Established in 2019 at John Brown University, the Center for Faith and Flourishing aims to express, defend, and promote the University’s historic mission of educating for head, heart, and hand through lectures, seminars, bookclubs, and individual funding for conferences. Our programs allow students and experts a means of addressing the pressing questions about human flourishing and personal faith.
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Not of the World but in the World: A Lecture by Phillip Todd
Phillip Todd, a JBU alumnus and Chief Economist for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joined us on campus to give the Annual Barnett Lecture. Phillip talked with current students about working in a Congressional committee and what he has learned about serving God through his vocation.
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Uncommon Common Man: A Lecture About the Life and Legacy of Bill Simmons
Dr. Preston Jones, a historian and former professor at John Brown University, lectured about the virtues of Bill Simmons, founder of Simmons Foods, and Mr. Simmons’ impact on Northwest Arkansas and the Siloam Springs community.
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Criminal Justice Lecture
Matt Martens, author of Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal visited JBU's campus to offer perspective on what faith-based criminal justice reform should look like.
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Anti-Human Ideologies Lecture
Jay Richards, a Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, visited John Brown University’s campus to lecture on deep ecology, transgenderism, and transhumanism.
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D.G. Hart Reformation Day Lecture
D.G. Hart, noted historian from Hillsdale College, lectured on the theologian J. Gresham Machen and his influence on the modern church on Reformation Day.
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Reimagining Faith and Public Life 2023
Dr. Mark Hall, a professor in the Robertson School of Government at Regent University, and Dr. Tracy McKenzie, Professor of History at Wheaton College, talked about the Christian founding of the American Republic for this year’s annual Reimagining Faith and Public Life.
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Black Entrepreneurship: Building the Foundation for Freedom
Dr. Marcus Witcher, Scholar-in-Residence at Arkansas Center for Research and Economics, lectured about opportunity, entrepreneurship, and race.
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2023 Liberty Tree Colloquium
On an annual basisC enter for Faith and Flourishing partners with the organization Liberty Tree to host a conference on JBU’s campus. Liberty Tree conferences are an opportunity for 20-25 students to engage with fellow students and an expert about a policy issue relevant to students.
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Why Tolerate That? The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Speech in America
Mark Hall, Herbert Hoover Distinguished Professor of Politics at George Fox University, lectured on the origins of freedom of speech in America and the status of this right today.
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Arkansas Student Leadership Forum 2023
Center for Faith and Flourishing sponsored a number of students who attended Arkansas Student Leadership Forum, which is an annual student-oriented program in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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Faith and Resilience: What I Learned While Growing a Start-Up After Prison
Marcus Bullock, a D.C. based entrepreneur, shared how he created a start up that enables incarcerated people to stay in touch with their families.
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Why Colleges Should Care: How Institutions Can Engage Their Cultures and Serve Their Communities
Dr. Joe Jones, the retired president of Fresno Pacific University, discussed how universities can engage and empower students, faculty, and staff to be involved in the surrounding culture.
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The Faith to Serve
Federal Judge John Bush discussed his appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and what it means to serve the public faithfully as a Christian and civil servant.
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Gender Dysphoria: A Christian Biologist's Perspective
Dr. Tony Jelsma, a biologist at Dordt University, talked about the biological basis of gender and shared his opinion on how the church should reckon with the topic of gender dysphoria.
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Freedom Riders: A Lecture by Charles Person
In a campus-wide lecture, Charles Person shared his personal experience as a member of the Freedom Riders Movement.
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2022 Liberty Tree Colloquium
Center for Faith and Flourishing partners with Liberty Tree on an annual basis to host a colloquium on JBU’s campus. At the 2022 colloquium, students considered policies related to the issue of human trafficking.
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End-of-Semester Gateway Party
Students were invited to celebrate the end of their first semester and completion of JBU’s Gateway program. CFF helped to sponsor and organize the event.
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Arkansas Student Leadership Forum 2022
Center for Faith and Flourishing sponsored costs associated with attending for eleven excellent JBU students who wished to attend. The Arkansas Student Leadership Forum takes place annual in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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Prayers, Politics, and Psalms: The Sin of Acedia
Laura Fabrycky, author of Keys to Bonhoeffer’s Haus and Give Me the Word, talked about what the sin of acedia is and how it relates to modern American political life.
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Democracy in America Colloquium
Center for Faith and Flourishing partnered with the Institute for Humane Studies to host an undergraduate colloquium on JBU’s campus. Participants discussed de Tocqueville’s seminal work, Democracy in America.
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You Are Not Your Own
Alan Noble, Editor-in-Chief of Christ and Pop Culture magazine, joined us at JBU to lecture on what it means to belong, body, and soul, to Christ.
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The Road to Freedom and Prosperity Lecture
Center for Faith and Flourishing, in coordination with Arkansas Center for Research and Economics, hosted a lecture and colloquium in Bentonville featuring Wilfred Reilly, a professor of political science at Kentucky State University.
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Reimagining Faith and Public Life: Gender and the Church
Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne, and Matthew Lee Anderson, author of Called Into Questions, talked about gender and gender roles in relation to the church.
