Stephen S. Smith Center

Mission

The mission of the Stephen S. Smith Center is to advance learning, scholarship, and public dialogue on fundamental questions and ideas that impact society, with particular emphasis on free markets, individual liberty, and the rule of law. Through interdisciplinary education, research, and public engagement, the Center fosters rigorous inquiry and the free exchange of ideas about market principles and institutions and their historical and contemporary role in advancing social and economic well-being.

Purpose

The Stephen S. Smith Center advances its mission through distinctive academic programs, interdisciplinary research, and public engagement. The Center supports educational programs, including the Smith Scholars Program and its Political Economy and Data & Markets minors; collaborates with programs and organizations that support the Center's mission; promotes faculty and student scholarship on markets, institutions, public policy, and societal challenges; and convenes scholars, business leaders, policymakers, students, and the broader community for rigorous examination and open debate of consequential ideas. Consistent with Xavier's Catholic and Jesuit tradition, the Center encourages intellectual inquiry, reflection, discernment, and respectful dialogue in the pursuit of truth and the common good.

The Smith Scholars Program

The Smith Scholars Program is a Williams College of Business (WCB) undergraduate, cohort honors program. Smith Scholars students begin as freshmen in an intensive program that integrates the study of the liberal arts with the WCB core curriculum in a rigorous, purposeful, and innovative way. This unique cohort of Smith Scholars studies a range of courses in both the business and liberal arts curriculum thereby immersing themselves in the study of the foundational texts of philosophy, history, and economics.

Building upon this foundation, Smith Scholars complete courses leading to their selected WCB major with a minor in Political Economy or Data & Markets. The minors are designed to engage Smith Scholars in a rigorous examination of economic theory and its applications, the legal and regulatory environment of business, the role of free enterprise and the rule of law and the financial markets that integrate these forces.

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Research and Scholarship

The Smith Center supports scholarship and research that contributes to the intellectual capital on a breadth of interdisciplinary topics impacting society, such as freedom and individualism, the rule of law, capitalism and collectivism, economic policy, and global economic issues.

Dialogue and Engagement

The Smith Center supports and promotes respectful debate and dialogue in pursuit of truth and the common good. The Center hosts speaker forums, symposiums, and roundtable discussions to engage both the Xavier University community and the public in an objective examination of economic and social issues impacting society.