Established on 03.14.2006 by Edward H. Carus Jr. on behalf of the Alwin C. and M. Elisabeth Carus Trust
Alwin C. Carus and his sister, M. Elisabeth Carus, grew up at LaSalle, Illinois, and attended the University of Chicago, where Alwin established strong, lifelong connections that represented his deep interests in philosophy, science, and religion to the Oriental Institute.
Their family, the Carus and Hegeler families, have been in LaSalle since their grandfather, Edward C. Hegeler, co-founded Matthiesen-Hegeler Chemical Company there in 1858. It has continuously operated as one of the world's largest manufacturers of zinc and is now known as the Carus Corporation. The Carus Corporation is within sight and sound of the majestic Hegeler-Carus Mansion, where Alwin and M. Elisabeth lived virtually all of their lives.
The Hegeler and Carus families, going back several generations to their origins in Germany, including Alwin and M. Elisabeth's father, Paul (1852-1919), have had deep interests in world religions. To disseminate his own thoughts and others', who, in their search for truth, explored world religions, Edward C. Hegeler, Paul's father-in-law, in 1887, founded The Open Court Publishing Company. It has since published The Monist, "devoted to the Philosophy of Science."
Having come to North Dakota in 1939 and, over their lifetimes, acquired 23,000 acres of land and mineral rights, Alwin and M. Elisabeth, in their estates, established charitable trusts that, over the trusts' respective 20-year terms, have made distributions to Concordia College beginning in 2006.
Funding from the Alwin C. and M. Elisabeth Carus Endowment supports The Alwin C. and M. Elisabeth Carus Professorship Award in Philosophy and is given biennially to a distinguished member of the philosophy, natural sciences, or religion departments. The Alwin C. and M. Elisabeth Carus Professorship Award in Philosophy has been awarded to:
2024 - Dr. Tess Varner, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program
The Alwin C. and M. Elisabeth Carus Endowment also supports expenses related to the Carus Lectureship, which was established in 2013 to bring a prominent philosopher to Concordia College's campus. The Carus Lectureship has featured the following speakers:
Fall 2025 - Tenth Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Eric Wolff
Partner and Firmwide Appeals, Issues & Strategy Practice Co-Chair at Perkins Coie LLP Perkins Coie, a global law firm headquartered in Seattle, WA.
Peter Hatinen
Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Wealth Strategy at Ascent Private Capital Management
"The Philosophy of Law"
Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Wealth Strategy at Ascent Private Capital Management
"The Philosophy of Law"
Fall 2023 - Ninth Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. Susan Dunston
Professor of English and Philosophy Emerita, New Mexico Tech University
"Each and All: A Talk about Ralph Waldo Emerson's Philosophical Strategies of Abandonment and Metaphor”
Fall 2021- Eighth Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Richard Shusterman
Professor Shusterman is the Philosophy and the Dorothy F. Schmidt Eminent Scholar in the Humanities at Florida Atlantic University
"Ethics and Aesthetics: From Pragmatist Philosophy to the Art of Living”
Fall 2019 - Seventh Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. John Kaag
Dr. Kaag is the Chair and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
"Can Philosophy Save Your Life?”
Fall 2018 - Sixth Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. Mark Sullivan
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and psychiatrist at the UWMC Center for Pain Relief and the Regional Heart Center.
"Investigating Opioids Inside and Out to Better Understand Our Current Epidemic”
Fall 2017 - Fifth Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. Lisa Heldke
Dr. Heldke is a Professor of Philosphy at Gustavus Adolphus College. She is the author of Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer (Routledge, 2003) and the co-editor of two other books on philosophy and food.
"Stuck on You: Thinking Parasitically"
Dr. Heldke is a Professor of Philosphy at Gustavus Adolphus College. She is the author of Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer (Routledge, 2003) and the co-editor of two other books on philosophy and food.
"Stuck on You: Thinking Parasitically"
Fall 2016 - Fourth Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. Kenneth A. Taylor
Dr. Taylor is the Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University
“Religion and Gay Marriage: Why Democracy Is Good for Religion even if Religion is Bad for Democracy”
Dr. Kenneth A. Taylor
Dr. Taylor is the Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University
“Religion and Gay Marriage: Why Democracy Is Good for Religion even if Religion is Bad for Democracy”
Fall 2015 - Third Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. Sally Haslanger
Dr. Haslanger is the Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies at MIT.
“Disrupting Injustice: Implicit Bias and Structural Change”
Fall 2014 - Second Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. Charles Mills
Dr. Mills is the John Evans Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy at Northwestern University.
"Liberating Illiberal Liberalism"
Dr. Sally Haslanger
Dr. Haslanger is the Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies at MIT.
“Disrupting Injustice: Implicit Bias and Structural Change”
Fall 2014 - Second Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. Charles Mills
Dr. Mills is the John Evans Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy at Northwestern University.
"Liberating Illiberal Liberalism"
Fall 2013 - First Carus Lecture in Philosophy
Dr. Jonathan Lear
Dr. Lear is the John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor for the Committee on Social Thought and the Department of Philosophy at The University of Chicago. Dr. Lear is also a practicing psychoanalyst.
Dr. Jonathan Lear
Dr. Lear is the John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor for the Committee on Social Thought and the Department of Philosophy at The University of Chicago. Dr. Lear is also a practicing psychoanalyst.
“To Become Human Does Not Come That Easily”