Center for Western Civilization, Thought and Policy

Benson Center announces junior scholars in residence and incoming fellows

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 17:54:36 +0000

Benson Center announces junior scholars in residence and incoming fellows Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/30/2020 - 11:54

Among those announced include faculty, student and postdoctoral visiting scholars from history, classics, philosophy, English, Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures, and theatre and dance

The University of Colorado Boulder’s Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization has announced three postdoctoral visiting scholars for the 2020-21 academic year: Álvaro Caso Bello (history), Catherine (Catie) Steidl (classics) and Tim Burkhardt (philosophy).

The junior scholars in residence will join the previously named Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy John C. Eastman and Senior Scholar in Residence, Elizabeth C’de Baca Eastman, at the center. Robert Merry, also named earlier this year as a 2020-21 Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy, has opted to defer his appointment until 2021-22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Three CU Boulder professors will serve as 2020-21 Benson Center Faculty Fellows: Brian Talbot (philosophy), Jillian Porter (Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures) and Kevin Rich (theatre and dance).

CU Boulder doctoral students Jenna Gersie (English) and Theodore (TJ) Mclemore (literature) have been named Benson Center Harper PhD Fellows.

Álvaro Caso Bello

Catherine (Catie) Steidl

Tim Burkhardt

2020-21 Benson Center Postdoctoral Visiting Scholars

Álvaro Caso Bello is a PhD Candidate in history at the Johns Hopkins University, where he received his MA in history. He holds an MA in historia del mundo hispánico from the Universitat Jaume I, Spain, and a BA in humanidades-historia with a minor in estudios latinoamericanos from the Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay. Among other honors, he received the 2019 Fred A. and Annarie P. Cazel Endowed Fellowship from the Johns Hopkins University Department of History. In fall 2020 he is scheduled to teach HIST 1028: Introduction to Modern Latin American History since 1800.

Bello said he is “honored and thrilled” to join the community of scholars at the Benson Center, the History Department and CU Boulder.

Scholar in Residence Catherine (Catie) Steidl has conducted archaeological fieldwork in multiple countries, most recently as a post-doctoral fellow at the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey. In 2018-2019 she was a lecturer at Dartmouth College’s Institute for Writing and Rhetoric. She received her PhD from Brown University’s Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World in 2018. As a post-baccalaureate student, she studied classical archaeology at the University of Tübingen, Germany and earned her BA in archaeology (Honors) and German studies at Wesleyan University.

In fall 2020, Steidel will teach CLAS/ARTH 4/5149: Greek Cities and Sanctuaries.

Steidel is excited to join the “really interesting (and highly interdisciplinary) group of students and scholars assembled at the Benson Center” for the academic year.

Snider Scholar in Residence Tim Burkhardt received his PhD in philosophy from Duke University in 2020. Burkhardt earned a BA at CU Boulder summa cum laude in 2012. His areas of specialization are ethics and applied ethics. While at Duke, Burkhardt was rated among the top 5% of undergraduate instructors for fall 2018 and fall 2019.

Burkhardt will teach PHIL 1200: Contemporary Social Problems in fall 2020.

Burkhardt is “especially excited” about the opportunity to teach at his alma mater.

About the Benson Center’s Interdisciplinary Scholars Program

Fundamental to the Center's mission is bringing a diversity of voices into the University by sponsoring annual fellowships for scholars from other institutions, as well as some from CU. Postdoctoral scholars in residence are chosen each year in collaboration with departments in the College of Arts and Sciences which fit well with the coming year’s theme. For the 2019-20 theme—Community or Disunity?—the Center worked with the departments of classics, philosophy and history to recruit and select finalists who are rostered to their home departments. The program is supported by private funds.

Postdoctoral visiting scholars are expected to teach one course each semester and engage in the activities of the Benson Center, their home departments, and to the university more broadly.

All Benson Center faculty and fellows demonstrate an enthusiasm for fostering intellectual diversity and dialogue, both on campus and in the broader community. By leading and participating in seminars and events, among other important work, the faculty and fellows are an essential part of advancing the mission and outreach of the center.

Last year, Benson Center visiting faculty taught 16 courses to 468 student enrollees eager to learn more about the moral, economic and political questions of our time, a 33% increase in courses and 20% increase in enrollees over the prior year.

