Hello
John,
I’d like to first bring your attention to our upcoming programs with deadlines fast approaching, before filling you in on our intellectual retreats for policy makers, legislators, and educational professionals.

This month, the Russell Kirk Center’s School of Conservative Studies is pleased to begin a virtual class on The Moral Imagination of Jane Austen ([link removed]) . The class will explore Mansfield Park as an expression of what Russell Kirk called the “moral imagination." Taught by Dr. Leta Sundet, a rising scholar of Austen’s work, the class will be an opportunity to celebrate one of the finest writers in the Western canon. Of special note: the final session will conclude on Jane Austen’s 250th birthday!

Mansfield Park can lay claim to being Austen’s “most profound treatment of politics” and includes “her rich response to the wars and revolutions of her time,” argues one scholar. This is particularly true in her illustrations of the country house and the tension between improvement or innovation, a comparison first made by Edmund Burke in Reflections. This representation of challenges to political and social stability will be one of many themes discussed in this unique course. We’ll also read and consider Kirk’s essay on permanence and change along the way.

All who wish to learn more about this influential author are encouraged to apply. In order to facilitate a renewal of the conservative literary imagination in American classrooms, we are offering this course free of charge to students, teachers, and professors whose applications are accepted. A few spots remain before we begin a waitlist.

To apply, please send a resume to academic program officer Darrell Falconburg at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Course%20inquiry%3A%20The%20Moral%20Imagination%20of%20Jane%20Austen) . Applications are due Friday, November 7.
* Time: Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm ET
* Dates: November 25; December 2, 9, and 16

Learn More & Apply This Week ([link removed])

Register Now for the Kirk Center’s Gala in Washington, D.C.

We are looking forward to our second Richard D. McLellan Prizes Gala, which will be held on November 19, at the National Press Club. Kristen Waggoner, CEO, President, and Chief Counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), will be the recipient of the largest prize of its kind to an outstanding defender of free speech.

Recently, we announced that several fellowships of $12,500 will also be awarded to professors and journalists doing important work in this area. In addition, several prominent figures in education, law, culture, and public life will join the gathering to discuss the ways in which free speech is essential to maintaining our constitutional achievement in ordered liberty.

We hope you can join us for what promises to be an exciting and significant event. Tickets are available here and registration will close on November 12.
* When: Wednesday, November 19, 6:30–9:00 PM
* Where: The National Press Club, Washington, DC

If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities and benefits ([link removed]) , please contact Ashley Jordan (mailto:[email protected]?subject=McLellan%20Prizes%20Gala%20sponsorship%20inquiry) , donor relations officer.
Register for the McLellan Prizes Gala ([link removed])

Public Policy Fellows Come to the Kirk Center for an Intellectual Retreat

Here at the Kirk Library in Michigan, we welcomed twenty Public Policy Fellows from The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) ([link removed]) for an intellectual retreat on October 16-19. These seminars are an important opportunity for early-career professionals to engage critically with the conservative intellectual tradition and consider its relevance to contemporary issues.

Over three days, the fellows studied Russell Kirk’s The Roots of American Order, focusing on the relationship between order and freedom in the American tradition. They also examined writings by key conservative thinkers—such as Frank Meyer and Roger Scruton—to compare and contrast their perspectives. The seminar opened with a lecture by Michael Lucchese, founder of Pipe Creek Consulting, on Kirk and the American political tradition. Discussions were then led by Dr. David Corey, Professor of Political Science at Baylor University, and Dr. Bradly Birzer, Professor of History at Hillsdale College.

This year’s fellows came from many of the nation’s leading institutions of thought and policy, including the Thomistic Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, Georgetown University, Providence magazine, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and the Hudson Institute, among others.

“The seminar provided space for me to voice questions that I rarely have an opportunity to raise in day-to-day conversation and to receive deeply thoughtful feedback. The seminar substantially equipped and informed my understanding of Western Civilization. The Kirk Center is a genuinely welcoming and intellectually inspiring place. It provides a quiet, peaceful environment for reflection and community.” — participant

“Being – just being – in the Kirk Center brought home many of the lessons of this weekend. These lessons could not, I think, have been learned and felt fully and truly without seeing and in some sense living in an environment of books, pictures, memorabilia, and beauty.” — participant
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** Legislators and Policymakers Attend Politics of Prudence seminar
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The following week, state legislators and policymakers ([link removed]) seeking to deepen their understanding of and find ways to apply conservative principles to contemporary challenges gathered at the Kirk Center to discuss "Reconfiguring American Conservatism: Then and Now." George H. Nash, the leading historian of the American conservative intellectual movement, guided participants through the origins, reconfiguration, and future prospects for conservatism in America.

Clark Durant, founder of Cornerstone Schools in Detroit—a network of inner-city charter schools—along with Principal Andy Anuzis and administrator Elijah Richardson, also participated in the seminar and gave practical examples of character formation in Michigan schools. And we were honored to be joined by two members of the Otto von Habsburg Foundation, Gergely Prőhle and Bence Kocsev, whose perspectives from a European standpoint enriched the discussion. Together, they focused on a truth at the heart of Russell Kirk’s thought: that any genuine renewal of the political order must first begin with the renewal of culture.

Celebrating William F. Buckley’s 100th

Between those two seminars, we gathered with partner organizations to remember the life and legacy of William F. Buckley Jr. in Grand Rapids on October 23. Two panels—The Role of Education in a Free Society and Fusionisms, Old and New—brought together scholars, writers, and teachers to examine Buckley’s enduring influence on debates about education, culture, and political life. A special presentation on Otto von Habsburg and William F. Buckley Jr. added a perspective from the standpoint of Europe.

In closing, I would like to ask you all for your prayers as we continue the work of Russell Kirk and aspire to teach rising generations about the best of the conservative tradition.

Yours in the Permanent Things,

Jeffrey O. Nelson, Ph.D.
Executive Director & CEO
Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal
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