The annual Circe Conference, one of the great Classical Education events of any year, will be moving online for 2020. This means persons across the nation and world can take advantage of this rewarding event by “attending” without the costs of travel and hotels.
The folks at Circe have come up with yet another intriguing theme for this event: “Steadfast Gratitude.” Our heralded (and usually hilarious) Classical Education Unhinged panel with Messrs. Andrew Kern, Andrew Pudewa, Martin Cothran, Christopher Perrin, and yours truly will convene for two sessions. Having conducted eight such panels using virtual formats, we find they work surprisingly well online. Plus, the ability to receive comments and questions from people across the globe enhances the experience enormously.
I will offer a new talk called “A Grateful Heart a Garden Is: Replanting Sacred Music in a Digimodern World.” Yes, Virginia, there is a new buzzword “digimodern,” although it has had limited use thus far. I am adopting it as a good label for our era, not to mention a more descriptive term than Post Post-Modernism or Metamodernism–two names that do circulate to describe our disconcerting times.
I won’t give away too much of my talk, except to say that the opening words come from an early 20th-century poem I long have loved and frequently still sing to my grandchildren, Those of you who know Hank and me likely know that we strive to remove the obstacles that keep people unaware of, or shuttered away from, a glorious, thousand-years-plus treasure of sacred music. This talk will continue on the path towards that goal.
The Circe Institute was boldly founded by a man named Andrew Kern. He is almost impossible to describe, other than to say he’s one of the most thoughtful, transcendent, and compelling speakers I have ever experienced. The first time I heard Kern give a talk was about ten years ago after I randomly discovered the listing of a Circe conference near me (in Texas, anything under three hours’s drive is “nearby”). Out of curiosity I decided to go. Returning late after an evening kick-off reception, I effused to Hank, “I don’t know who these Circe people are, or what this Kern guy is all about, but we need to find out!” Early the next morning I was out the door to do just that. The rest is history.
Other speakers scheduled for this event will include Anthony Esolen, Karen Swallow Prior, Justin Jackson, Adam Andrews, Jessica Hooten Wilson, Tim McIntosh, Matthew Bianco, Wes Callihan, Brian Phillips, Christine Perrin, Heidi White, John Hodges, Sarah-Jane Bentley. And, of course, Andrew Kern in the roles of host, speaker, panelist, and guiding light.
Circe has done something lovely regarding the costs of this conference. Instead of a registration fee, they are inviting participants to make donation, if at all possible. Whether you donate or note, the important thing, though, is to register, learn and be inspired by the dynamic Circe Institute!
Click here for more details and registration information. Or contact me if you have questions.
