Gather with fellow student leaders to explore the ideas that shape our lives.
Veritas Weekend is the flagship student leadership conference of the Veritas Forum. The annual conference connects Christian students from universities across the country and provides training and discussion around integrating faith, scholarship, and life.
The 2024 Veritas Weekend will take place at The Boston Park Plaza from Friday, February 9th to Sunday, February 11th.
This year's theme is "Loving God with Your Mind." Scholars, journalists, and other Christian leaders will explore with you how Christianity interacts with different dimensions of the modern academy, from specific disciplines (the sciences, the creative arts) to the various challenges facing higher ed.
Veritas Weekend includes opportunities to:
The Veritas Weekend consists of two tracks to allow you to customize your experience:
AC Students Track is designed for students who are involved in a student campus publication that is affiliated with the Augustine Collective, a program of the Veritas Forum.
Forums Leadership Track is designed for students who plan and run Veritas Forum events on their campuses.
Over the course of three days, our plenary speakers will address the theme "Loving God with Your Mind" from their specific areas of expertise. More speakers to be announced soon!
Duke University
Duke University
Jed Atkins is the E. Blake Byrne Associate Professor of Classical Studies and Associate Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Duke University, where he serves as the Director of the Transformative Ideas Sophomore Program and the Director of the Civil Discourse Project. His research focuses on Greek, Roman, and early Christian moral and political thought. He earned his PhD from Cambridge University in 2009. He is the author of Cicero on Politics and the Limits of Reason, Roman Political Thought, and editor (along with Thomas Bénatouïl) of The Cambridge Companion to Cicero’s Philosophy. His latest book, The Christian Origins of Tolerance, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
University of Iowa
University of Iowa
Lori Peterson Branch is Associate Professor of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century English Literature at the University of Iowa. She has published widely on literature, religion, and the postsecular, from the fourth-century Sayings of the Desert Fathers to seventeenth-century Dissent, contemporary Gothic novels, and Eastern Orthodoxy. She earned her PhD in English from Indiana University. With her collaborator Mark Knight, she has co-taught two NEH Summer Seminars for faculty on religion, secularism, and the novel. She edits the monograph series Literature, Religion, and Postsecular Studies for Ohio State University Press and is currently at work on a book project titled Beyond Secularism: Postsecular Reason, an interdisciplinary manifesto for moving the humanities and social sciences beyond the secular-religious binary birthed in modernity.
Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
Described as “uncommonly insightful, individualistic, lively” and “technically dazzling” by the New York Times, pianist Mia Chung has enjoyed international success as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. She won the Concert Artists Guild Competition and received the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the highest recognition for young concert artists in the United States. Ms. Chung has performed extensively in North America, Europe, Asia and Central America and has released CD recordings of the works of J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Lee Hyla, Brahms, among others.
A distinguished educator, scholar, music advocate, and leader, Mia Chung has worked to provide greater understanding and increased awareness of the classical music repertoire. Her DVD recording on Beethoven entitled, Notations: A Composer’s Response to Crisis, was released in 2008 and has garnered high praise. As a radio personality, Ms. Chung served as the first "Young Artist in Residence" for National Public Radio's Performance Today. Ms. Chung's work at NPR earned her a nomination as "Debut Artist of the Year." In April 2015, Ms. Chung and Arnold Steinhardt, first violinist of the Guarneri Quartet, teamed up to co-write and co-teach a Curtis online course (MOOC) through Coursera entitled, The World of the String Quartet. Her short monograph entitled, Chinese Émigré Composers and Divergent Modernisms: Chen Yi and Zhou Long will be published in 2023 by Cambridge University Press (Elements in Music Since 1945 Series).
Since the publication of her op-ed entitled, “No Child Left Without Music” in the Philadelphia Inquirer (2015), Ms. Chung has been drawing public attention to music’s transformative impact on cognition, learning, and health. She is the founder and executive director for The Octet Collaborative, a non-profit that promotes human flourishing at MIT.
