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...
With her usual style and wit, poet Marianne Moore explains why “Poetry” can be such a perfectly contemptuous form. After all, it can be nearly impenetrable, often paradoxical, and seemingly condescending to the uninitiated. Yet, in spite of poetry’s sometimes inscrutable ways, Moore acknowledges its clarifying role in our collective consciousness--i.e., the best phrases and most...
Today's guest contributor is Dr. Paul Carrese of Arizona State University. Dr. Carrese provides us some food for thought from some insightful resources--and best wishes for weathering the current quarantine with virtue. You may have heard the adage “necessity is the mother of invention;” quite apt when everyone is adapting to a global disruption. Turns out,...
As we review the tape from our inaugural National Classical Education Symposium (2019), it’s a pleasure to see some of the new friends we have made from across the university and across the country. Today’s video-interview is with Dr. Carol Reynolds, a.k.a. “Professor Carol,” whose career at Southern Methodist University (SMU) began from very modest roots...
Today’s blog entry is from our guest contributor, Dr. Michael Ivins, whose study of great books and subsequent research surrounding the philosophy of Aristotle have equipped him with a quick eye for the philosophical implications of modern science. Dr. Ivins taught for five years at St. Vincent College (PA) and now teaches at Scottsdale Preparatory...
We at the Institute for Classical Education are pleased to collaborate with other institutions devoted to the propagation of classical liberal education. One such institution is the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, led by Dr. Michael Poliakoff. Administrator by day and professor by night, Dr. Poliakoff is a historian of antiquity who continues to...
What is the value and purpose of poetry? Is it mere window dressing to language or some attempt “to say one thing in terms of another,” as Robert Frost declared? For many of us, poetry remains something of an oddity, or perhaps an acquired taste. But, given its longstanding presence among the great authors (down to...
Today we are pleased to post the second half of Dr. Matt Post’s reflections on neuroscience and the nature of mind (see May 4’s post for the first half). His thoughts were prompted by an article by Sam Kean in Slate, entitled “Phineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient.” I am surprised by Kean’s conclusion: “Another, deeper...
Today we’ll ‘review the tape’ with an interview conducted in February 2019 at the inaugural National Classical Education Symposium, hosted at ASU Law School in Phoenix. Our interlocutor was Dr. Brian Williams, Dean of the Templeton Honors College (Philadelphia, PA) and Fellow of the Institute for Classical Education. Dr. Williams studied and taught at the University...
Thanks to my good friend, Ann Ny, I'm now scanning a news digest entitled "1440." From what I can tell, it's a pretty good survey of what's happening out there in the wider world of media. From headlines to all the major categories--politics, business, sports & entertainment, science, etc., they've got a little sample of...