Each year, a different question is addressed on campus throughout the year in a variety of settings. Past themes have included: "What is a life of significance?" and "Who is God?" This year's theme question is, "What is Truth?"

Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace has widely been regarded as a masterpiece in its exploration of conflicts raging around questions of identity. Volf draws upon his experiences in his native Croatia. Most of his work addresses the intersection between faith and aspects of contemporary life, such as economics, politics, and inter-faith relations. He has published and edited nine books and more than 60 scholarly articles.

Volf is the director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and professor of theology at Yale Divinity School. He was educated in his native Croatia, the United States, and Germany, earning doctoral and post-doctoral degrees from the University of Tübingen. He will speak at 7:30 p.m. on September 8 in Anderson Chapel.

David Batstone will address "The Truth About Business Ethics" at 7:30 p.m. on November 8 in Anderson Chapel. The evening is being co-sponsored by the School of Business and Non-profit Management and the Center for Justice Ministries at NPU.

Batstone is senior editor of Worthwhile magazine and the executive editor of Sojourners magazine. He also was a founding editor of Business 2.0 magazine and was named the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at the University of San Francisco for his work in technology and ethics. During the 1980's, Batstone founded and directed a non-governmental agency dedicated to economic development and human rights in Latin America. He is the author of Saving the Corporate Soul: Eight Principles for Preserving Wealth for You and Your Company without Selling Out.

Robin Margaret Jensen will focus on "Divine Truth in Sacred Art" in her talk at 7:30 p.m. next February 8 in Anderson Chapel. The evening is co-sponsored by the Department of Art and the Biblical and Theological Studies department at North Park University.

Jensen is professor of the History of Christian Worship and Art at Vanderbilt University. Her historical research concentrates on Christian practices and non-textual expressions of the faith of the early Church. Her most recent book, Face to Face: The Portrait of the Divine in Early Christianity, examines the development of the portrait of Jesus and the question of the visual image of God in Christian theology and devotional practice. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, Jensen was professor of the History of Christianity and director of the Program in Theology and the Arts at Andover Newton Theological School.

Merold Westphal will address "The Philosophical Roots of Truth" during a presentation at 7:30 p.m. on February 23 in Anderson Chapel. He is the distinguished professor of philosophy at Fordham University in New York. The author of several books including History and Truth in Hegel's Phenomenology, Suspicion and Faith, and God, Guilt, and Death, Westphal is co-director of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy and a past president of both the Hegel Society and the Kierkegaard Society of North America.

Carol Swain will focus on "Myths and Truths about Black America" during her presentation at 7:30 p.m. on March 29 in Anderson Chapel. The evening is co-sponsored by the Center for Africana Studies.

Swain founded the Veritas Institute, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting justice and reconciliation among people of different races, ethnicities, faith traditions, and nations. She is the author of Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress, and The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She also served as the editor of Race Versus Class: The New Affirmative Action Debate. She is professor of political science and professor of law at Vanderbilt University.

Douglass Cassel will speak on "Truth as Public Policy" on April 17. No time has been set. The evening is co-sponsored by the university's Spanish Department and the Center for Latino Studies.

Cassel is an attorney, journalist, and scholar specializing in international human rights, international humanitarianism, and international criminal law, including terrorism. He is a member and former president of the board of directors of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas, to which he was elected by the Organization of American States, and serves as president of the Due Process of Law Foundation, which promotes justice reform in the hemisphere. He was legal adviser to the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador and is currently director of the Notre Dame Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Gustava Gutierrez will speak on "Liberation Theology and the People's View of Truth." No date has been set. Gutierrez was slated to speak last year, but circumstances forced the presentation to be rescheduled.

He is best known for his foundational work in Latin American liberation theology and as author of A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, Salvation. His other major books include, We Drink From Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of A People; On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent; The Truth Shall Make You Free; The God of Life; and Las Casas: In Search of the Poor of Jesus Christ. Gutierrez has been a principal professor at the Pontifical University of Peru and serves as the John Cardinal O'Hara Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.