Traditional Conservatism and Classical Liberalism (Section 1)
Meet the Instructors:
Luke C. Sheahan is associate professor of political science at Duquesne University, a senior affiliate in the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society (PRRUCS) at the University of Pennsylvania, editor of The University Bookman, editor of Humanitas, and a contributing editor at Law & Liberty. He received his PhD in political theory from the Catholic University of America. His academic work has appeared in journals such as The Political Science Reviewer, Studies in Burke and His Time, Humanitas, Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy, and The Journal of Christian Legal Thought. He is the author of Why Associations Matter: The Case for First Amendment Pluralism (2020) and editor of International Comparative Approaches to Free Speech and Open Inquiry (2022).
Paul Mueller is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He received his PhD in economics from George Mason University. Previously, Dr. Mueller taught at The King’s College in New York City. His academic work has appeared in many journals including The Adam Smith Review, The Review of Austrian Economics, and The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, The Journal of Private Enterprise, and TheQuarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. He is also the author of Ten Years Later: Why the Conventional Wisdom about the 2008 Financial Crisis is Still Wrong with Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Time: All Day
Dates: Jun 14, 2026
Faculty: Dr. Luke Sheahan & Dr. Paul Mueller
Location: Russell Kirk Center
Admission: Invitation Only
Course Description:
American conservatives such as Russell Kirk have often traced their intellectual lineage to Edmund Burke and his opposition to the French Revolution, especially as expressed in his seminal work Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). According to this view, modern conservatism is grounded in respect for historical continuity, belief in a transcendent moral order, and recognition of the limits of human nature and the imperfectibility of political and social life. It is often understood, furthermore, as a defense of inherited institutions, beliefs, and practices within the Anglo-American tradition, especially in the face of modern dislocation and revolutionary change.
This conservative tradition—from Burke to the present day—has frequently been in tension with the liberal tradition. Such tension is evident, for example, in Russell Kirk’s speech “Why I Am a Conservative,” delivered in response to Friedrich Hayek’s famous essay “Why I Am Not a Conservative.” Yet conservatism and liberalism are both broad and internally diverse traditions, and their meanings are often contested in public discourse. For this reason, it remains important to examine their historical development and core principles with care.
What is traditional conservatism, and how does it relate to classical liberalism? Are these traditions fundamentally opposed, or do they share some common roots in the Western heritage? To what extent do they overlap in their commitments, leading figures, and intellectual aspirations? In what ways do they compare and contrast? This seminar helps participants to explore these questions.
This seminar is invite-only.