STEUBENVILLE, OHIO — Catholic scholars from across the country will gather October 24-25 at Franciscan University of Steubenville for the 33rd annual National Conference of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists.

The conference will address a wide range of issues presented by scholars of the law, political science, history, theology, philosophy, and other social sciences. There will be sessions on the social teachings of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the Catholic response to current public issues, Catholic thought and the American founding, school choice and American education, Catholic social teaching on economics, and many others.

For an international perspective, there will be sessions on the Catholic history of Britain, international politics, and selected socio-cultural issues abroad.

In all, the conference will offer 33 sessions with several dozen different presenters from colleges and universities from across the U.S.

At the Friday evening banquet on October 24, retired Franciscan University philosophy professor Dr. John Crosby will receive the Pope Pius XI Award for his contribution to the building up of a true Catholic social science. Crosby is known internationally for his work on John Henry Newman, Max Scheler, Karol Wojtyła, and Dietrich von Hildebrand. He has made a significant contribution to the area of philosophical anthropology and philosophy of the human person. He has played a major role in the contemporary interest and discussion of these fields through his two books, The Selfhood of the Human Person and Personalist Papers.

The Society of Catholic Social Scientists was founded in 1992 by Franciscan University political scientist Dr. Stephen Krason and sociologist Dr. Joseph Varacalli, and is based at Franciscan University of Steubenville. The society aims to bring together Catholic social scientists for professional fellowship and to examine political, social, and economic reality in light of empirical data, the Church’s social teaching, and the natural law.​ The society is committed to Catholic orthodoxy and those who join it have to sign a “Profession of Faith” upholding Catholic orthodoxy.

“The Society of Catholic Social Scientists is the only interdisciplinary Catholic social science organization in the U.S. committed to stressing sound scholarship and supporting Catholics in the academy and in professional fields that is committed to the orthodox teaching of the Church,” Krason said. “Our annual conference provides many talks reflecting top-notch scholarship on thought-provoking topics. It is important to have an organization which stands in opposition to the secularist, relativist orientation that is so typical of the social sciences in the contemporary world. We give serious Catholic scholars and professionals in those fields the opportunity for camaraderie with like-minded colleagues.”

The conference registration fee, which includes all sessions, is $55 for non-members, $40 for members, and $25 for students. To register or for more information, go to The Society of Catholic Social Scientists.