ACADEMIC LEADER’S DAY
Pre-conference | Wednesday, June 18 | 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (in person only)
Renewing Christian Rhetoric for Contemporary Classrooms:
Human Persuasion and Practical Wisdom in a Digital Age
Join Alcuin Fellows Dr. David Diener, Dr. Phil Donnelly, Dr. Chris Schlect, and Dr. Andrew Selby for an all-day study of medieval traditions of Christian rhetoric in order to understand how students and educators today can inhabit a genuinely Christian understanding of this verbal art.
Dr. David Diener
Dr. David Diener is an Assistant Professor of Education at Hillsdale College and the Executive Director of the Alcuin Fellowship. Previously he spent fifteen years in K-12 private education, eleven of those in administration and eight as headmaster of classical Christian schools. He regularly provides consulting services and teacher training to classical schools and is the author of Plato: The Great Philosopher-Educator. He also serves as the series editor for Classical Academic Press’ series Giants in the History of Education and is an associate editor for the journal Principia: A Journal of Classical Education.
Dr. Phillip J. Donnelly
Dr. Phillip J. Donnelly is Professor of Literature for the Great Texts Program in the Honors College at Baylor University. He is the author of The Lost Seeds of Learning: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric as Life-Giving Arts (Classical Academic Press) and Milton’s Scriptural Reasoning (Cambridge University Press). He has worked with classical schools for about twenty years, helping faculty discern how a Christian understanding of the verbal arts can inform their daily work as educators.
Dr. Christopher Schlect
Dr. Christopher Schlect has worked in classical and Christian education for over thirty years, including long experience with high school and college rhetoric. At his home institution, New Saint Andrews College, Chris is Head of Humanities and Director of the Classical and Christian Studies graduate program. He also teaches in Gordon College’s graduate program in educational leadership. Chris is the author of a forthcoming text on declamation exercises, which will be a capstone text in Classical Academic Press’s Writing and Rhetoric series. He serves CCE schools around the country through his writing, consulting, and training activities.
Dr. Andrew Selby
Dr. Andrew Selby is the language department chair and teaches humanities and Latin at Trinity Classical Academy in Valencia, CA. He has taught pre-rhetoric and senior thesis for many years. Currently, he is creating curriculum for Memoria Press in the Classical Composition program that his father started over 20 years ago. His research interests have included classical rhetoric and the way that Christians appropriated it through the centuries, which is represented in his book, Ambrose of Milan’s On the Holy Spirit: Theology, Rhetoric, and Sources (Gorgias Press).
Academic Leader’s Day Q & A
What is Academic Leader’s Day?
ACADEMIC LEADERS DAY is a new offering for Repairing the Ruins, produced by the Alcuin Fellowship. This event is directed toward academic deans, department heads, lead teachers, and teachers with a focus on this topic.
What will participants do?
Throughout the day, participants will read excerpts from key rhetorical texts, consider a theological understanding of rhetoric, and discuss the practical applications for contemporary classrooms.
What will participants gain?
Participants will deepen their appreciation for rhetoric and its place in the Christian life, improve their understanding of our rich rhetorical heritage, and learn practical tips for continuing the Christian rhetorical tradition in their classrooms and schools.
Why rhetoric?
For as long as Christians persist in persuasive activities, Christian faith will have rhetorical dimensions. In contemporary culture, however, rhetoric is often treated as a set of techniques that are disconnected from the human good. This modern, sophistic vision of rhetoric now appears in the widespread belief that language, memory, and intelligence are properties of machines no less than humans. Join Drs. Diener, Donnelly, Schlect, and Selby to learn how the medieval tradition offers a life-giving alternative.
What is the cost?
Academic Leaders’ Day fee is $220 for members and $290 for non-members.
Note that Academic Leader’s Day is in person only.
