The School of Conservative Studies
While there are many bright spots on America’s educational landscape, there is no center dedicated to the academic study of conservative thought. To reclaim the American conservative mind and constitutional soul, we have an opportunity to launch a focused educational program of studies that explores the fullness of conservative thought with students, researchers, journalists, and teachers at every level.
This is the Russell Kirk Center’s new School of Conservative Studies.
The School will be a series of integrated programs providing a comprehensive education in conservatism, both its key ideas and its imaginative dimensions. It will feature expert thinkers that connect students to timeless ideals and their humanistic foundations, as well as show how the American conservative tradition can help us address today’s practical and urgent dilemmas.
It will host courses and events at our village campus in Mecosta. Spending time in the historic library of Russell Kirk and his ancestral house, which has been celebrated throughout the conservative movement for being Tolkien-esque, “the last homely house.” A place where real transformation occurs in the classroom and in community.
To leverage and extend this power of place, emerging technologies and educational alternatives also make it easier to connect and foster engagement with more students in various locations and situations.
Data show the younger generations prefer to customize their education to their needs. This “playlist” approach to learning suggests new opportunities for delivering meaningful educational experiences along with new credentials and for-credit special programs that can give students an edge with potential employers.
Our School of Conservative Studies courses will explore different ways to educate and validate knowledge, from place to platforms. Courses and seminars will be high quality, personalized, flexible, wisdom & knowledge focused, while still exploring connections between understanding and relevant competencies that can make real professional and civic impact.
