Welcome to the Rockhurst University Thomas More Center for Catholic Thought and Culture. The Center, named after the University's patron saint, promotes critical and committed analysis of the Catholic tradition. Our thought-provoking programs solicit discussion of all aspects of Catholicism, including literature, history, fine arts, philosophy, theology, and the natural and social sciences.

The Thomas More Center encourages faculty and student research and study through a minor program in Catholic studies for undergraduates and a research grant program for Rockhurst faculty. Additionally, the Center provides continuing education opportunities and outreach programs to the community at large, including a Conversations series that annually hosts presentations by noted scholars or artists on some element of Catholic thought and culture.

The Thomas More Center also publishes Dimensions, an occasional newsletter with notices of upcoming events, book reviews, and reflections on aspects of Catholic thought and culture. To receive the newsletter, click on the "Contact Us" link to the left and request that your name be added to our mailing list. Be sure to include your postal mailing address.

Feel free to contact Dr. Lynne Moss Bahr, at 816-501-4602 or email her with your comments and suggestions. We invite your participation in our ongoing conversation about important issues and ideas in the Catholic tradition.

Our Fall 2023 events:

Thomas More Center for Catholic Thought and Culture Conversations Series: Jesuit Prison Education Network

September 13, 2023, Arrupe Auditorium

A new initiative of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit Prison Education Network provides post-secondary education to incarcerated students. It is, in the words of Father Thomas Curran, SJ, the program’s coordinator and former President of Rockhurst University, “an expression of the Spiritual Exercises,” a means of conversion and conversation for all involved. Joining Father Curran were Julie O’Heir, Program Manager of the St. Louis University Prison Education Program; Annie Phoenix, Executive Director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans, and Craig Watz, Director of Rockhurst University’s program at Chillicothe Correction Facility for a public discussion of these programs and their impact.

A reception followed this free event.

Music Feeds the Soul: An Evening of Mary Lou Williams

 October 12, 2023, Arrupe Auditorium

This special event, co-sponsored by the Thomas More Center for Catholic Thought and Culture and the Center for Arts and Letters, featured an evening of conversation and a performance of the music of the late jazz great Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981). As an adult convert to Catholicism with many ties to Jesuits, Williams expressed her faith in her music, composing jazz as sacred music and, in her early career as part of the 1940s Kansas City jazz scene, inspired and mentored such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. Deanna Witkowski, jazz pianist and author of Williams’ biography, "Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul"; Chuck Haddix, Curator of the Marr Sound Archives at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, host of KCUR’s program “Fish Fry,” and author of "Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker"; and Dr. Dina Bennett, Deputy Director of the American Jazz Museum, engaged in a lively discussion of Williams' expression of her Catholic faith in every aspect of her life, especially in her care for fellow musicians and in jazz compositions and performances. A reception followed this free event. 

Deanna Witkowski also offered a workshop for music students on October 12.

Pictured: Mary Lou Williams plays the piano in New York City in 1946. (photo: William P. Gottlieb / Library of Congress)

Thomas More Center for Catholic Thought and Culture Conversations Series: Catholic Ministries to the LGBTQ+ Community

November 7, 2023, Arrupe Auditorium

Following the example of Jesus in extending himself to the most marginalized of his day, Catholics, both ordained and lay, have organized ministries to the LGBTQ+ community. Sister Jeannine Gramick, of New Ways Ministry, an organization seeking dialogue and reconciliation in advocating for the LGBTQ+ community; Father James Martin, S.J., of Outreach, a ministry of the Society of Jesus (attending via Zoom); and Jason Steidl Jack, Assistant Teaching Professor of Religious Studies at St. Joseph’s University in New York and author of "LGBTQ Catholic Ministry: Past and Present," engaged in a discussion of efforts to heed the call of the church to treat LGBTQ+ people with “respect, compassion, and sensitivity” (Catechism #2358.). A reception followed this free event.