup of speakers for a conference […]
R.J. Snell, Director of the Center for the University and Intellectual Life at the Witherspoon Institute, will participate in a two-day conference on The State of American Higher Education at Franciscan […]
Calling all students! Apply now for the Witherspoon Institute’s 2018 Summer Seminars in Princeton, New Jersey! High school students can choose from two seminars: Moral Life & the Classical Tradition and Principles […]
The Institute is pleased to announce its 2018 Spring seminar series on Language, Freedom, and Making, sponsored by the Center on the University and Intellectual Life. These seminars form part of the […]
Teacher: Dr. R.J. Snell Time: 12:45pm-3:00pm on Fridays, lunch provided Dates: 2/9; 2/23; 4/6; 4/20; 4/27; 5/4 Place: Whelan Hall, 16 Stockton Street This seminar […]
Teacher: Dr. R.J. Snell Time: 12:45pm-3pm on Fridays, lunch provided Dates: 2/16; 3/2; 4/13 Place: Whelan Hall, 16 Stockton Street Continuing our study on how the […]
Calling all students! Apply now for the Witherspoon Institute’s 2018 Summer Seminars in Princeton, New Jersey! High school students can choose from two seminars: Moral Life & the Classical Tradition and Principles […]
A message from Witherspoon’s Vaughan Senior Fellow Robert P. George together with the current and former chairs of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. January 4, 2018 To the people […]
The editors of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute, have put together a list of recommended yuletide reading from the Institute’s staff. Read on for ideas of […]
NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS: CLICK HERE. The Institute is pleased to announce its 2018 Summer Seminars for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and young faculty. These intensive programs examine vital […]
“How should I live my life?” This all important question forms the basis for Luis Tellez’s impressive guide to living an examined and fulfilling life. Believers and non-believers alike will […]
The Franciscan University of Steubenville has named Ryan Anderson the first visiting fellow at the Veritas Center for Ethics and Public Life. For more details, please see this article. In […]
The Penn Institute for the Study of Free Markets will host a lecture entitled Milton Friedman and the Development of His Monetary Economics on Tuesday, September 27th at 5:30pm in […]
The Institute is pleased to announce its 2017 fall seminar series on Language, Freedom, and Making, sponsored by the Center on the University and Intellectual Life. These seminars form part […]
Teacher: R.J. Snell Time: 12:45pm-2:45pm on Fridays, lunch provided Dates: 9/22; 10/6; 10/20; 11/10; 12/1 Place: Whelan Hall, 16 Stockton Street For the fall semester in keeping […]
Teacher: RJ Snell Time: 12:45pm-2:45pm on Fridays, lunch provided Dates: 9/29; 10/13; 11/17; 12/8 Place: Whelan Hall, 16 Stockton Street For this year’s […]
RSVP for the Witherspoon Institute’s Forum THE FLAME OF CONSCIENCE: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Johann Christoph Arnold 5:45-7:15 pm, Monday, September 11, 2017 The Union League Club, 38 E. […]
The fourth annual William E. and Carol G. Simon Lecture on Religion in American Public Life, co-sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, will be given […]
Schools and universities need support if they are to perform their proper function. For over a decade, the Witherspoon Institute has helped the university accomplish its purpose through its summer […]
The Institute is pleased to announce a spring 2017 seminar on “The Constitutional Jurisprudence of John Marshall.” This seminar will introduce students to the legal and constitutional thought of “the […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce that Senior Fellow Helen M. Alvaré is a 2016 recipient of the Alliance Defending Freedom’s Edwin Meese III Award for Originalism and Religious […]
The Institute is pleased to announce its 2016 reading group on Christianity, Open-Mindedness, and the Intellectual Virtues. This reading group is sponsored by the Center on the University and Intellectual […]
The Institute is pleased to announce its 2016 fall seminar on Ambition: Intellectual, Moral, Political sponsored by the Center on the University and Intellectual Life. This seminars is part of […]
The Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of R. J. Snell as Director of the Center on the University and Intellectual Life. Prior to his appointment at the Witherspoon Institute, […]
The Institute’s monograph Religious Freedom: Why Now? Defending and Embattled Human Right is now available for free online as an audiobook. Religious freedom is under sustained pressure today around the […]
The Institute is pleased to announce that it has recently added three new sections to its site on the history of natural law theory: sections on natural law in the […]
The Institute is pleased to announce its 2016 Summer Seminars for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and young faculty. These intensive programs examine vital moral questions in social, philosophical, […]
Undergraduate students are invited to join in a weekly discussion of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in the Illinois contest for U.S. Senate in 1858 led by Professor Peter Field (University of Canterbury, New Zealand) and […]
The third annual William E. and Carol G. Simon Lecture on Religion in American Public Life, co-sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, will be given […]
The Institute is so excited to announce the publication of our new collection of essays, The Thriving Society: On the Social Conditions of Human Flourishing. Available for purchase in hardcover and eBook at […]
On March 10th, Henry Holt and Co. released the first person account of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng’s struggle for freedom and his fight for human rights in China: The Barefoot Lawyer. […]
The Institute is pleased to announce our 2015 Summer Seminars for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. These intensive programs examine vital moral questions in social, philosophical, legal, and political thought and have […]
The Witherspoon Institute, together with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, is pleased to announce the 2014 Simon Lecture to be given by esteemed scholar George Marsden (University of Notre Dame, Emeritus). His […]
On June 3, Witherspoon Distinguished Senior Fellow Chen Guangcheng gave his first public address ever in English commenting on the 25th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Chen’s speech recounted […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Research Fellow Daniel I. Mark to the U. S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Mark is an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University, […]
Senior Fellow Thomas F. Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center, presents Pope Francis with a copy of Libertad Religiosa, a Spanish translation of the Witherspoon […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce the first annual William E. and Carol G. Simon Lecture on Religion in American Public Life with a lecture given by the distinguished […]
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Chen Guangcheng as Distinguished Senior Fellow in Human Rights at the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion […]
The Witherspoon Institute mourns the passing of our friend Jean Bethke Elshtain. She was the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago and […]
Robert P. George, the Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, and Director of the […]
The Witherspoon Institute will have its annual Open House on Saturday, June 1st, 2013 (during the Princeton University Reunions) from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Whelan Hall, the home […]
The Witherspoon Institute’s Summer Seminars are a collection of intensive summer programs exploring vital moral questions in social, philosophical, legal, and political thought. These small seminars are led by some […]
Witherspoon Senior Fellow Robert P. George, in collaboration with Sherif Girgis (PhD candidate in philosophy, Princeton University; JD candidate, Yale University) and Ryan T. Anderson (PhD candidate in political theory, […]
