As we continue our video coverage from Symposium 2020, today’s clip features Dr. Mark Bauerlein (Emory University), relating some of his own experiences from the college classroom, in an effort to provide some context for what students want out of a course on literature: namely, a coherent narrative. Recounting the 1987 curricular debates at Stanford, Bauerlein points out that, contrary to the vocal detractors of the Western...
Former Poet Laureate of Colorado and Professor of English at The Colorado College, Dr. David Mason is an extraordinarily gifted poet who offers us a clear-eyed, honest, often haunting vision of the world, through lyrics, libretti, and narrative poems. He also recently penned a moving panegyric for the great Australian poet, Les Murray. One of Mason's most moving narratives,...
Today’s guest contributor is Dr. Brian Williams, Dean of the Templeton Honors College and Fellow of the Institute for Classical Education. In all of his various roles, Dr. Williams brings a wit and wisdom to his work, for he understands that we must meet this generation with the truth and goodness of the Tradition, in all of its...
Today we are reviewing the tape of a 2019 interview with Dr. David Diener, headmaster of Hillsdale Academy and professor of education at Hillsdale College. In his dual role of school leader and scholar, Dr. Diener brings a unique perspective to the work of K-12 classical education, in that the understands first-hand how practitioners and...
"Exploration is wired into our brains,” said Buzz Aldrin, one of the first two men to land on the moon (following Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind”). 2018 was the 60th anniversary of NASA, and there are plenty of videos like the one linked above to review the space agency’s remarkable history. To think that in one decade, America...
Who doesn’t want to be happy?! Fortunately, that’s the focus of genuine philosophy, as our Tradition so deeply reveals. As Aristotle put it, human flourishing (eudamonia) is “a certain sort of activity of the soul expressing virtue.” Such activity of the soul spans the human experience, including our daily interactions with others. At this year’s National Classical...
Today's guest contributor is Dr. Colleen Sheehan of Arizona State University. Dr. Sheehan reminds us that there is much political sense and a great deal of civic sensibility found in the novels of Jane Austen. Sheehan seems comfortable suggesting that Austen has more political insights than the vast majority of today’s pundits--if only they would...
We were so fortunate to have Dr. Frederick Turner (The University of Texas at Dallas) with us for the National Classical Education Symposium in March. Dr. Turner’s scholarship surrounding epics, his love for the liberal arts, and his masterful poetic voice all combine in a person of extraordinary wit and wisdom. Today we are replaying an...
Midweek it’s always nice to peek at where the sciences are growing: pointing us to newly discovered phenomena, describing innovative tools of exploration, and developing theories to explain how the parts fit into the whole. Such is the ongoing, perpetual work of the sciences, an integral part of any coherent classical education. As such, it’s good...
Today’s video-lecture comes from the 2nd Annual National Classical Education Symposium, where we heard from Dr. Joshua Kinlaw, assistant professor of history at The King’s College. In this lecture, Dr. Kinlaw explores some of the commonalities among philosophers and theologians from the ancient period, with special emphasis on Seneca and Augustine, one of the great...