May 23-25, 2024

Steubenville, OH 43952

The 4th annual New Polity conference, "Should We, Therefore, Destroy the Servers?," is a three-day opportunity to consider, discuss, and debate technology as to its nature, its status as a totalizing form of life, its effects on politics, and the possibilities and limits of doing something about it.

Featuring a keynote from Matthew Crawford, a Gala dinner on Saturday night, and the opportunity to present your own ideas on Thursday night, we continue to try to one-up ourselves.

Looking forward to seeing you there. Like actually seeing you!

Register now!

Conference Price: $195*

We hope you can attend in person! Digital access will not be offered this year.

* If you’re a religious that has taken a vow of poverty, contact cs@newpolity.com for an even larger discount.

Matthew B. Crawford attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he majored in physics. Later he earned a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Chicago, specializing in ancient political thought. Currently he is a senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, but lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

D. C. Schindler, a Professor of Metaphysics and Anthropology at the John Paul II Institute in Washington DC, studied the Great Books at Notre Dame and theology at the JPII Institute, and earned a PhD in philosophy at the Catholic University of America. He is the author of many books, including Freedom from Reality: The Diabolical Character of Modern Liberty (Notre Dame, 2017) and The Politics of the Real: The Church between Liberalism and Integralism (New Polity, 2021), a translator of German and French, and a collaborating editor of Communio: International Catholic Review. Professor Schindler lives in Hyattsville, Maryland, with his wife and three children.

Andrew Willard Jones holds a PhD in Medieval History from Saint Louis University with a focus on the Church of the High Middle Ages. Jones’s work is primarily concerned with historical political theology and with the reconciliation of the post-modern with the pre-modern. Methodologically, his work treats history as a theological discipline and not as a secular archaeology. Jones is the author of Before Church and State: A Study of Social Order in St. Louis IX’s Sacramental Kingdom and the one-volume history of the Catholic Church The Two Cities: A History of Christian Politics. He is also working on an overview of the Church's social teaching.

R. R. Reno is the editor of First Things magazine. He was formerly a professor of theology and ethics at Creighton University. Reno is the author of several books, including Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society, Fighting the Noonday Devil — and Other Essays Personal and Theological, In the Ruins of the Church, Redemptive Change: Atonement and the Cure of the Soul, and a theological commentary on the Book of Genesis in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible series, for which he also serves as general editor. He has also coauthored two books, Heroism and The Christian Life and Sanctified Vision: An Introduction to Early Christian Interpretation of the Bible. His scholarly work ranges widely in systematic and moral theology, as well as in controverted questions of biblical interpretation.

Zac Crippen leads international expansion for Hallow, the #1 prayer app in the world. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and the University of Oxford (where he was a Rhodes Scholar), Zac served as an active duty Air Force officer for seven years before embarking on a career in technology. Zac lives with his wife, Sally, and their five children on the outskirts of South Bend, Indiana. He is a grateful convert to the Catholic Church. 

Alex M. Plato is an Assistant Professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville and resides with his wife and children in the city of Steubenville, Ohio. Plato received a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies summa cum laude from Corban University (then Western Baptist College) in 2002. His interdisciplinary studies included several areas of concentration: music, theology, philosophy, literature, and education. In 2007, he earned a Master of Arts summa cum laude in the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology. In December of 2014, at Saint Louis University, he defended, with highest distinction, his dissertation “Anscombe on Double Effect and Absolutism: An Inquiry into Modern Moral Philosophy and Traditional Morality.” His work was directed by Dr. Gregory Beabout.

Marc Barnes is a father of three, the editor of New Polity magazine, and the president of the Harmonium Project, a nonprofit dedicated to urban revitalization and transformation in Steubenville, Ohio.

Jacob Imam is the founder of the College of St. Joseph the Worker and Executive Director of the Institute for Political Philosophy and Theology. He holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Oxford. His work focuses on the ethics of Christian investment and the theology of work. He lives in Steubenville with his wife, Alice, and sons, Blaise and Leo.

Reuben Slife is one of the editors of New Polity magazine. In addition to preparing several edited volumes for New Polity Press, he has an article forthcoming in Communio on David L. Schindler's Catholic understanding of America. He is also the president of the Poor Players of Steubenville, a theater company. Reuben lives in Steubenville, Ohio.

We’ve heard the question “What Should We Do?” enough times, now it’s our turn. What are you doing? On Thursday night, we’ll have mini presentations on what you’re doing—starting homesteads, divesting of 401k’s, winning political offices across America (well, not that yet).

Submit an application to make a short presentation below!

This year, we are excited to have a Gala dinner at Steubenville’s best Italian restaurant, Pastaio Cucina. Giuseppe and his wife Vincenza moved to Steubenville a couple years ago after he had won best chef in Pittsburgh's strip district. Enjoy an evening full of sensational food and company—and a joke or two from Marc—while we convince you to keep New Polity afloat. You can register here, and make sure to click the “Add Gala Option.”