The Portsmouth Institute's Catholic William F. Buckley Conference

From Justin:

Among the highlights of my summer is likely to be the three-and-a-half day conference hosted at the Portsmouth Abbey School by the newly formed Portsmouth Institute. Taking William F. Buckley as the unifying theme, a series of familiarly named speakers will address Mr. Buckley's work and life and the role of Roman Catholics in intellectual society:

• Rev. George Rutler, Pastor of Our Saviour Church NYC
• Maggie Gallagher, author and nationally syndicated columnist
• Joseph Bottum, Editor, First Things
• Roger Kimball, author and editor of The New Criterion
• E.J. Dionne, author and syndicated columnist
• Kathryn Lopez: Editor, National Review Online
• Lee Edwards, The Heritage Foundation
• Christopher Buckley, author

Other activities during the June 18-21 event include meals, tours of the school's church and wind turbine, and classical concerts by pianist Lawrence Perelman and Portsmouth Abbey faculty. Register online.

At least to my experience, we don't see these sorts of events that often in Rhode Island, and the founders of the Portsmouth Institute intend to make a regular practice of them. The best way to ensure that they do so — and that other organizations pursue similar offerings — is simply to respond to the opportunity for edification and attend.