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“I don’t like to think of my sculptures as ornaments — I like to think of them as instruments. Instruments of faith. Instruments of conversion. And just like I feel a responsibility to be as authentic as possible with my work, I believe the University of Dallas has a great responsibility — to be a shining light, not only across America, but across the world.”

– Timothy Schmalz

In late March 2025, the University of Dallas welcomed world-renowned sculptor Timothy Schmalz to campus for a three-day visit that brought students, faculty, alumni and community members into direct conversation with faith, beauty and truth — through the enduring medium of sculpture.

Known globally for works like Homeless Jesus and Angels Unawares — the latter unveiled by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on September 28, 2019 — Schmalz brought not only his art but also his vision: one in which sculpture serves not as ornament but as instrument — a bold, physical homily that confronts people.

One of the highlights of his visit was his lecture, titled “Art, Faith and Culture,” filled with humor, personal testimony and cultural insight. Schmalz reflected on his journey from shock-driven contemporary art to sacred sculpture rooted in Christianity:

“I was tired of art that meant nothing,” he said. “I wanted to make something that mattered — something that could evangelize.”

In a separate interview, Schmalz engaged with students on the question of vocation and the role of the artist in a culture marked by distraction and skepticism.
 
“Your spiritual life should be at the center of your vocation,” he told aspiring artists. “To create epic art, you need epic subject matter — and that comes from Scripture and spirituality.”

His passion for engaging the modern world with timeless truths resonated deeply with the UDallas community. His sculptures don’t merely decorate; they demand presence. Whether it’s an open bench beside Homeless Jesus or an interactive rendering of Dante’s Divine Comedy, his art invites us to sit, walk, wrestle and wonder.

As part of his visit, Schmalz donated prints of all 100 of his Divine Comedy sculptures to the university — one for each canto. These works, which visually interpret Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, were displayed during his campus visit and will remain part of the university’s collection.

The exhibit was complemented by a panel discussion featuring three UDallas alumni who have each translated Dante’s Comedy:

• Jason M. Baxter, PhD, BA ’05, professor at Benedictine College - Inferno (Angelico Press, 2024)
• Daniel Fitzpatrick, BA ’13, editor of Joie de Vivre - Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy (Illustrated by Timothy Schmalz, En Route Books & Media, 2022)
• Joe Carlson, MA ’21 PhD ’25, instructor at New Saint Andrews College - The Divine Comedy: complete translation with commentary (Roman Roads Press, 2022-2023)

Together, they explored the challenges and insights of rendering Dante’s theological masterpiece into modern language — and how Schmalz’s sculptures offer a powerful visual “translation” in their own right.

You can explore this visual narrative in depth through the Divine Comedy: A Sculptural Interpretation, an explanation of each scene created by Dr. Anthony Nussmeier.

Reflecting on the cultural role of the University of Dallas, Schmalz offered a challenge and a hope:

“This university is in the now. What happens here matters — not just for the culture of America, but for the world. It has the responsibility to be a light, a witness, a source of cultural renewal.”

And in that spirit, the University of Dallas was honored to host Timothy Schmalz, an artist whose vocation is nothing less than making the invisible visible and the eternal tangible.

Featured Recordings

Art, Faith and Culture Lecture

Timothy traced his journey from shock-driven contemporary art to a lifelong mission of sculpting the sacred. He reflected on the role of sculpture as a public and permanent witness to faith, the unique power of Christian iconography, and his ambition to help reclaim the cultural imagination through beauty, story and form.

 

Panel Discussion: “Legato con amore in tre volumi”

Three UDallas alumni — Jason M. Baxter, Daniel Fitzpatrick and Joe Carlson — joined Dr. Anthony Nussmeier and Timothy Schmalz for a panel on translating Dante’s Comedy. They reflected on the poetic, theological and emotional challenges of bringing Dante’s text into English, and how translation itself becomes an act of love. The discussion also highlighted Schmalz’s sculptures as a powerful visual counterpart to Dante’s words.

