Over the next several months we will highlight a few of our Columbanus Fellows, bringing to light the character of students engaged in our program! These fellows are engaged in a rigorous and deep inquiry into the Western intellectual tradition, seeking both to retrieve lost wisdom and to further its presence in our society today. Lance […]

We hear the word “philosophy” used often—often in cringe-inducing ways (“My philosophy on this is…” “That’s an interesting philosophy…” “His coaching philosophy…”), where the speaker really means an opinion or a method.  For others of us, it might conjure up images of books or a college course catalog; perhaps something having to do with symbolic […]

Our friends over at the Catherine Project have opened their submissions for Spring 2024 tutorial, reading group, and language tutorials! Their wide range of offerings cover many fascinating works and ideas: Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, political theory, novels, the work of Wendell Barry, Latin, Greek, the art of writing, and more. You can discover their catalog here […]

We are delighted to announce our Latin courses available in 2024. But… why Latin? Does the study of Latin—a language spoken by no people, no country, no nation today—offer us anything other than an affectation or the satisfaction of niche reading (or liturgical) interests? Do we gain anything from this language itself, or does it […]

Education in the liberal arts has been neglected in modernity and, when not ignored, derided by the forces of ultramodern thought.  The consequences of this dereliction are evident: even those who wish to know often know less than they would like and cannot express themselves as well as they ought.  Fortunately, we can retrieve the […]

Aeschylus and Aristophanes, Plato and Aristotle, Xenophon and Thucydides: it is one thing to know their texts. It is another to read them in the language their authors used. The roots of Western culture sprung up in Ancient Greece. If we are to be successful cultivators of future growth ourselves, we ought to attend to […]

“The missionary labours of the Irish were not confined to Great Britain, but extended far and wide through the west of Europe. In the sixth and seventh centuries, Irish monasteries were founded in Austrasia and Burgundy, Italy, Switzerland, Bavaria; they were established among Frisians, Saxons, Alemanni. And as centres of Latin education as well as […]

As part of our program, members at the Lyceum Institute are encouraged to suggest rich topics for our weekly Philosophical Happy Hour.  One member writes: What is the value of self-education?  By this I mean education that one engages in, (either through books or courses) without the aid of a teacher.  I think there is […]

What is property? What is wealth? Who has a right to ownership? What moral quandaries are to be found in the concentration of wealth? Over the past several decades, wealth has become, in many ways, largely dissociated from real things, from tangible beings. This dissociation stems not only from the movement to a fiat currency, […]

Our Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor, Director of Catholic Studies, and Chair of Philosophy as Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI, was on the Acton Line podcast of the Acton Institute last year (but just let us know recently!). Give a listen here: Reason, nature, and the human good – YouTube