Mia Chung graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received a master's degree from Yale University and a doctorate from the Juilliard School. From 1991 to 2011, Ms. Chung was Artist-in-Residence and Professor of Music at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. For the last twelve years, Mia served on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she was a professor of musical studies and performance and served as a trustee. She and her husband, John Yee, have four children and reside in the Boston area.
University of San Diego
University of San Diego
Satyan Devadoss is the Fletcher Jones professor of applied mathematics and professor of computer science at the University of San Diego. He was faculty at Williams for nearly 15 years, and has held visiting positions at Ohio State, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Harvey Mudd, and Stanford. A fellow of the American Mathematical Society and recipient of two national teaching awards, his thoughts have appeared in venues such as NPR, the Times of London, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. He is a satisfactory father to four, a grand father to one, and married to a queen.
Harvard University
Harvard University
Nancy E. Hill, Ph.D. is The Charles Bigelow Professor of Education at Harvard University and a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on parenting and adolescent development. She is the author of the recently released a book, The End of Adolescence: The Lost Art of Delaying Adulthood, Harvard University Press, 2021, which focuses on the experiences and mindsets youth need as they transition from adolescence into adulthood. Professor Hill studies the ways in which demographic background interact and impact youths’ opportunities for upward mobility including postsecondary transitions to college and career, with an emphasis on adolescents’ emerging sense of purpose and views of the economy. Professor Hill’s research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals in the fields of developmental psychology and education, including Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Journal of Educational Psychology. Professor Hill was awarded the Ernest Hilgard Award for Lifetime contributions to psychology from Division 1 of the American Psychological Association. She was named to the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine’s (NASEM) Board on Children Youth and Families. She is President of the Society for Research in Child Development.
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Ruth L. Okediji is the Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard Law School where she teaches courses in contracts, intellectual property (IP) law, and courses in biblical law. A widely cited prolific scholar and a foremost authority on the role of intellectual property in social and economic development, Professor Okediji has advised inter-governmental organizations, regional economic communities, and national governments on a range of matters related to patents, copyright, innovation policy, and human development. Okediji is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Jos. She is the recipient of numerous awards for excellence in scholarship, teaching, mentorship and service, including recognition as one of the world’s top 50 leaders in IP law.
Duke Divinity School
Duke Divinity School
C. Kavin Rowe is the Vice Dean of the Faculty and the George Washington Ivey Distinguished Professor of New Testament. The first of three volumes of his collected essays has recently been published as Leading Christian Communities (Eerdmans, 2023). He is the author of four other books: Christianity's Surprise: A Sure and Certain Hope (Abingdon, 2020), One True Life: the Stoics and Early Christians as Rival Traditions (Yale University Press, 2016), World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age (Oxford University Press, 2009, paperback 2010), and Early Narrative Christology (de Gruyter, 2006, repr. Baker Academic, 2009). He has published dozens of articles and essays, and co-edited The Word Leaps the Gap (Eerdmans, 2008) and Rethinking the Unity and Reception of Luke and Acts (University of South Carolina Press, 2010). He is on the editorial board of several international peer-review journals and has also frequently written articles for faithandleadership.com.
Check Back Soon!
Check Back Soon!
More Speakers to Be Announced
The Veritas Weekend breakout sessions will offer a more intimate context to dive deeper into this year's theme and receive practical tips on running Forum events and publishing AC journals. More speakers to be announced soon!
DIRECTOR OF AUGUSTINE COLLECTIVE & VERITAS INSTITUTE, The Veritas Forum
DIRECTOR OF AUGUSTINE COLLECTIVE & VERITAS INSTITUTE, The Veritas Forum
Peter serves as the Directof or Augustine Collective and Veritas Institute at The Veritas Forum, helping to support student publications at universities across the country. While attending Dartmouth College, he was the third editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth Apologia, one of the first publications in the Augustine Collective network. After graduating, Peter served as a writer and an editor at The American Interest, a magazine of politics and culture in Washington, DC. He then joined Thomistic Institute, an academic institute in DC, where he was the Campus Program Coordinator. Peter occasionally writes on a freelance basis, and he tweets at @PeterAWBlair.