 

Interview With Timothy Schmalz

In his interview with UDallas, Timothy Schmalz shared insights on the vocation of the artist, the challenges of creating sacred art in a distracted culture, and the need for epic subject matter rooted in faith. His message to students was clear: art should not merely impress — it should reveal truth, stir the soul and lead others toward the divine.

 

Meet the Featured Scholar

Timothy Schmalz is a Canadian sculptor internationally renowned for his large-scale bronze works that blend classical technique with bold expressions of faith. His sculptures — including Homeless Jesus and Angels Unawares in St. Peter’s Square — are installed in public spaces around the world and often serve as visual homilies that confront cultural indifference and invite spiritual reflection. Deeply committed to Christian art, Schmalz has devoted his career to creating pieces that bear witness to the Gospel, the saints and the dignity of the human person. Explore more of his work at sculpturebytps.com.

 

“Jesus is not just any deity. He’s equal to the God of Job, Who
famously said, ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?’”

– Dr. Brant Pitre

Just one day before his passing, Pope Francis appeared briefly to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. Among them was a group of University of Dallas students studying in Rome, who were unexpectedly present for what would become his final public appearance. The reflections of those UDallas students were shared in a recent NBC news story. They speak not only to the gravity of the moment, but also reflect that at the heart of a UDallas education, academic life is interwoven with the life of the Church, and faith and learning meet in both study and life.

This deep integration of intellect and faith was evident last month on our Irving campus as we hosted Dr. Brant Pitre, distinguished research professor of Scripture at the Augustine Institute, to discuss the topic of his most recent book, Jesus and Divine Christology. A dynamic speaker and prolific writer, Pitre delivered the 2025 Landregan Lecture: “Did Jesus Know He Was God?”

Speaking to an overflowing room of students, faculty, alumni and friends of the university, Pitre’s answer was a resounding “yes.” Though many in the Catholic tradition consider his answer common knowledge, Pitre addressed the current landscape of modern Scripture scholarship, much of which contends that Jesus never claimed to be God.

Pitre’s research on this topic has proved controversial in his field, and his skill in scriptural exegesis uncovers the layers of meaning in Jesus’ words throughout the gospels. His evidence of Jesus’ knowledge of his own divinity culminates in the events of Holy Week, which we have just celebrated. When Jesus was presented before the high priest Caiaphas, he was condemned for the crime of blasphemy. As Pitre walked us through his research, he encouraged us not to seek our own ideas or assumptions in Scripture but to practice true exegesis, drawing meaning deductively from Scripture.

Featured Recordings

2025 Landregan Lecture – “Did Jesus Know He Was God?”

Doctrinally, the answer is a clear yes. However, historical critical considerations have long weakened confidence in that answer. Pitre tackles the question in light of these newer questions with an eye to the Semitic and rabbinic modes of teaching and expression that Jesus employed.

 

Explore more of Pitre's work:

• Jesus and Divine Christology
• Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary
• Jesus and the Last Supper

 

Meet the Featured Scholar

Brant Pitre is an American New Testament scholar and distinguished research professor of Scripture at the Augustine Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament and ancient Judaism from the University of Notre Dame and has written extensively on the historical Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Apostle Paul, the Eucharist and the canonical Gospels. His work focuses on the Jewish roots of Christianity, and he is widely known for his teaching, writing and lectures on Scripture.

 

Exploring the Legacy of René Girard

"The apocalypse does not announce the end of the world, it creates hope."
- René Girard

A towering voice in literature, anthropology and theology, René Girard reshaped the intellectual landscape with his theory of the scapegoat. His thought cuts to the heart of the human condition — and offers a way out of our cycles of rivalry, resentment and violence.

This February, the University of Dallas welcomed Cynthia Haven, renowned biographer of Girard and author of Evolution of Desire, as the 2025 McDermott Lecturer. Her lecture, “René Girard at the End of Time,” revisited Girard’s prophetic final writings and illuminated his call for forgiveness, hope and radical imitation of Christ.

But this event was more than a single lecture.

