CATEGORY: LIBERAL LEARNING (5 min)
Did you know that the study of the humanities started as a way to reform the elites?
It’s true, says Harvard history professor James Hankins in First Things. Petrarch sought to morally and intellectually improve the ruling class—to recover virtue he saw had been lost.
But today, Hankins points out, “Virtue is signaled, not acquired” . . .
. . . and the elites are abandoning humanistic studies altogether.
Is this a crisis? Maybe, maybe not.
Hankins identifies some very promising trends in classical education that you really must see for yourself.
|
|
CATEGORY: HISTORY (5 min)
It’s downright shocking, Bradley J. Birzer argues in The Imaginative Conservative, that the “once-radical belief that Columbus was evil” has gone mainstream.
And no one—not even the Knights of Columbus!—seems willing to defend him as he is “ruthlessly beheaded and devoured by the mob.”
But we have to acknowledge that Columbus’s discovery of the New World was “the most important event in human history since the end of the Ice Age.”
Birzer catalogues a few of the ways in which Columbus’s bold exploration transformed our world, for good and for ill . . .
. . . and why his legacy is worth celebrating today.
But judge for yourself. And let us know what you think.
|
|
Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
The Colonization of Columbus Day via the Hitching Post
Why Stanford Needs to Adopt the Chicago Statement via the Stanford Review
|
|
CATEGORY: HIGHER EDUCATION (10 min)
You already know that a real liberal arts education is hard to find.
Universities across the country are swapping Shakespeare for STEM, sometimes with an eye toward activism, and sometimes toward making the world a better place.
But what’s the difference between activism and service?
Escaping from Utility
Zena Hitz tackles that difficult question in this essay from the Modern Age archives.
We suggest reading it this weekend over a leisurely sipped cup of coffee.
|
|
Good journalism has never been in greater danger than it is today.
The atmosphere created by political correctness has taken over our national media to create a narrative that demonizes conservatism and promotes far-left ideologies as the only correct form of thought.
The Collegiate Network equips student journalists with the resources to perform the invaluable work of real journalism.
These resources are vital for the future of conservative journalism.
You’re invited to join CN members, past and present, for a special dinner and reception this Friday, October 15th, at 6:00 p.m. at the Old Town Alexandria Hilton in Alexandria, VA.
This is your chance to take inspiration from the current generation of CN editors and hear war stories from editors of the past.
Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to hear from the evening’s keynote speaker, acclaimed journalist Andrew Sullivan.
|
|
|
“How can you expect a man who’s warm to understand one who’s cold?”
—Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
|
|
|
Thank you for reading. Share with a friend!
|
|
Who We Are, What We Do
Too many college students feel isolated or attacked for questioning the ever-narrowing range of debate on campus.
We introduce you to the American tradition of liberty and to a vibrant community of students and scholars so that you get the collegiate experience you hunger for.
Get the college experience you deserve—before you graduate.
|
|
|
|
