Plus Russell Kirk and Japan with Professor Hiro Aida

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Hello
John,
On April 29, the Kirk Center, along with friends and family, commemorated the 30th anniversary of Russell Kirk’s passing. We remain blessed by his legacy and are grateful for the ongoing appreciation of it. Given the sustained engagement with his writings over these past three decades, and the impressive number of essays, articles, reviews, and translations that have been published, Kirk’s influence continues to be consequential.

In remembrance, I am including a link to one of Kirk’s last essays, “Is Life Worth Living?,” ([link removed]) as well as two short essays by a younger generation of conservatives.

First, an essay by Michael Lucchese, one of the most impressive Kirkian members of the rising generation: Remembering Russell Kirk, 30 Years Later ([link removed].) .

And second, a piece by Dan Brand, who was a Kirk Center archival intern last year: Remembering the Conservative Icon Russell Kirk ([link removed]) .

We move forward inspired by Russell Kirk’s achievement, always remembering one of his preferred mottos: Deo volente labor proficit (God willing, work prospers).
Professor Hiro Aida Lectures on Russell Kirk and Japan

On April 19 and 21, Professor Hiro Aida (Kansai University) gave two lectures sponsored by the Russell Kirk Center and the Japanese Consulate-General in Miami. Aida is one of the most respected journalists and experts on American conservatism in Japan. He is the translator of Kirk’s The Conservative Mind into Japanese. He is also a family friend, having met Dr. Kirk in Washington, DC, and visited him and Annette in Mecosta in 1991.

These lectures were designed to dovetail with a meeting of the Philadelphia Society in Tampa. The roundtable discussions which followed included panelists Dr. George Nash, Dr. Wilfred McClay (Hillsdale College), Dr. Luke Sheahan (University Bookman and Duquesne University) and Dr. Allen Mendenhall (Troy University). Both events were enthusiastically received by a room full of scholars, journalists, students, and local participants.

The first lecture on “Russell Kirk's Fascination With Japan,” explained Kirk's long interest in the writer Lafcardio Hearn and the interconnectedness of generations. During his talk, Aida shared his experience of his trip to Mecosta more than 30 years ago. Of that visit, he says, “I spent some of the most fruitful days of my life.”

His second lecture was on "The Emerging Intellectual Landscape in America and Its Implications for Japan and Other Allies,” during which Aida outlined the current political and economic views of both countries and their alignment with each other.

The Kirk Center is grateful to Hiro Aida for his excellent presentations and to Mr. Yuma Ozawa from the Consulate-General for organizing and hosting the panels. A link to his talks and photos from the event can be found on our website’s hi ([link removed]) ghlights page ([link removed]) .
Announcing the Second Annual Writing and the Moral Imagination Workshop on August 1-4, 2024
"Writing and the Moral Imagination" is a Kirk Center conference and workshop that brings together two themes central to the life and work of Russell Kirk: character and composition. Participants will deepen their acquaintance with the chief habits of moral excellence, both the cardinal virtues (prudence, courage, temperance, and justice) and the theological virtues (faith, hope, and love). They will explore these virtues in direct relation to American education and effective, ethical prose.

The conference is guided by the Kirk Center’s Distinguished Teaching Fellow, and Senior Fellow at the George C. Marshall Foundation, Dr. David Hein. Over the course of three days, David will focus participants not only on concepts but also on practical cases—both in our own writing and in the lives of influential leaders who have enacted key virtues in their careers. Daily writing workshops are essential to gaining an apprehension and deeper understanding of the moral imagination as a process that expresses what Pico della Mirandola called the “dignity of man.”
Space at this conference and workshop will be limited to between 10-12 participants, and will be awarded on a competitive basis. To express interest in participating in this “Writing and the Moral Imagination” program, email a statement of interest to Emily Corwin, Director of Events and Program Outreach, at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Dr. Bradley J. Birzer Appointed Kirk Center Senior Fellow

It is a particular pleasure for me to announce that Dr. Bradley J. Birzer has been appointed a Senior Fellow of the Russell Kirk Center. Many of you know Brad through his magisterial biography, Russell Kirk: American Conservative. As a result of that terrific book and his years of writing, especially as the co-founder and senior contributor of The Imaginative Conservative, Brad is recognized as a leading scholar on Kirk and his place in American conservatism. Brad is also a sought-after speaker, and the range of his writing interests is truly Kirkian in scope.
He is the author of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle Earth, The Augustianian Life and Mind of Christopher Dawson, American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll, and has a co-edited volume of James Fennimore Cooper’s The American Democrat.

Brad is a beloved professor of history at Hillsdale College, where he holds, appropriately enough, the Russell Amos Kirk Chair. He is also a Fellow of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Through all his books and writings and teaching, Brad has sought to recover and renew the great tradition of Christian humanism. In the process, he has proved himself to be among the very few writers of significance laboring in that tradition. The Kirk Center looks forward to working with Brad as its new Senior Fellow to advance the Kirk legacy and to pursue the essential task of reinvigorating Christian humanism in our time.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers for our work at the Kirk Center. May our paths cross soon.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey O. Nelson, Ph.D.
Executive Director & CEO
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