Augustine Collective Program Manager, The Veritas Forum
Augustine Collective Program Manager, The Veritas Forum
Moriah serves as Program Manager for the Augustine Collective at the Veritas Forum. Prior to joining Veritas, she was assistant editor at First Things, a journal of religion and public life in New York City. She holds a BA in English from Baylor University and an MAR in Religion and Literature from Yale Divinity School. Moriah currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut, where in her free time she enjoys kayaking in Connecticut’s many waterways.
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS & STRATEGIC INITIATIVES, The Veritas Forum
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS & STRATEGIC INITIATIVES, The Veritas Forum
Haley serves as the Director of Operations & Strategic Initiatives, where she facilitates strategic collaborative projects and works to implement the cohesion of Veritas Forum's operational systems. She brings experience as a Higher Education administrator and a consultant for nonprofit organizations. Haley holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and a MS in Nonprofit Management from Columbia University. She lives on Cape Cod with her husband and rescue dog Koda.
University Engagement Director and Director of Student Development, The Veritas Forum
University Engagement Director and Director of Student Development, The Veritas Forum
Teal is University Engagement Director and Director of Student Development, Forums, for The Veritas Forum, jumping into Forum planning and student engagement with great excitement. After earning her BA in English at the University of Mary Washington, Teal earned her MA in Religion from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Teal spent a rewarding five years as a Ministry Fellow at Harvard University with Christian Union before joining the team. She lives with her husband Jeff north of Boston where they are always on the hunt for delicious coffee and new running routes.
Check Back Soon!
Check Back Soon!
More Speakers to be Announced
We look forward to three meaningful days together. If you are not a current student, your schedule may look slightly different and you will receive your tailored schedule prior to the weekend. Please reach out to your main contact point at the Veritas Forum with any questions.
Please note that the below is the current schedule and some of the details may change before the weekend begins.
This year we're so excited that Veritas Weekend includes two tracks. Below you can find information relevant to you and your track.
Please note that this information is for current AC students only. If you are not a current AC student, please reach out to your Veritas contact point or to augustine@veritas.org for your specific conference information. Please click on the plus sign to the left to expand the FAQ.
Veritas Weekend is The Veritas Forum’s flagship student leadership conference. It is a private, invitation-only event for students who are part of The Veritas Forum’s student community. This conference gathers invited students for a time of encouragement and equipping. During the conference, students interact with Christian scholars, writers, and artists, and share experiences with peers from other campuses.
Veritas Weekend has two tracks: The Augustine Collective Conference track for students who are part of an AC journal and the Forums Leadership track for students who plan and execute Veritas Forum events on their campus.
The Augustine Collective track is for students who are involved with a student publication that is officially affiliated with the Augustine Collective journal network, either as regular contributors or as official staff. Students who are not yet involved with an existing publication but are seriously exploring involvement are also welcome to register for the AC track at Veritas Weekend—as are invited students who are seriously considering starting a journal on their campus.
To meet, think, discuss, and pray with your fellow Veritas students from across the country? To hear from and interact with fantastic speakers? To strategize with your teams for the future? To acquire or refine the skills necessary to help build a thriving publication? To renew your vision for the work you’re doing? Pick your reason! Whatever brings you to the conference, we’re thrilled to see you.
Want to learn more? Check out this promo video from a previous conference.
The full schedule is still to come, but you can see the current schedule above. It will conclude by noon on Sunday the 11th. The weekend will consist of a mix of plenary sessions, breakout sessions, worship, time to connect as a team, and time for fellowship with students from publications across the country.
Speakers this year include C. Kavin Rowe with more to be announced. The theme is “Loving God with Your Mind."
