Veritas Forum

Cal Poly has a long history of hosting Veritas Forum events here on campus, and our next event is scheduled for Spring 2026. More information soon.

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Founded at Harvard University in 1992, the Veritas Forum is an annual academic event at Cal Poly that seeks to “engage students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life.”

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Below is a list of recent Veritas Forum topics and speakers here on campus: 

2025: ““Do Miracles Actually Happen? A Christian and an Atheist Discuss the Plausibility of the Miraculous” Sean McDowell (Apologetics, Biola University) and Paul Rinzler (Music, Emeritus Faculty, Cal Poly). Moderated by Todd Long (Philosophy, Cal Poly).

2024: “Can I Be Spiritual But Not Religious?” Tim Muehlhoff (Communications, Biola University) and Elizabeth Barrett (Psychology, Cal Poly) discuss their spiritual and religious worldviews, how they define spirituality, and whether picking and choosing what we believe is liberating or harmful. Moderated by Stephen Lloyd-Moffet, a professor of religious studies at Cal Poly.

2021: “Resisting Bias & Reshaping Institutions” (Justin Giboney Founder, The AND Campaign / Attorney / Political Strategist, David French Senior Editor, The Dispatch / Columnist, Time Magazine)

2020: “Designing Your Life Worth Living” Dave Evans (Stanford University)

2019: “Would Society Be Better Off Without Religion?” (Herb Silverman, College of Charleston / Karen Swallow Prior, Liberty University)

2018: “What Does It Mean To Be Human? (Josh Swamidass, Washington University St. Louis / Ed Himelblau, Cal Poly) and “Are Human Beings Special? (Josh Swamidass, Washington University St. Louis / Dr. Hugh Ross, Astrophysics, Reasons to Believe)

2017: “Christianity: Cornerstone or Crutch?” (Joseph Rhodes, UNLV / Christian Lundberg UNC – Chapel Hill)

2016  “Can Science Explain Everything?” (Ian Hutchinson, MIT / Paul Rinzler, Cal Poly)

2015 “Nurturing the Yawp” (Francis Su, Harvey Mudd / Kenneth Brown, Cal Poly)

2014 “Discovering Humanity in Academia” (Satyan Devadoss, Williams College / Peter Schwartz, Cal Poly)

2013 “Faith, Reason, Human Need for Certainty” (Troy Van Voorhis, MIT)

2012 “Radical Feminism, Radical Marxism, Radical Love: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Social Justice” (Mary Poplin, Claremont Graduate University) “What Does it Mean to Be Good?” (Greg Ganssle, Yale / Keith Abney, Cal Poly)

2011 “The Journey: A Thinking Person’s Quest for Meaning” (Os Guiness, Trinity Forum) “Altruism In Evolution: A Christian and Non-Theist Discuss” (Jeffrey Schloss, Westmont College / John Tooby, UC Santa Barbara)

2010 “Finding God Beyond Harvard: the Quest for Veritas” (Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Founder, The Veritas Forum) “Origins of Life” (Fazale Rana, Reasons to Believe / Andy Karplus, Oregon State / Matthew Rainbow, Antelope Valley College) 

Veritas Forum’s website can be found here. 

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