JAF Fellowship Breakfast
Open Debate and Authoritative Tradition at the Medieval University
Dr. Brian Fitzgerald
This talk will reflect on medieval teaching and learning by considering how a spirit of wide-ranging questioning and argument operated within a framework of tradition. We will look in particular at the example of Thomas Aquinas as a university professor.
Brian FitzGerald is Lecturer on Medieval Studies and the Study of Religion. A scholar of medieval history, his research focuses on the intellectual and religious culture of Europe from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. His first book, Inspiration and Authority in the Middle Ages: Prophets and their Critics from Scholasticism to Humanism (2017), examined how medieval intellectuals in France, England, and Italy sought to understand and resolve competing claims of divine inspiration or prophecy. His other research interests include medieval historical consciousness, medieval literary theory, interactions between eastern and western Christianity, and the history of education. Before joining the Medieval Studies faculty, Dr. FitzGerald taught in the Humanities Program and served as Academic Dean at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts.