The Boston Park Plaza Hotel will host this year’s conference. This 4-star hotel, located near the historic Boston Common, was recently renovated and features great meeting spaces for this growing event. Lodging at the Plaza will be guest rooms that hold two students with a separate bed for each.
The Park Plaza is a close walk from a few different T stops.
Park Plaza Hotel Address: 50 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116
- Monday, October 16, 2023: Registration Opens
- Monday, November 27, 2023 11:59 pm EST: Registration Closes
- Wednesday, November 29, 2023 11:59 pm EST: Final Admissions off Waitlist Issued and Decisions On Applications for Additional Financial Assistance Released
- Monday, December 4, 2023 11:59 pm EST: Travel Receipts for Student Purchased Travel Due
-Friday, February 9, 2024: Conference Begins
The Augustine Collective student community is deeply important to Veritas and we are excited to invest in that community through covering the full cost of hosting Veritas Weekend and most of the costs of student attendance. We cover the full cost of registration, lodging at the Boston Park Plaza, ½ the cost of primary travel (up to $200 total reimbursement), breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, dinner on Saturday, and swag items.
Augustine Collective students are expected to pay for the other ½ the cost of their primary travel, the full cost of any ground transportation, the cost of dinner on Friday evening, and the cost of lunch on Saturday afternoon. Any meals, snacks, or coffee purchased while traveling, any meals not provided as part of the official schedule, and any souvenirs or other incidental costs you incur in Boston will not be covered.
We want to ensure as best we can that finances are not a barrier to your attendance at the 2024 Veritas Weekend. We will provide the link to apply for additional financial assistance starting on Oct. 16th. You should apply for this at the same time when you register for the conference. Remember that registration is on a first come, first serve basis.
We will review applications after the close of registration. If we do not grant you sufficient additional assistance and you are not able to attend as a result, we will cancel your registration. If you are put on the waitlist at registration, you should still make sure to apply for additional assistance at the time of registration. We will evaluate your application if you are admitted off the waitlist. If you have any questions or concerns about this process, please let us know at augustine@veritas.org and we will be happy to discuss them with you.
Please be aware that this assistance is meant for students who truly could not attend Veritas Weekend without additional financial support. Thank you for understanding.
If you’ve received additional assistance, please follow the instructions you receive about booking travel in the acceptance email.
Your team should all take the same transportation method if at all possible. Schools are required to research and take the cheapest possible method of transportation that is realistically available to them. However, this is on “the honor system”—we do not need to confirm the option before you arrange travel.
Please work through your EiCs to arrange and book travel. The steps of the process are:
1. Students register for the conference
2. The EiC or other designated point person will then confirm the travel method and cost with students from their school
3. Conference attendees will pay the point person from their school
4. Point person will purchase travel for the whole group (this should wait until after Wednesday, Nov. 30 if you are expecting someone from your school may be admitted off the waitlist or someone is waiting a decision on additional financial assistance)
5. Point person will submit one reimbursement form for the group
6. The Augustine Collective reimburses the point person for half of the total travel
7. The point person reimburses each individual member for half the cost of their travel from the funds received from the Augustine Collective team
If no one in the group is willing to be the point person in terms of purchasing, we ask that one person remain our point of contact but we will work with your school to arrange for individual reimbursement. Please email augustine@veritas.org if this is the case for your school. Please note that though the first method outlined above is our ideal process, we are certainly willing to be flexible. We want to make sure that we are serving you and your team in your preparation for the conference, so you can always feel free to be in touch with us if different arrangements need to be made.
Note: If you are driving and we are reimbursing you for gas and parking, those receipts do not need to be submitted by December 4. They can be submitted after the weekend for ½ reimbursement (up to $200 per person). Those who are driving should plan to park their vehicles in the Boston Common Parking Garage (clearance of 6'3").
Note: If you need to come to the conference from a location other than your school, please contact us at augustine@veritas.org in order to confirm that this is possible. We reserve the right to exercise discretion, particularly if coming from your preferred location is more expensive than coming from your school.
