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Freedom and Security Scholars (and/or Artist!) in Residence

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 20:34:58 +0000

Freedom and Security Scholars (and/or Artist!) in Residence Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/01/2017 - 13:34

The Center for Western Civilization, Thought & Policy invites applications to join our new, interdisciplinary community of Scholars in Residence. One Scholar in Residence will be hired in collaboration with the Department of Economics, and one Scholar/Artist in Residence will be hired in collaboration with the Department of Art and Art History. Applicants may be junior candidates or senior scholars. Selections will be made on the basis of candidates’ relevance to our theme for the year, “Freedom and Security”, as well as on their ability to promote the larger mission of the CWCTP.

The CWCTP Scholar in Residence is a one-year, non-tenure-track, Scholar-in-Residence appointment. An extended letter of interest should describe in some detail the candidate’s fit with the Center’s theme and larger mission, and it should also describe a research or intellectual project to be accomplished over the course of the year.

The letter should articulate the intellectual significance of this project, the sort of tangible results that will be achieved by the end of the appointment, and how those results can contribute to the Center, the Department of Economics or the Deparment of Art and Art History, and the broader university community. In addition, applications should include a CV and list of at least three references.

Apply to the Scholar/Artist-in-Residence position affiliated with Art/Art History

Apply to the Scholar-in-Residence position affiliated with Economics

The CWCTP is launching a national, open-rank search for two Scholars-in-Residence for the 2017-8 Academic Year. The two positions will be affiliated with the Department of Economics and the Department of Art and Art History respectively. To apply, visit CU Careers .

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"Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words" Gown funded through CWCTP support

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 17:26:20 +0000

"Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words" Gown funded through CWCTP support Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:26

"In August of 2016, we created and produced the regional premiere of a new play called: Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, a collaboration with esteemed Elizabeth I scholar, Carole Levin, PhD., University of Nebraska Lincoln. Together with Dr. Levin, Dr. Lynn Nichols, and actress, Bernadette Sefic we created an hour-long performance that was presented as part of the Shakespeare First Folio national tour and visit to our campus in August of 2016. Thanks to the generous grant from the CWC, we funded the creation of the Elizabethan gown that would serve as the centerpiece of the performance in assisting the queen remove the façade and reveal the truth of what it meant to be the leading monarch of the period. The piece was largely successful in that we have had subsequent invitations to create a companion “study guide” and encouraged to tour outside of the region. In February, the piece will travel to Dr. Levin’s campus at the UNL for two performances and other opportunities are being explored for the fall of 2017, including Chicago. Again, many, many thanks to the committee and the CWC for granting me the funding to make this project a reality. I am excited to continue to develop it for larger audiences." - Tamara Meneghini, Associate Professor, Department of Theatre & Dance, University of Colorado Boulder

The Center for Western Civilization, Thought and Policy funds research and educational initiatives that contribute to critical reflection on the development of Western civilization. All CU Boulder faculty and students are eligible to apply If you are interested in applying for a CWCTP faculty grant, deadlines are rolling throughout the year.

[video:https://vimeo.com/205501260]

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Dialogues not Monologues

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 20:33:41 +0000

Dialogues not Monologues Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/18/2017 - 13:33

As director of a Center dedicated to fostering intellectual diversity on campus, I constantly have to consider just what sort of diversity we are supposed to be fostering. The upcoming campus visit of Milo Yiannopoulos makes for an excellent example. We had the opportunity to be a co-sponsor, and thought about doing so, but it took about five seconds to realize this isn’t the sort of thing our Center is about. The problem is not that Yiannopoulos is offensive. There is, after all, a long and distinguished tradition of that sort of thing across the political spectrum. The problem is that causing offense is all he does, whereas our mission is to promote thoughtful and constructive dialogue, something that, so far as we could see, he never does.

This case is just one instance of a larger problem: where does one draw the line between opinions that are worth inviting into the conversation and opinions that are too extreme to be productive? There is no easy answer, and moreover the answer is one that must evolve over time, as views that once were quite mainstream get relegated to the extreme margins of society. One place we draw a line is at views that fly in the face of a clear consensus among scientists, historians, or economists. But this rules out very few of the divisive social and political issues we face, and so in general when the Center convenes a debate or dialogue, the views represented cross the whole spectrum of American politics.