Among those announced include faculty, student and postdoctoral visiting scholars from history, classics, philosophy, English, Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures, and theatre and dance

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Scholars ask if America has a ‘national character’

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 22:08:21 +0000

Scholars ask if America has a ‘national character’ Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/31/2020 - 16:08

Clint Talbott

CU Boulder visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy to address the topic in Zoom event on April 18

George Washington argued that America should establish a “national character.” Did the nation ever do so? If it did, has the national character improved or decayed over time?

Colleen Sheehan

William B. Allen

Two scholars at the Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization at the University of Colorado Boulder have spent four years asking those (and related) questions.

The American National Character project (ANC) began as a collaboration between Villanova University's Colleen Sheehan and William B. Allen (through the auspices of the Ryan Foundation and with support from the Hewlett Foundation and the Bradley Foundation). Sheehan, CU Boulder visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy, and Allen, senior scholar in residence at the Benson Center, have organized a series of colloquia and the 2019-20 Benson Center Lecture Series, through which they engaged prominent academics to assess the present state and future prospects of an American national character.

Allen is scheduled to give a one of these lectures on the subject, titled “Down with Diversity,” on April 18 at 7 p.m. MDT via Zoom. Participants must register via Eventbrite. After registering, they will receive an email with information on how to join the lecture.

Writing together, Allen and Sheehan recently answered five questions about the project, its genesis and its results, which follow:

1. What was the impetus for the American National Character Project?

The ANC project reflects a response to the repeated directions provided by George Washington at the founding of the United States, that "we have a national character to establish." It would be fair to say that some intelligent observers doubt whether that task was ever accomplished; still others affirm that it was established but has since been undermined; and still others consider it a work in progress, never yet consummated and still weighing in the balance. The ANC project aims to resolve those differences in an intellectually compelling manner.

We can only say that we prefer hope over despair, optimism over pessimism, trust over cynicism."

2. Over the four years of the project, to what extent did the ANC project resolve those differences?

The American National Character Project began in 2014, spurred by concern for the growing divisiveness and ideological polarization in America. The idea became a reality when Professor Sheehan secured a 2016 Hewlett Foundation grant. As a result of that grant, the first colloquium was held in 2017, with associated publications following. And we have continued since that time (having secured additional funding along the way).

The main question of the project is whether Americans are still, or whether they can again be, a united people. To answer this question in the affirmative requires that there are some fundamental principles that Americans hold in common, principles which in turn stimulate concord among the citizens and shape a healthy civic life. Perhaps needless to say, if this is the great challenge facing America today, the ANC Project has not yet succeeded in resolving either the theoretical or the practical components of this challenge.

3. As your project observed them, what are defining characteristics of an American national character?

Great question. That is what we are asking Americans of 2020 to conclude for themselves. Are there still defining characteristics that constitute something we could call the American character in 2020? In the past, Americans were fairly clear on what constituted these virtues or qualities. The list included things such as the love of freedom, love of family, love of God; it also included both hard work, independence and neighborliness, maybe even a certain kind of persistence, if not stubbornness. Certainly, the American character has always been one of daring and spiritedness.

4. As we head into the November elections, how optimistic are you about the future prospects of an American national character?

Another great question. We can only say that we prefer hope over despair, optimism over pessimism, trust over cynicism. But that doesn’t answer your question, does it?

5. What’s next for the ANC?

The Benson Center and the Ryan Foundation are continuing their collaboration with a conference this fall in Philadelphia and a forthcoming publication with contributions from participants in the ANC lecture series. We also hope to reschedule a few of the speakers whose CU Boulder lectures were canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus.

CU Boulder visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy to address the topic in Zoom event on April 18

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Pilot Summer Institute extends mission of CU Boulder’s Benson Center

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 23:46:18 +0000

Pilot Summer Institute extends mission of CU Boulder’s Benson Center Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/13/2019 - 17:46

Clay Bonnyman Evans

The former Center for Western Civilization, Thought and Policy was founded in 2006 at the University of Colorado Boulder to promote critical reflection on the traditions and political perspectives of Western thought and diverse political and philosophical perspectives.