Tip: If you are flying or taking a train or bus into the Boston airport, please plan accordingly. The T (subway) in Boston will be much cheaper than a taxi/Uber/Lyft. The Silver Line from the airport to South Station is free; for more details see here and note that it seems the reverse trip from South Station to the Boston airport upon departure is not free.
Registration is on a first come, first serve basis. We have a limited number of spots for Augustine Collective students. Students who register in excess our limit will be placed on our waitlist in case of cancellations or other circumstances. In addition, there will be a cap of 12 people per school in our registration period. Anyone who registers from a school that already has 12 people registered to attend will be put on the waitlist as well. We will admit additional students over a school’s 12-person cap after the close of registration on a first come, first serve basis.
Once you register, we will contact you to confirm whether you have secured a spot or to inform you that you have been placed on the waitlist. Even if you are aware you will be put on the waitlist, we encourage you to register anyway as we expect to be able to admit at least some people off the waitlist.
The link to register will be added on October 16th.
Our general expectation is that student attendees stay for the entire duration of the weekend, arriving between 4p.m. and 6p.m. on Friday, February 9th and departing after 11a.m. on Sunday, February 11th. If you have any concerns about staying for the whole weekend, please do let us know at augustine@veritas.org and we can discuss it with you further.
Before the close of registration you may cancel your registration at any time by emailing augustine@veritas.org. However, our expectation is that anyone still registered by the Nov. 27 deadline plans to attend the conference.
Please note that if you do cancel for any non-emergency reasons after purchasing your travel, we will not reimburse you for any travel you purchased and will ask you to return any money received for your travel reimbursement. If a true emergency arises, such as a medical or family situation, you should cancel and we will still reimburse your travel. Please email us at augustine@veritas.org if this situation applies to you.
The dress code is smart casual (and warm). You should bring any toiletries you would normally bring for a hotel stay. You may also wish to bring a water bottle, a notebook, a Bible or other devotional items, and any other items you’d want for a program of this kind. The event may involve walking outside, so be sure to bring shoes that are comfortable to walk in outside. As a team, your journal should bring copies of your journal's latest issue (and optionally, back issues too!) to trade with other campuses—ideally at least 50 copies.
Yes. We will provide more details closer to the event.
Yes. Conference registration will include a place to note this information.
Currently no COVID regulations are planned, but we will update you if that changes.
If you have any additional questions, please email the Augustine Collective Conference team at augustine@veritas.org.
Please note that this information is for current Forums students only. If you are not a current Forums student, please reach out to your Veritas contact point for your specific conference information. Please click on the plus sign to the left to expand the FAQ.
Veritas Weekend is The Veritas Forum’s flagship student conference. It gathers the students for a time of encouragement and equipping. During the conference, students interact with Christian scholars, writers, and artists, and share experiences with peers from other campuses.
Veritas Weekend has two tracks: The Augustine Collective Conference track for students who are part of an AC journal and the Forums Leadership track for students who plan and execute Veritas Forum events on their campus.
Are you interested in meeting, thinking, discussing, and praying with your fellow Veritas students from across the country? Perhaps you'd like to hear from and interact with fantastic speakers? To strategize with your team for the future? To acquire or refine the skills necessary to help plan an innovative and relevant forum? To renew your vision for bringing the breadth and beauty of Jesus to dialogue across difference? Pick your reason! Whatever brings you to the conference, we’d be thrilled to welcome you.
Want to learn more? Check out this promo video from a previous AC conference.
The full schedule is still to come, but you can see the current schedule above. It will conclude by noon on Sunday the 11th. The weekend will consist of a mix of plenary sessions, breakout sessions, worship, time to connect as a team, and time for fellowship with students from across the country.
Speakers this year include: C. Kavin Rowe, Ruth Okediji, and Satyan Devadoss, with more to be announced. The theme is “Loving God with Your Mind."
