Hillsdale in D.C. hosted its first annual academic conference entitled, “The Sources of American Politics: Christian, Classical, and Modern” on March 13th and 14th. “We began a serious and in-depth conversation about the responsibilities of teachers of the public concerning the American republic on the all-important eve of our semiquincentennial,” said Dr. Matthew Mehan, Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Government at Hillsdale in D.C.’s Van Andel Graduate School of Government. “Professors, or doctors, have a contemplative role in studying the Founding and our republic, and they have an active role in teaching the Founding and our republic to the public. Now is a time for both.”
The conference commenced with a public lecture entitled “God, Law, and Sovereignty in the American Founding” by Prof. Justin Buckley Dyer of the University of Texas, Austin which was followed by a conversation with Dyer and Prof. Kody Cooper of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Cooper and Dyer are the co-authors of a recent book entitled The Classical and Christian Origins of American Politics: Political Theology, Natural Law and the American Founding (2022, Cambridge University Press). Dr. Shaun Rieley, Director of Educational Programs, noted that the book “deals extensively with the questions we wanted to address in the conference. We thought highlighting the book and its authors was a great opportunity to set the tone and the terms for the main part of the conference.” A special dinner with the invited scholars followed the lecture on the first night.
The conference continued on the second day with three private salon discussions, all geared toward understanding the influence of ancient, Christian, and modern philosophy and political thought on the American Founding, as well as, finally, how America can restore its original principles. The conference closed with a reception and dinner for the participants at the Phoenix Park Hotel.
“The conference was a success,” Dr. Rieley remarked. “It brought together Hillsdale in D.C.’s faculty and a number of scholars working at the intersection of political theory, American politics, and classical and Christian political thought to exchange ideas with an eye toward recovering the sources of the American Founding.”
Dr. Mehan concluded, “Good friends were made—always the sign of success.”
To view a recording of the lecture, see here.
For more on Hillsdale in D.C.’s mission, see here.
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