Former CU President Bruce D. Benson. At the top of the page are, left to right, Iain Bernhoft, Josh Vandiver, Russell Fehr, Ryan Dawkins, Robert Pasnau, Shilo Brooks and Nathan Dinneen.

Best-known for hosting the Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy, in June the center was rechristened the Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization in recognition of the recently retired CU president, who throughout his tenure strongly supported diversity of perspectives on the CU Boulder campus.

“One goal is to promote the study of Western civilization and its traditions back to antiquity, all the way to modern times,” says Robert Pasnau, professor of philosophy and director of the Benson Center, “and thinking in particular about the ethical implications of those traditions for society today.”

There is a tendency for universities to disengage from this territory. But the reality is, if you look around on campus, you see a huge number of faculty and students who are squarely engaged in the traditions of Western civilization. I think it’s a shame if we’re scared of these issues and don’t take pride and invest in them.”

By all accounts, the center has had a significant impact on campus, and in June, it launched a pilot Summer Institute, which brought five scholars to Boulder for the month to conduct research and exchange ideas.

“The Summer Institute is a way for the center to extend its mission beyond CU, beyond Boulder, and try to pull in scholars from other places who are interested in what we are doing,” Pasnau says. “The genesis for the (pilot program) was a larger conversation about how the center can have a broader influence nationally. We want to be a leader in the sort of work we’re doing.”

With that in mind, the center put out a call for working academics who already have a PhD who might be interested in spending a month at CU Boulder.

“One of the great things Boulder has going for it is that it’s such a nice place to visit,” Pasnau says. “The opportunity to spend a month here, working on scholarship, having conversations with people from other schools—we thought, ‘That’s got to be a super attractive opportunity.’ We put out the call, and sure enough, we got a great response.”

The center chose five scholars to participate in the pilot program, focused on its 2019-20 theme, “American Identities”: Iain Bernhoft, professor of English at Providence College, Rhode Island; Nathan Dinneen, professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York; Josh Vandiver, professor of political science, Ball State University, Indiana; Ryan Dawkins, professor of political science, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado; and Russell Fehr, who earned a PhD in History from the University of California, Riverside.

Participants received a $5,000 honorarium, office space and library privileges. Shilo Brooks of CU Boulder’s Herbst Program for Engineering, Ethics and Society and director the Engineering Leadership Program served as the day-to-day leader of the institute.

Participants met three times a week and made presentations of their work to the group. They also participated in readings and reading groups and various social engagements, Pasnau says.

“In one way or another, all were doing work that has a bearing on the interesting question of ‘American Identities.’ It’s such a rich topic, and there are all kinds of ways you can get at it,” he says, citing work ranging from the “nuts and bolts of American politics — demographics; who votes; voting blocs,” and the history of conservative ideas and how they interact with American identity.

The center judged the program a success and intends to recruit eight scholars for the 2020-21 academic year as the next step beyond the pilot stage. The theme for the next batch of Summer Institute scholars hasn’t been finalized, but Pasnau notes that “it’s going to be an election year, and that will be topic A1 on everybody’s mind.”

As much as anything, the institute is designed to highlight the center’s work and, perhaps, plant the seeds that may one day see the flowering of similar efforts on other campuses.

That’s important, Pasnau says, because of continuing pressures to reduce universities’ emphasis on Western civilization.

“There is a tendency for universities to disengage from this territory. But the reality is, if you look around on campus, you see a huge number of faculty and students who are squarely engaged in the traditions of Western civilization,” he says. “I think it’s a shame if we’re scared of these issues and don’t take pride and invest in them.”

The Benson Center is widely associated in the public mind with conservative scholarship, but Pasnau believes that’s partly a function of media coverage.

“Diversity of thought is something we are interested in, and it’s very much a part of our mission to try to promote a range of events to bring interesting folks in from lots of different vantage points,” Pasnau says. “By definition, a fair number of them are going to be conservatives, but we bring in people from all over the map. … If you come to a random selection of events, you’re as likely to hear somebody on the left as on the right.”

Highlights of the center’s fall-semester lineup include conservative Catholic New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, on Sept. 17; Jonathan Haidt, professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business and found of the centrist Heterodox Academy, on Oct. 15; and Robert Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago, in December.

The genesis was a larger conversation about how the center can have a broader influence nationally. We want to be a leader in the sort of work we’re doing.

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