The Lonergan Institute at Boston College is the 鈥渓iving memorial鈥� established in 1986 to honor one of BC鈥檚 most distinguished teachers, Bernard Lonergan, SJ.
Each semester, the Lonergan Institute hosts public lectures, departmental courses, reading groups, and interdisciplinary seminars on Lonergan, his principal writings, and subjects which those writings illuminate, such as: hermeneutics, political theology, science and religion, Christology, philosophy of art, self-knowledge, economics, the Trinity, and the history and philosophy of science and mathematics.
We seek to foster a local community of Lonergan scholars by offering Visiting Fellowships and Graduate Scholarships, and by hosting a regular "Wednesday Seminar" for Fellows and BC Faculty with a committed interest in Lonergan studies. The Lonergan Institute collaborates with BC Faculty GEM ("Generalized Emperical Method") Fellows, who meet to study Lonergan and discuss the BC mission, and who work on their own projects incorporating Lonergan's ideas. In addition to this local community, the Institute reaches a global audience through online lectures and workshops, and through regular publishing of its academic journal,聽Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies. The Institute works with the Director of the Lonergan Workshop, Frederick Lawrence, to welcome scholars from all over the world each summer.
The core of the Lonergan Institute resides in Bapst Library's Lonergan Center, which houses a wide-ranging collection of Lonergan鈥檚 works, as well as a comprehensive collection of secondary literature in Lonergan studies. Just as important, it is a place to ask questions and find other inquirers. Shared interests give rise to conversation, conversation sparks insights, and insights lead to new avenues of study and new lines of questioning.
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