The 2026 Catholic Studies Speaker Series Presents:
Foundations of AI Ethics?
With Taylor Black, Director of AI & Venture Ecosystems at Microsoft
Date: January 27, 2026
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Wolff Auditorium, Jepson Center
Do you use AI regularly? Are you fascinated with AI? Does AI concern you? How do you think about your interactions with AI? What philosophical and ethical questions does AI raise? What resources can the Catholic intellectual tradition offer as we navigate this new era? Taylor Black argues, “As AI systems quietly permeate daily life—from the algorithms curating our news feeds to the automation guiding hiring decisions and policing—each promises efficiency and insight, but each also carries the risk of unintended consequences. How do we respond to such challenges? How can we ensure these powerful technologies serve justice and the common good, rather than undermine them? We need more than technical fixes; we need wisdom and moral discernment.”
Taylor Black, a Gonzaga alumnus, is director of AI & Venture Ecosystems in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, where he explores the frontiers of innovation and corporate entrepreneurship. He is the founding director of a new AI and ethics institute at the Catholic University of America. Taylor is also a deacon candidate in the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix.
Sponsored by the Catholic Studies Program.
Questions? Contact Joe Mudd, Catholic Studies program director at mudd@gonzaga.edu, x6799.
Jewish-Catholic Dialogue Today: 60 Years of Nostra Aetate
"Nostra Aetate‽ “The Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions”
The Teaching of the Catholic Church on Interreligious Encounter
Date & Time: October 28, 2025, 7:00 pm
Location: Wolff Auditorium, Jepson
Join faculty from the department of Religious Studies for a conversation on 60 years of Jewish-Catholic relations and interreligious dialogue.
- John Sheveland, PhD, examines the role of Nostra Aetate in interreligious dialogue.
- Elizabeth Goldstein, PhD, explores the impact of Nostra Aetate on Jewish relations with the Catholic Church and the inclusion of Jewish voices in Catholic universities.
- B. Kevin Brown, PhD, investigates the impact of Nostra Aetate on the theology of the church.
- Kevin Vander Schel, PhD, considers the history of Jewish-Catholic relations in Europe.
Sponsored by the Catholic Studies Program.
Participation in Student Catholic Life
Members of the Catholic Studies Program are encouraged to take part in the activities of University Ministry as well as Gonzaga's several Catholic student groups. Among these are the following: