Abstract
Is hope an emotion, a virtue, or choice? Is it natural or supernatural? Is it best understood by theologians, social scientists or counselors? In this lecture, Barbara Sain will describe how hope has been defined differently by various historical and contemporary schools of thought and how these contrasting ideas of hope reveal different visions of what it means to be human. The lecture will offer ways of integrating disparate ideas of hope and strategies for overcoming hopelessness into a synthetic vision.
Barbara Sain is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of St. Thomas whose research focuses on hope, theological anthropology, and the interdisciplinary connections between theology and engineering. The New Frontiers lecture is based on her 2015 article, "One Body, One Spirit, One Hope: Theological Resources for Those Who Struggle to Hope," and her ongoing work on hope at the intersection of theology and the social sciences.