The Russell Kirk Center recently welcomed interns from the Mackinac Center for their annual intellectual retreat, this year centered on the theme “Russell Kirk and the Conservative Disposition.”

Joining them were two distinguished scholars whose expertise bridged both theory and practice: Dr. Ryan Streeter, Executive Director of the Civitas Institute and former domestic policy advisor in federal and state government, and Dr. Lee Trepanier, Dean of the D’Amour College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Assumption University and a leading scholar of political science and civic education.

The day began with Dr. Trepanier’s introduction to the conservative intellectual movement in America, which led into his talk, “Russell Kirk on Liberal and Character Education.” This talk connected Kirk’s conservatism to the broader tradition of the liberal arts. Dr. Streeter then followed with a talk entitled “Conservatism and Community: Civil Society and the Value of Moral Habits,” bringing the insights of modern social science into a compelling case for the importance of intermediary institutions—families, schools, churches, and voluntary associations—in fostering human flourishing. Taken together, their insights offered interns both a practical roadmap and an intellectual foundation for understanding modern conservative thought.

Now home to the School of Conservative Studies, the Russell Kirk Center continues its mission of forming a new generation in the best tradition of conservatism.