The Bitar Colloquia

Philosophy in Conversation

The Philosophy program at Geneva College seeks to engage the historic philosophical conversation, hone critical skills and passions, cultivate wisdom for service and for living, in submission to Jesus Christ, the Truth. Geneva College offers students the opportunity to cultivate the philosophical life essential to humanness and to professional excellence in all walks of life. Our program also equips its majors for graduate study and a lifetime of professional philosophical service to the world and the church.

2025-2026 Colloquia Speakers

Dr. Esther L. Meek

The Mother’s Smile: Philosophical Formation in the Welcome of Mothers and Friends

Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 7 p.m.

John White Chapel, Old Main

Followed by a reception

Dr. Laura Cerbus

Fruitful Wounds: Bonaventure’s Cruciform Aesthetics

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 7 p.m.

John White Chapel, Old Main

Followed by a reception

Dr. Timothy R. Frazier

Wondered Recognition: The Drama of Person, Friendship, and Community

Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 7 p.m.

John White Chapel, Old Main

Followed by a reception

Dr. Brandon Zaffini

Visible Authorities: A Defense of Liberty Against Liberalism

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 7 p.m.

John White Chapel, Old Main

Followed by a reception

You are invited to attend!

Members of the campus and community are invited to attend lectures and presentations free of charge, unless otherwise announced. The list of upcoming speakers can be accessed through the links below. View Campus Map for venue location.

All events are free and open to the public.

While Skye Lounge in the Student Center is handicap accessible, we apologize that our historic Old Main, home to the John White Chapel, is not.

For more information, contact Dr. Robert Frazier at rmfrazie@geneva.edu

Dr. Byron I. Bitar

The Dr. Byron I. Bitar Memorial Lecture in Philosophy was endowed by the William C. Kriner Family in memory of Geneva College′s beloved professor of a quarter-century, in order to continue his legacy and vision for philosophy.

The Lecture was inaugurated in 2004, a year after Dr. Bitar′s untimely death and have continued until 2025. Past Bitar Lecturers include renowned philosophers Stephen Evans, Paul Helm, Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and Linda Zagzebski. An annual Bitar Cash Prize for best student philosophy paper, a gift from Mrs. Gail Bitar has been awarded as a part of the lecture series.

Past Bitar lecturers include:

2024: Dr. Keith Martel - Ideology in the Age of the World Picture
2023: Dr. Partick Lee Miller - Plato on the Soul and Politics
2023: Dr. David Koyzis - It's all about me: How Right and Left have masked the dominance of liberalism in North American public life
2023: Dr. Mark Boespflug, '05 - Revolutions in Moral Knowledge
2022: Dr. Esther Lightcap Meek - Philosophy for Artistry: Beauty and the Artful Dance of Communion with the Real
2021-22: Dr. Kyle D. Bennett '03 - Disagreement as Spiritual Practice
Dr. Keith R. Martel '97, '04 MAHE - “Imagined Worlds, Imagined Word: A Phenomenology of Imagination for a Critical Pedagogy
Dr. John Buchmann '07 - Money as Metaphysical Monstrosity: Or, How to Do Christian Ethics in the Void
Dr. Jennifer Kiefer Fenton '07 - Jane Addams and Democracy as a Way of Life
2018-19: Dr. R. J. Snell/Dr. Matthew Kaemingk - "Political Theology: Classical & Reformed Approaches"
2017-18: Dr. D.C. Schindler - “Hans Urs von Balthasar on Beauty” and Dr. John F. Crosby -
“Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Defense of Beauty Against Its Detractors"
2016-17: Dr. Frances Howard-Snyder - "The Moral Risk of Trust: Learning from Fiction"
2015-16: Dr. Gregory R. Beabout - "Philosophical Wisdom for Business Savvy: The Character of the Manager"
2014-15: Dr. D.C. Schindler "A Pre-Modern Response to the Post-Modern 'Lonely Mind’"
2013-14: Dr. Merold Westphal – "Getting from There to Here: From Modernity to Postmodernity"
2012-13: Dr. Nancey Murphy – “Human Nature at the Intersection of Science, Religion and Philosophy”
2011-12: Dr. Alvin Plantinga – “Science, Religion and Naturalism”
2010-11: Dr. Paul K. Moser – “Expecting a Severe God”
2009-10: Dr. R.J. Snell – "Culture of Boredom, Culture of Death"
2008-09: Dr. James K.A. Smith – "A Liturgical Phenomenology for a Post-Secular Age"
2007-08: Dr. Linda Zagzebski – "Self-Trust and Religious Belief"
2006-07: Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff – "Love and Justice"
2005-06: Dr. Paul Helm – “John Calvin′s Big Idea”
2004-05: Dr. Stephen Evans, Baylor University – “Can Love be Commanded?: Kierkegaard on the Foundations of Moral Obligation”

Philosophy at Geneva College

“Engaging the philosophical conversation, honing critical skills and passions, cultivating wisdom, for service, for living; in submission to Jesus Christ the Truth.”