The Russell Kirk Center Welcomes TFAS Public Policy Fellows
From October 16–18, the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal welcomed twenty Public Policy Fellows from The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) for a weekend seminar on “The Roots of American Order as the Foundation for a New Fusionism.” Gathering in the historic Russell Kirk Library and ancestral home in Mecosta, the fellows and faculty reflected on Kirk’s understanding of the American political tradition as described in The Roots of American Order (1974).
The seminar was led by Dr. David Corey, Director of Baylor in Washington and Professor of Political Science in the Baylor University Honors Program. He was joined by Dr. Bradley Birzer, the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and Professor of History at Hillsdale College, who co-led the discussions. The weekend opened with remarks by Michael Lucchese, founder of Pipe Creek Consulting, who introduced the fellows to the seminar topic. Drawing upon Kirk’s work and related texts, participants examined the interplay between freedom and order, individuality and community, and the role of the “moral imagination” in sustaining a free society.
This year’s fellows came from many of the nation’s leading institutions of thought and policy, including the Thomistic Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, Georgetown University, Providence Magazine, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and the Hudson Institute, among others.
“I was also deeply impressed by the intellect and insight of my fellows that I may now call friends. I learned much and have more to learn. Being – just being – in the Kirk Center brought home many of the lessons of this weekend. These lessons could not, I think, have been learned and felt fully and truly without seeing and in some sense living in an environment of books, pictures, memorabilia, and beauty.”
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“This was a wonderfully helpful and illuminating weekend on the subject of Kirk’s thought and body of work as well as of the practice of debate. I wholly recommend participating in the Kirk Center’s offerings for an immersive, sharpening experience of both thoughtful community and the life of the mind.”
“The Kirk Center is a beautiful place and a more than fitting home for our conversations and the seminar was quite useful in thinking through Roots in a systematic way. It was a distinct pleasure to meet the members of the Kirk family and the rest of the Center’s staff and fellows and I am grateful to you all. I would urge any conservative or anyone sincerely interested in the renewal of our shared American culture to make a pilgrimage to Piety Hill.”
“A marvelous time! This is such a lovely place, and I plan to recommend many friends and colleagues pursue a fellowship or serious scholarly project here. My only regret is not interacting with Kirk’s work sooner! You will benefit the most from taking advantage of your fellow seminar participants – asking tough questions and teasing out ideas to iterate some of the most important inquiries you’ll face in your career and life: What are the permanent things and how do we confer them?”