Take a walk through campus the Academic Building - up the front steps, into the center of the building - and see the statue in the lobby. Ask any of the students there, and they should tell you, “That’s St. Thomas.” St. Thomas Aquinas, from whom the College takes its name, is well known among students and faculty, at least by name. But how much about the saint’s life and contributions to philosophy, theology, and the Catholic tradition do we really know? To celebrate the legacy of St. Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas College is hosting its annual St. Thomas Week between January 28 and February 3, 2013. St. Thomas Week highlights the significance of the saint’s work in Catholicism and the wider Western world.

The 2013 St. Thomas Aquinas Lecture, the second of two lectures during the Week, is also a part of Aquinas’ Catholic Studies Speaker Series. Sister Mary Prudence Allen, R.S.M, Ph.D., will present on the topic, “Can the Complementarity of Men and Women Be Proved?” Sister Prudence Allen is currently the Charles J. Chaput, OFM cap Endowed Chair in Philosophy Professor at St. John Theological Seminary of Denver, Colorado. A widely published, well-recognized academic, Sister Prudence Allen is the author of “The Concept of Woman.”

The Catholic Studies Speaker Series at Aquinas College has hosted many intellectuals in the Catholic tradition. Dr. John Pinheiro, Director of Catholic Studies and Associate Professor of History, encourages all to attend this free event. The goal is to make the event as accessible as possible. “This year we moved this annual lecture to the evening to accommodate more people's schedules,” Dr. Pinheiro explained. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 31, in the Wege Ballroom.

>More About St. Thomas Aquinas