Who could object to such a policy? In fact I am constantly surprised by the resistance we get. Although one might have hoped that a university – particularly a public university – would be equally open to viewpoints from the left and the right, we have found time after time that when we invite a speaker from the left, such as Thomas Frank this past fall, no one bats an eye, but when we invite conservative speakers to campus, the objection goes up that this is a view too extreme to deserve a hearing. As a typical Boulder liberal myself, I am cheering for many of the same things my colleagues are. And it hasn’t been an easy few months for my team. But the way forward is not to segregate ourselves, or our students, from views we don’t like. A university needs dialogues, not monologues. -- Robert Pasnau, Professor of Philosophy; Director, Center for Western Civilization, Thought & Policy

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Courses I’ll Be Teaching Spring 2017

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 21:12:32 +0000

Courses I’ll Be Teaching Spring 2017 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/07/2016 - 15:12

It’s difficult to believe that my first semester at the University of Colorado, Boulder is half way completed. So, it’s time to start thinking about Spring 2017, since the university will make the semester schedule available online on Monday, October 10.

The two courses I’ll be teaching in the Spring are “Philosophy and Religion” and “Special Topics: Religion and the Constitution.” The first, PHIL 1600.003, which is offered through the philosophy department, is a course I am teaching this semester. Because it has been so wildly successful—42 students taking it for credit plus 4 auditors—I thought it wise to reprise it in the Spring. We will meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:00 am until 9:15 am in HLMS 229. Here’s a brief description of the course from this semester’s syllabus:

The vast majority of people in the world today (and throughout human history) believe (and have believed) in God as well as those doctrines that often go along with that belief, e.g., that God is omnipotent and omniscient, that miracles can and have occurred, that morality depends on God, that faith and reason are compatible, and so forth. However, over the centuries some philosophers have raised questions about the reasonableness of these beliefs while other philosophers have offered responses. This course—Philosophy and Religion—will focus on such questions.

Even though this is an introductory class, you should be prepared to stretch your mind. Philosophy can be a difficult subject, since to do it well requires clear and rigorous thinking as well as the willingness to accept and offer critical assessments of one’s own beliefs as well as the beliefs of others. This also demands that we hone and nurture certain virtues such as honesty, charity, perseverance, courage, and humility. But like most challenging activities in life, learning to master philosophy can be deeply rewarding.

The main text for the course is authored by Fordham University philosopher, Brian Davies: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, 3^rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). However, the text is supplemented by a dozen articles and essays that take contrary positions on some of the issues we will be addressing in the course.

The second course I will be teaching is “Special Topics: Religion and the Constitution” (PSCI 2028.001). Offered through the political science department, we will meet on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 am to 10:45 am in KTCH 1B87. Here’s a brief description of the course that I am going to put on the syllabus:

This course is an examination of the relationship between government and religion in the American experience. Special attention is given to United States Supreme Court decisions dealing with religious liberty rights of individuals and churches, government aid to church-related schools and religious groups, and prayer and Bible reading in public schools.

The focus in this class will be on rulings of the U. S. Supreme Court concerning religion under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. That portion of the amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In legal nomenclature, it is said this statement contains “two clauses,” a Free Exercise Clause (the portion that forbids Congress from prohibiting religious liberty) and an Establishment Clause (the portion that bars Congress from establishing religion). Because the First Amendment’s restrictions have been extended beyond Congress to include all governments—federal, state and local--including its executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and because the amendment gives us little direction on what its respective clauses on religion precisely mean, there is much to learn about how the courts empowered to rule on these matters in fact have reasoned and continue to reason. Consequently, in this course we will concern ourselves with two overlapping areas of study in law and religion: (1) the most important court cases in Free Exercise and Establishment jurisprudence, and (2) the principles, policies, and doctrines that can be extracted from those cases as well as the differing ways in which concurring and dissenting justices and judges have assessed them.

The primary text for this course is edited by University of Notre Dame political scientist and legal scholar, Vincent Phillip Muñoz: Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court: The Essential Cases and Documents, Updated Edition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015). However, selected court cases, articles, op-ed pieces will be distributed (or assigned via Desire2Learn and/or email), when necessary, during the semester.

I have taught this course under a different name—“Law and Religion the United States”—eight times in the past thirteen years at Baylor University, where I have served on the faculty since 2003. For CU, I have revised the course a bit in order to take into consideration recent Supreme Court rulings as well as to introduce students to some debates in contemporary legal scholarship.

These Spring courses allow me to teach in areas over which much of my most recent scholarship overlaps. My latest book—Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith (Cambridge University Press, 2015)—deals not only with issues of faith and reason (the focus of the course “Philosophy and Religion”) but also issues in Constitutional Law that touch on religious free exercise and establishment and the deep cultural issues that divide us (the focus of the course “Special Topics: Religion and the Constitution”). (Taking Rites Seriously, I recently found out, has been chosen to receive the American Academy of Religion’s prestigious 2016 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the category of Constructive-Reflective Studies. You can read more about the award here.)

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Former CTP Scholar receives prestigious Paolucci book award

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 17:28:42 +0000

Former CTP Scholar receives prestigious Paolucci book award Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/06/2016 - 11:28

This article originally appeared on the website of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. Read their full account here.