The 2025 McDermott Lecture was the capstone of a week-long exploration of Girard’s thought at UDallas. The evening before the lecture, students, faculty and guests gathered for a screening of Things Hidden: The Life and Legacy of René Girard, a documentary on his influence.

Professor of English Bernadette Waterman Ward, PhD, who studied with Girard at Stanford, has been leading a campus study group dedicated to his writings since last semester — fostering deeper discussion on themes of desire, rivalry, sacrifice and redemption. During the week of the McDermott Lecture, Samuel Sorich and Trevor Merrill, the director and producer of Things Hidden, joined the group’s discussion alongside Cynthia Haven, enriching the conversation with personal insights and behind-the-scenes reflections on Girard’s legacy.

Why Girard at UDallas?

Girard’s work exemplifies how art can reveal truths about God and humanity, a method that resonates deeply with the Core Curriculum.
 
Girard’s theory of mimetic desire — the idea that we want things only because others want them, not because of our own preferences — began to take shape when he was studying great novels of the 19th century. Eventually, Girard saw the scapegoat pattern in great literature more broadly, including our most ancient tragedies and epics. Girard’s thought challenges our age’s assumptions about identity, desire and conflict — offering a path toward peace through self-knowledge, forgiveness and the imitation of Christ.

Featured Recordings

“René Girard at the End of Time”

Drawing from Girard’s final works — including Battling to the End — Haven’s lecture reflected on the spiritual, cultural and existential challenges of our time. She offered a compelling portrait of a thinker who saw beneath the surface of violence and imitation to the liberating power of Christ’s non-retaliatory love.

 

Explore more about René Girard and his work:

• Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard, by Cynthia Haven
• All Desire is a Desire for Being: Essential Writings of René Girard, edited by Cynthia Haven
• Battling to the End, by René Girard
• I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, by René Girard
• The Scapegoat, by René Girard
• Eliot’s Angels: George Eliot, Rene Girard, and Mimetic Desire, by Bernadette Waterman Ward

"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder."
- G.K Chesterton

The writer, philosopher and journalist G.K. Chesterton continues to shape Christian thought today. A literary giant, Chesterton authored over 100 books and 8,000 essays, influencing figures such as C.S. Lewis, Fulton Sheen and Mahatma Gandhi — and yet, his works often defy easy categorization.

Chesterton’s prophetic insights covered social and political trends as well as faith and philosophy. His joy-filled perspective set him apart not just as a thinker who challenged the world, but also as one who delighted in it.

So, how much do you know about Chesterton? Whether you're familiar with his detective stories featuring Father Brown, his profound defense of Christianity in Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man, or his humorous paradoxes, there's always more to discover.

To explore Chesterton’s enduring wisdom, the University of Dallas welcomed author, EWTN host and Chesterton Academy co-founder Dale Ahlquist, acclaimed as a foremost expert on Chesterton’s life and work, for an engaging and thought-provoking lecture on Feb. 10. Ahlquist explored Chesterton’s far-reaching influence, prolific writing career and distinctive worldview, inspiring the UDallas community to read his works and embrace his joyful approach to truth and faith. 

Featured Recordings

“G.K. Chesterton: The Laughing Prophet”

In this talk, Ahlquist described Chesterton as a prophetic thinker whose insights into morality, education and technology remain strikingly prescient. He emphasized Chesterton’s wit, wisdom and deep faith, illustrating how his use of paradox, humor and wonder continues to challenge and inspire readers.

 

“What Would Chesterton Say About the University of Dallas?”

Ahlquist offers insight into how G.K. Chesterton, if alive today, might perceive the University of Dallas.

