In our day, talking about “Truth” will raise some eyebrows. Particularly in academic circles, the trend has been to deny that there’s such a thing as truth universal to all men. That view has gained a wide acceptance in our society as a whole. Belief in a knowable and universal truth has been replaced by a casual acceptance that each individual has a claim to his own personal truth.
Not everyone is bowing to this fashion though. Nor is everyone accepting the degradation of our educational system by the experimental campaigns based on shallow, trendy concepts masquerading as foundational values.
Come see what happens when a group of enthusiastic people join together to discuss these very issues. On January 20th and 21st, a regional Regional Conference entitled “Truth or Nothing,” sponsored jointly by the CiRCE Institute, Classical Academic Press, Excellence in Writing, Memoria Press, and Professor Carol, will convene in Louisville, KY. Admittedly it’s a bold theme—one we pondered over and planned together at various points during the 2016 conference season.
The roster of speakers is strong and includes Andrew Kern, Andrew Pudewa, Martin Cothran, Chris Perrin, Brian Phillips, Matt Bianco, Hank Reynolds (in a rare appearance), and yours truly, Professor Carol. Talks will cover many topics ranging from Classical values within the monastic tradition to the imperative of recovering the three transcendental values of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. On Friday the 20th, Hank Reynolds will offer a session presenting music within a context similar to that accorded the “Great Books”: How to Create a Great Music Program. On Saturday morning, I’ll deliver a plenary address entitled A Classical Approach to Artistic Literacy.
One of the high points of the conference will occur on Friday evening, as we enjoy a dinner together and then settle in for a wonderful address from none other than the great Wendell Berry. If you’ve never heard him speak, I won’t even try to describe the power of his words and the atmosphere when he addresses an audience. It can be life-changing.
The goal of this conference is to give us boots-on-the-ground tactics and practical tools to employ in situations that confront us—particularly those that seem to confound us. So I hope you can join us. These organizations and speakers are all on a multi-faceted mission to create the necessary educational materials and to provide the spiritual, intellectual, and emotional support that teachers and parents must have to guide the next generations up the rocky paths to repair our sadly tattered modern culture. They are guided by the warm, welcoming light of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. They work hard to embrace the “Three Transcendentals”—not as lofty concepts that look pretty on the page but as qualities we must grapple with daily in real life.
Conference details can be found here.