On October 1, at a dinner in Philadelphia, ISI presented Bradley J. Birzer with the 2016 Henry and Anne Paolucci Book Award for Russell Kirk: American Conservative.

A distinguished panel of judges chose this masterful biography from among five impressive finalists. The Wall Street Journal hails Birzer’s Russell Kirk as “a beautifully written and deeply insightful biography.” The Library of Law and Liberty proclaims it nothing less than “a masterwork”—“the definitive assessment of Kirk as a social, historical, and political thinker.” Likewise, the Claremont Review of Books calls Russell Kirk “the definitive book about this important, fascinating, and good man.”

Perhaps National Review best explained not only the quality but also the timeliness of Birzer’s magisterial work:

Given the confused and dispirited state of American conservatism at the present moment, it is high time for a Russell Kirk revival. The very thought of such a revival is appealing, even exhilarating, and the appearance of Bradley J. Birzer’s splendid and exhaustively researched biography of Kirk just might provide the catalyst needed to set it in motion.

At the Paolucci Award dinner, Birzer gave a stirring talk about what he learned during his extensive research into Russell Kirk’s life and writings.

- See more at: https://home.isi.org/professors/paolucci-book-award#sthash.AcS90cd4.dpuf

On October 1, at a dinner in Philadelphia, ISI presented Bradley J. Birzer with the 2016 Henry and Anne Paolucci Book Award for Russell Kirk: American Conservative.

A distinguished panel of judges chose this masterful biography from among five impressive finalists. The Wall Street Journal hails Birzer’s Russell Kirk as “a beautifully written and deeply insightful biography.” The Library of Law and Liberty proclaims it nothing less than “a masterwork”—“the definitive assessment of Kirk as a social, historical, and political thinker.” Likewise, the Claremont Review of Books calls Russell Kirk “the definitive book about this important, fascinating, and good man.”

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A message from Francis J. Beckwith

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 20:18:52 +0000

A message from Francis J. Beckwith Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/22/2016 - 14:18

Francis J. Beckwith

What an honor it is be the fourth Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought & Policy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Given the accomplishments of my predecessors, the bar has been set pretty high. But I think I’m up to the challenge.

Months prior to arriving in Boulder on August 13, I worked closely with the CWCTP director Professor Robert Pasnau in helping to secure several outstanding speakers who will address the CU community. Among them are George Yancey (University of North Texas), Joshua Dunn (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs), and Patrick Deneen (University of Notre Dame). On this page over the next several weeks I will tell you more about the particulars of their talks as well as other forthcoming events hosted by CWCTP.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, where my wife, Frankie, grew up as well. (I always get a kick out of telling people that I met and married my wife in Vegas). I earned my PhD in philosophy in 1989 from Fordham University (New York) and a Master of Juridical Studies (MJS) degree in 2001 from the Washington University School of Law (St. Louis). (For more info, see my personal website.)

I’ve published and taught in several academic areas including philosophy of law, philosophy of religion, medical ethics, constitutional law, theology, and philosophy of science. My most recent book is Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith (Cambridge University Press, 2015), which I found out on August 12 has been chosen to receive the American Academy of Religion’s prestigious 2016 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the category of Constructive-Reflective Studies. (I was as surprised as anyone!) Among my other books are (w/ Robert George and Susan McWilliams) A Second Look at First Things: A Case for Conservative Politics (St. Augustine’s Press, 2013); Politics for Christians: Statecraft As Soulcraft (IVP, 2010) and Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (Cambridge University Press, 2007).

This Fall I’ll be teaching two classes at CU. One of them, Philosophy and Religion, is a lower-division class that introduces students to some of the most interesting philosophical questions about religious belief. There are nearly 40 students enrolled in the course, which is truly amazing. The other course, Thomas Aquinas, is an upper-division class I am team-teaching with Professor Pasnau, one of the leading scholars on Aquinas and medieval philosophy. (As I told him in a private email: “I suspect it will be as much a learning experience for me as it will be a teaching one.”) I have not yet proposed my Spring classes, though I have a great interest in teaching a constitutional law course on law and religion or bioethics and the law (either in the law school or an appropriate department) and a course on political, legal, or social philosophy or applied ethics in the philosophy department. I am open to getting feedback from the CU community on this. So, if any CU students, faculty, or alumni have suggestions, please send them my way.

My wife and I come to you from our humble abode in the outskirts of Waco, Texas, where I serve as Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies at Baylor University. She is a stained-glass artist who serves on the board of the Waco Downtown Farmer’s Market. Having been on the visiting faculty at Notre Dame (2008-09) and Princeton (2002-03), we know how important it is to live close to campus so that we can fully participate in university life. So, we are so happy that we were able to secure housing within walking distance of the CU campus.

I am so looking forward to this academic year.

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