The Boston Park Plaza Hotel will host this year’s conference. This 4-star hotel, located near the historic Boston Common, was recently renovated and features great meeting spaces for this growing event.
The Park Plaza is a close walk from a few different T stops.
Park Plaza Hotel Address: 50 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116
More information to come.
More information to come.
More to come.
Our general expectation is that student attendees stay for the entire duration of the weekend, arriving between 4p.m. and 6p.m. on Friday, February 9th and departing after 11a.m. on Sunday, February 11th. If you have any concerns about staying for the whole weekend, please do let us know at teal@veritas.org and we can discuss it with you further.
Before the close of the registration (deadline to come), you may cancel your registration at any time by emailing teal@veritas.org. However, our expectation is that anyone still registered by the deadline (to be announced) plans to attend the conference. Moreover, when you submit your travel for reimbursement (no later than a deadline to be announced), we consider it a firm commitment that you will attend and we would strongly ask that you not cancel after that time unless for a genuine emergency.
Please note that if you do cancel for any non-emergency reasons after purchasing your travel, we will not reimburse you for any travel you purchased and will ask you to return any money received for your travel reimbursement. Of course, if a true emergency arises, such as a medical or family situation, you should cancel and we will still reimburse your travel. Please email us at teal@veritas.org if this situation applies to you.
Your team should all take the same transportation method if at all possible. The Veritas team will be reaching out to a designated point person at your school to figure out the best form of transportation for your group. Please do not book travel until you have heard from the Veritas team to discuss the best options.
In general, we would like schools to prioritize travel options in the following order:
1. Driving personal cars or school-sponsored cars (we will reimburse gas and parking costs by receipt)
2. Bus (unless timing isn’t feasible given conference events)
3. Rental Cars (unless there aren’t enough drivers in the group or a train is less expensive)
4. Train (unless planes are less expensive)
5. Plane (reserved for schools that are too far for other forms of transport)
Again, we will work with your team to find the best mode of transportation to the conference. In general, we will only reimburse the best affordable option proposed for your school. We will be working with the point person at your school to land on the best affordable option here, taking into account the various specifics of travel from your school’s location.
If you need to come to the conference from a location other than your school, please contact us at teal@veritas.org in order to confirm that this is possible. We reserve the right to exercise discretion, particularly if coming from your preferred location is more expensive than coming from your school.
More information to come
Tip: If you are flying or taking a train or bus into the Boston airport, please plan accordingly. The T (subway) in Boston will be much cheaper than a taxi/Uber/Lyft. The Silver Line from the airport to South Station is free; for more details see here and note that it seems the reverse trip from South Station to the Boston airport upon departure is not free.
More information to come
The Boston Park Plaza Hotel will host this year’s conference. This 4-star hotel, located near the historic Boston Common, was recently renovated and features great meeting spaces for this growing event.
The Park Plaza is a close walk from a few different T stops.
Park Plaza Hotel Address: 50 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116
Lodging will be in the The Boston Park Plaza Hotel. More information to come.
The dress code is smart casual (and warm). You should bring any toiletries you would normally bring for a hotel stay. You may also wish to bring a water bottle, a notebook, a Bible or other devotional items, and any other items you’d want for a program of this kind. All students will be walking to dinner around Boston on Saturday evening, so be sure to bring shoes that are comfortable to walk in outside.
Yes. Conference registration includes a place to note this information.
More information to come
The full schedule is still to come, but you can see the current schedule above. It will conclude by noon on Sunday the 11th. The weekend will consist of a mix of plenary sessions, breakout sessions, worship, time to connect as a team, and time for fellowship with students from across the country.
Speakers this year include: C. Kavin Rowe, Ruth Okediji, and Satyan Devadoss, with more to be announced. The theme is “Loving God with Your Mind."
With any questions, please email the Forums Conference team at teal@veritas.org.
If you are not a current student, your registration will be handled separately and you will receive your registration form shortly if you haven't already. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your main contact point at The Veritas Forum.