小草影院鈥檚 Sixteenth Annual
Symposium on Transforming Culture
The weekend of September 4-5, 2026
Theme: The Church in an Algorithmic Age
This annual conference is held on the campus of 小草影院 in Atchison, Kansas. The Symposium brings together scholars, business leaders, field professionals and students for a time of fellowship, reflection and dialogue concerning topics integral to the Catholic Faith and its transformative role in our lives, society and culture.
Theme: The Church in an Algorithmic Age
Pope Leo XIV has called upon Catholics and all people of good will to take seriously the challenges and opportunities posed by technology and artificial intelligence. 鈥淒o not let the algorithm write your story!鈥� How do we do this in the Church and for the world today? How can Catholics continue to live and profess the faith in a world increasingly driven by algorithmic forces? This conference calls upon scholars and field professionals from any discipline to reflect, criticize, and propose ways of thinking and acting in the midst of this transformational time in human history.
Call for Abstracts
We are seeking paper and presentation proposals that address the topic of beauty and wonder. Proposals from scholars, artists, and organizational leaders, in any fields or discipline, including theology, philosophy, literature, visual and performing arts, education, and architecture are welcome. We especially invite presentations that address:
- Medicine, Bioethics, and the Person
- Anthropology, Society, and Human Formation
- Evangelization and Catechesis
- Prayer, Contemplation, and Leisure
- Transhumanism and Emerging Technologies
- Wonder, Imagination, and Education
- Communications and Media
- Catholic Social Teaching, Economics, and Work
Proposals should be sent in the form of a 150 word abstract. Submissions should be turned in online by June 5, 2026. Notification of acceptance will be given the following week. Presentations will be 20 minutes in length with 2-3 presenters per session.
Event Registration
Registration for the September 2026 Symposium will open soon.
If you have any questions, please .
Event Schedule
Friday, September 4, 2026
3:00 p.m.
Registration
Murphy Recreation Center
4:00-5:30 p.m.
Colloquium Session #1
Ferrell Academic Center, Third Floor
Light refreshments provided.
5:30-7:00 p.m.
Reception with Heavy D鈥檕euvres
Murphy Recreation Center
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Keynote #1
Dr. Paul Scherz, University of Notre Dame
9:00 p.m.
Reception
Saturday, September 5, 2026
7:30-8:30 a.m.
Breakfast
Murphy Recreation Center
8:30-9:30 a.m.
Keynote #2
Dr. Kristin Collier, MD, University of Michigan
9:45-11:15 a.m.
Colloquium Session #2
Ferrell Academic Center
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Colloquium Session #3
Ferrell Academic Center
12:30-1:45 p.m.
Lunch
Murphy Recreation Center
2:00-3:30 p.m.
Featured Presenter Sessions
Session A: Technology, Worship, and the Sacred
Session B: To the Margins: AI and Evangelization
Session C: Education for Reality in the Age of AI
3:45-5:05 p.m.
Colloquium Session #4
5:30 p.m.
Mass
St. Benedict’s Abbey, Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel
Archbishop Shawn McKnight, Principal Celebrant
6:30-7:30 p.m.
Dinner
Murphy Recreation Center
7:45 p.m.
Closing Keynote
Matthew Harvey Sanders, CEO, Longbeard
9:00 p.m.
Reception
Invited Speakers & Presenters
Dr. Paul Scherz
University of Notre Dame
Speaker Bio
Paul Scherz is the Our Lady of Guadalupe Professor of Theology. His work examines the intersection of theology, science, medicine, and technology. His interests in ethics center on the role of virtue ethics, especially Stoic virtue ethics, in moral theology. He has published articles on many topics in bioethics, such as human enhancement, genetic technology, and end of life ethics. His books analyze issues like the moral formation of scientists, the role of risk in contemporary practical reason, the ethics of precision medicine, and the ethics of artificial intelligence.
He began his career in science with a BA in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley (2001), a PhD in genetics from Harvard (2005), and a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF. He then received an MTS and a PhD in moral theology from the University of Notre Dame (2010, 2014). His previous teaching positions were at the Catholic University of America and the University of Virginia. He is currently working on projects on the ethics of artificial intelligence and the historical influence of Stoicism on moral theology.
Dr. Kristin Collier, MD
University of Michigan
Speaker Bio
Dr. Kristin Collier is an associate professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Michigan where she serves as the director of the University of Michigan Medical School Program on Health, Spirituality, and Religion and as an associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. She completed medical school, residency, and chief residency at the University of Michigan. Her academic interests center on human dignity and the ways this concept grounds moral obligations at the margins of life. Her peer reviewed work has been published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the British Medical Journal, the Annals of Internal Medicine and The Journal of General Internal Medicine. She has had writings published in Notre Dame鈥檚 Church Life Journal, Theopolis, America Magazine, Public Discourse and the New York Times. She is also a wife and the proud mother of four sons.
Matthew Sanders
CEO – Magisterium AI, Longbeard
Bio coming soon!
More speakers will be posted soon.