 

Explore more insights from Dale Ahlquist and UDallas faculty about G.K. Chesterton:

• Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton, by Dale Ahlquist
• Knight of the Holy Ghost: A Short History of G.K. Chesterton, by Dale Ahlquist
• The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece, Commentary by Dale Ahlquist
• G.K. Chesterton and the Historical Imagination, by Susan Hanssen, Associate Professor of History, University of Dallas
• Rome in the historical imagination of G.K. Chesterton’s Everlasting Man, by Susan Hanssen, Associate Professor of History, University of Dallas, Church, Communication and Culture, Vol. 5, Issue 1 (2020)

Meet the Featured Scholar

Dale Ahlquist is an American author and advocate of the thought of G.K. Chesterton. He serves as the president and co-founder of the American Chesterton Society and publisher of Gilbert magazine. He is also the co-founder of Chesterton Academy, a network of joyfully Catholic classical high schools.

Contested Moral Questions and Development of Doctrine Conference: October 9 - 10, 2024

This conference was organized by Ryan T. Anderson, St. John Paul II Fellow in Social Thought at the University of Dallas. Each discussion addressed an issue of Catholic pro-life teaching and controversy against it. Keynote speaker John Finnis, who holds professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Notre Dame, delivered a lecture titled "Moral-Philosophical Reflection and Development of Doctrine." Panel discussions covered topics in embryo adoption, capital punishment and sexual ethics. The conference facilitated engaging conversations, offering deep insights into the nuances of doctrine and ethical reflections and underscored the importance of integrating faith and reason in addressing modern cultural issues.

Featured Recordings

"Moral-Philosophical Reflection and Development of Doctrine"

Dr. Finnis delivered his lecture, Moral-Philosophical Reflection and the Development of Doctrine, during the Contested Moral Questions and Development of Doctrine Conference at the University of Dallas on October 9, 2024. This distinguished conference, organized by Ryan T. Anderson, the St. John Paul II Fellow in Social Thought at UDallas, brought together scholars and thought leaders to examine critical issues related to Catholic faith, ethics and cultural challenges. The event provided students with an opportunity to deepen their faith through critical thinking and meaningful moral discourse.

“Embryo Adoption and Development of Doctrine Panel Discussion”

Dr. Sherif Girgis and Dr. Irene Alexander engaged in a thought-provoking debate on the moral permissibility versus the moral disorder of embryo adoption.

Explore more insights from our featured scholars around this topic:

• What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, by Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George
• Is Artificial Impregnation Opposed to the Unity of Marriage? A New Look at the Question of Embryo Adoption  [PDF], by Irene Alexander, Nova et vetera, Volume 16, Number 1, Winter 2018, pp. 47-80
• Frozen Embryos, Unwanted Pregnancies, and Artificial Wombs: Which Options Are Morally Licit? [PDF], by Irene Alexander, Nova et vetera, Volume 19, Number 4, Fall 2021, pp. 1,111-1,145

 

Meet the featured Scholars:

Dr. Ryan T. Anderson is the John Paul II Teaching Fellow in Social Thought at the University of Dallas. He also serves as the President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and is the founding editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute. An accomplished author, Anderson has written five books, including Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing and When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment. His scholarly work has been recognized at the highest judicial levels, with citations by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Anderson holds a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University and a PhD in political philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. His insights have been featured across major media outlets, and he is affiliated with institutions such as the James Madison Society at Princeton University and the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America.

Dr. John Finnis is professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame Law School and the University of Oxford. He is widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to natural law theory, moral philosophy and legal theory. Finnis has authored influential works such as Natural Law and Natural Rights, and his scholarship spans topics ranging from constitutional law to ethical reasoning. In addition to his academic achievements, he has served on multiple Vatican commissions, demonstrating his commitment to applying his philosophical insights in service to the Church and broader society.

 

Dr. Sherif Girgis is associate professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, a legal scholar, and a philosopher with a JD from Yale Law School and a PhD in philosophy from Princeton. He specializes in constitutional law, moral philosophy and issues surrounding marriage and bioethics.

 

Dr. Irene Alexander is associate professor of theology at the University of Dallas, specializing in moral theology and bioethics. Her research focuses on marriage, family studies and reproductive ethics. She is recognized for her contributions to discussions on doctrine and ethical reasoning, particularly in complex areas such as embryo adoption.