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Finding Your Niche: A Conversation with Justin Giboney and Andrew Walker
Justin Giboney, founder of the AND Campaign, and Andrew Walker, Executive Director of the Carl F.H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement, joined JBU students to talk about what responsible engagement in politics.
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Arkansas Student Leadership Forum 2021
Center for Faith and Flourishing sponsored nine students who attended Arkansas Student Leadership Forum in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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The God-Shaped Hole in Our Politics: A Muslim Christian Dialogue
Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk visited JBU’s campus via Zoom to talk with students about how Christians and Muslims can work together to accomplish mutual goals.
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Should Christians Vote for Trump?
Eric Metaxas and David French debate whether Christians should vote for Trump during the 2020 election cycle. Over a hundred people watched the event on campus, and thousands more watched the event online.
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2021 Liberty Tree Colloquium
Center for Faith and Flourishing partners with Liberty Tree on an annual basis to host a colloquium about policy matters of consequence every spring.
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Cherie Harder Class Lecture
Cherie Harder, president of the Trinity Forum and former Special Assistant to the President and Director of Policy and Projects for First Lady Laura Bush, visited a CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class and spoke about trust, political disillusionment, and relationships in light of partisanship.
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Michael Munger Class Lecture
Michael Munger, a political science, economics, and public policy professor at Duke University, visited the CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class via Zoom. He discussed the concept of political rent-seeking.
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Jason Brennan Class Lecture
In his Zoom lecture for a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class, Jason Brennan broached the controversial topic of whether or not each of us should vote: When should citizens abstain from participation?
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Michael Huemer Class Lecture
In his Zoom lecture for the CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics clas , Michael Huemer discussed how human irrationality affects our voting and political decisions.
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Geoffrey Sayre-McCord Class Lecture
Geoffrey Sayre-McCord visited a CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class , where he prompted students to consider the moral responsibilities associated with voting.
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Richard Arneson Class Lecture
In his Zoom lecture for a CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class, Richard Arneson discussed various ways of conceptualizing individual equality and welfare, and he encouraged students to think about societal responses to inequality.
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Jonathan Anomaly Class Lecture
Jonathan Anomaly, associate director and lecturer for the PPE program at the University of Pennsylvania, visited a CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics course via Zoom and compared the ethics of allocating power to local institutions versus federal institutions.
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David Friedman Class Lecture
David Friedman, professor emeritus of law at Santa Clara University, offered a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class guest lecture. For the lecture, he discussed his libertarian view of micro-economics.
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Jeffrey Miron Class Lecture
Jeffrey Miron, Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Harvard’s Economics Department, Zoomed in for a CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics and Economics class, where he discussed the practical and economic effects of drug prohibition and legalization.
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Jeremy Snyder Class Lecture
Jeremy Snyder, professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Canada, joined a CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politicsd and Economics class, where he discussed price gouging and its effects. Snyder has jousted with Matt Zwolinski in his writing, so students relished the opportunity to speak to them both.
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Arthur Caplan Class Lecture
Arthur Caplan, founding director of the Division of Medical Ethics and professor of bioethics at New York University, visited a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class and discussed the ethics of COVID-19 vaccinations, public trust, and the widespread adoption and deployment of established vaccines.
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Matt Zwolinski Class Lecture
Matt Zwolinski Zoomed in for a CFF-sponsored class, where he discussed price gouging, non-worseness, and distributive justice — work that puts him in friendly disagreement with Jeremy Snyder, a previous lecturer.
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Lord Nat Wei Class Lecture
Lord Nat Wei, a conservative life peer in the British House of Lords, Zoomed in for a CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class and offered reflections on philosophical and ethical matters, social entrepreneurship, and group decision making.
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Kevin Vallier Class Lecture
Kevin Vallier, director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program at Bowling Green State University and an associate professor of philosophy, Zoomed in for a CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class and discussed trust and polarization in the United States.
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Cass Sunstein Class Lecture
Cass Sunstein, the founder and director of Harvard Law School’s Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy, joined the CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class via Zoom to discuss libertarian paternalism.
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Anne Bradley Class Lecture
Anne Bradley, George and Sally Mayer Fellow for Economic Education and vice president of academic affairs at The Fund for American Studies, Zoomed in to lecture for a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class. In her lecture, she discussed the economics of terrorism.
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John Hare Class Lecture
John Hare, Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University, visited the CFF-sponsored Philosophy, Politics, and Economics course to discuss metaethics.
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Simon Blackburn Class Lecture
Simon Blackburn, former Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University, visited the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class via Zoom and discussed his metaethical perspective and David Hume.
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Barney Mayhew Class Lecture
Barney Mayhew, an expert in international conflict resolution and an aid consultant for the British government, talked about his experience as an aid worker in war-torn countries and his thoughts on what peaceful resolution of conflict can look like.
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George Nash Class Lecture
George Nash, an author and expert on American Conservatism, visited the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics class to talk about the history of conservatism in America with students.