Russell Kirk on America
Meet the Instructors:
Aaron Zubia is Assistant Professor in the Hamilton School of Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. Previously, Zubia was a Postdoctoral Fellow with The Tocqueville Program in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Furman University. In 2019-20, he was a Thomas W. Smith Postdoctoral Research Associate in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. Zubia specializes in the moral and political philosophy of the Scottish Enlightenment and the American founding. He is the author of The Political Thought of David Hume: The Origins of Liberalism and the Modern Political Imagination.
Michael Lucchese is the founder and CEO of Pipe Creek Consulting, a communications firm based in Washington, D.C. He is also an associate editor of Law & Liberty and a contributing editor to Providence. He is the editor of a collection of writings by Russell Kirk, On America: How to Understand the Legacy of 1776.
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm ET
Dates: September 15, 22, 29
Faculty: Aaron Zubia & Michael Lucchese
Location: Online
Tuition: $100 (tuition waived for students)
Course Description:
As we mark the semiquincentennial of our republic’s birth, Americans remain deeply divided and, at times, historically unaware of the nature of the American founding. Therefore, this new master class offers participants an opportunity to gain clarity about the meaning of the founding, the American experience, and what it means to be an American. At the heart of the course is On America, a brand-new and groundbreaking volume by Russell Kirk featuring previously unpublished material. In this new book, Kirk shows that the American order did not represent a radical break from the broader Western heritage. Rather, he presents the American Revolution as conservative in its defense of inherited order, not radical or utopian in its ambitions. And he shows how American society thereafter retained this conservative character.
Over the course of four weeks, participants in this virtual master class will read On America in its entirety and explore Kirk’s reflections on the meaning of our heritage. Guided by Aaron Aubia, an assistant professor of humanities at the University of Florida, as well as Michael Lucchese, the editor of this new volume, participants will encounter fresh material from one of America’s most important writers and gain a deeper knowledge of his understanding of America and its place within Western civilization.
The master class is limited in size, and it will be a competitive process, so acting quickly is advised. You may apply by submitting a letter of interest and your C.V. to Darrell Falconburg at dfalconburg@kirkcenter.org.