Thanks to Adriano Oliva, OP, for this information about an upcoming event in Paris. While it might be difficult for people in the USA to attend, Adriano provided the program of the event, so we can see what's going on these days in Paris, at the Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes:

Journée d'étude, jeudi 15 mai 2008
Les innovations du vocabulaire latin à la fin du moyen âge :
autour du Glossaire du latin philosophique (philosophie, théologie, sciences)

Le Glossaire du latin philosophique, un fichier d'environ 230.000 fiches consacré au vocabulaire philosophique du moyen âge, se trouve désormais à l'Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, où il est consultable à la Section latine.

A l'occasion de l'arrivée du Glossaire du latin philosophique à l'Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes et pour marquer un nouveau départ, nous organisons une journée d'étude consacrée à ce fichier, le jeudi 15 mai 2008, à l'IRHT, 40 avenue d'Iéna, 75016 Paris.

Programme:

9.00-9.30 Accueil des participants
9.30 introduction par Louis Holtz
9.40-10.20 Jacqueline Hamesse, Le « Glossaire du latin philosophique médiéval » : histoire, buts et utilization
10.20-11.00 Anne Grondeux, Parler de grammaire en philosophie : l'enrichissement du vocabulaire médiolatin de la pensée grammatical

pause

11.10-11.50 Alfonso Maierù, Sur la « suppositio vaga » au XIII^e siècle
11.50-12.30 Charles Burnett, The Enrichment of Latin philosophical vocabulary through translations from Arabic

déjeuner

14.00-14.40 Ruedi Imbach, Experiri et experiential chez Albert le Grand et Thomas d'Aquin
14.40-15.20 Monica Calma, La "rhetorica viatoris » dans les commentaires des Sentences au XIV^e siècle
15.20-16.00 Ana Gómez Rabal, Exemples de termes philosophiques dans les glossaires médiévaux et leur survivance/ oubli chez un humaniste, Michel Servet

16.15-17.30 Table ronde : discussion générale sur l'avenir du Glossaire et une éventuelle version informatisée, avec la participation de Bruno Bon, Dragos Calma, Monica Calma, Anita Guerreau, Caroline Heid, Louis Holtz, Adriano Oliva, Jacqueline Hamesse, Jean-Pierre Rothschild, Mariken Teeuwen, Olga Weijers.

Inscriptions et renseignements : aoliva@nerim.net, olgaweijers@hotmail.com

Laura Arrington at Notre Dame points out that an extensive interview was conducted with the late Fr Servais Pinckaers, OP on the Thomas Instituut of Utrecht's website (main link), in the year 2000. You can find the interview directly here (by-passing the frames of the site).

Some terribly sad news, from Michael Sherwin, OP:

Dear Colleagues,
I just received the following note from Fr. Benoît-Dominique de La Soujeole, prior of the Albertinum:

"Fr. Pinckaers left us this evening at 2 AM to go receive the recompense of faithful servants. We were able to keep vigil at his side without interruption beginning Sunday afternoon, when his situation became grave."

Fr. de La Soujeole had taken him to the Cantonal Hospital on the Friday before Holy Week, because Fr. Pinckaers was looking more tired than usual. On Tuesday of Holy Week, he suffered an intestinal hematoma (internal bleeding). On Easter Sunday he suffered a heart attack, and had another one on Saturday, April 4^th. Throughout it all, Fr. Pinckaers maintained his good humor and a spirit of confidence in the Lord.

This is a sad day for us, but a happy day for Servais.

Pax,
P. Michael Sherwin, o.p

Pinckaers has left behind prodigious output, and a useful collection of his articles is available in English, from CUA Press.

John W. Carlson (Creighton University) has published a book for undergraduates on perennial philosophy (PDF). Here is CUA's blurb:

The Catholic University of America Press is pleased to announce publication of Understanding Our Being: Introduction to Speculative Philosophy in the Perennial Tradition by John W. Carlson.

In the encyclical Fides et ratio, Pope John Paul II called upon teachers of philosophy "to recover, in the flow of an enduringly valid philosophical tradition, the range of authentic wisdom and truth." Understanding Our Being responds to this call with a much-needed introduction to speculative philosophy.

Written as an undergraduate textbook, Understanding Our Being treats central topics about our knowledge of being, the being of the natural world, and, via the latter, being as such. It then treats the special character and implications of our human, personal being—in particular, our intellect, free choice, and reason-conditioned sociality. Finally, it considers God as Source and End of being and it discusses the "problem of evil" and the nature of religious faith.

In addition to presenting essential elements of the "perennial" philosophy, as developed in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas (especially as interpreted by Jacques Maritain and others), this book discusses contemporary challenges to the critical realist approach. These include scientism, historicism, and nihilism, as well as religious fideism. The author also encourages students to think for themselves, and he offers them resources to do so, via questions for reflection at the end of each part, a comprehensive bibliography, and a glossary of key philosophical terms.

More about the book can be found on the CUA website (link), or on Carlson's website.

Been wanting to know more about "Analytical Thomism"? The people at Ashgate Publishing have put out a book on the subject (link), and have provided PDF files of the book's Introduction and Table of Contents. With authors such as Hilary Putnam, Anthony J. Lisska, John C. Cahalan, Stephen L. Brock, and, of course, John Haldane (plus many more), it's bound to be about as effective an overview as one can get.