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The former Center for Western Civilization, Thought and Policy was founded in 2006 at the 精品SM在线影片 to promote critical reflection on the traditions and political perspectives of Western thought and diverse political and philosophical perspectives.听

Best-known for hosting the Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy, in June the center was rechristened the听Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization听in recognition of the recently retired CU president, who throughout his tenure strongly supported diversity of perspectives on the 精品SM在线影片 campus.

鈥淥ne goal is to promote the study of Western civilization and its traditions back to antiquity, all the way to modern times,鈥� says Robert Pasnau, professor of philosophy and director of the Benson Center, 鈥渁nd thinking in particular about the ethical implications of those traditions for society today.鈥�

By all accounts, the center has had a significant impact on campus, and in June, it launched a pilot Summer Institute, which brought five scholars to Boulder for the month to conduct research and exchange ideas.

鈥淭he Summer Institute is a way for the center to extend its mission beyond CU, beyond Boulder, and try to pull in scholars from other places who are interested in what we are doing,鈥� Pasnau says. 鈥淭he genesis for the (pilot program) was a larger conversation about how the center can have a broader influence nationally. We want to be a leader in the sort of work we鈥檙e doing.鈥�

With that in mind, the center put out a call for working academics who already have a PhD who might be interested in spending a month at 精品SM在线影片.

鈥淥ne of the great things Boulder has going for it is that it鈥檚 such a nice place to visit,鈥� Pasnau says. 鈥淭he opportunity to spend a month here, working on scholarship, having conversations with people from other schools鈥攚e thought, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 got to be a super attractive opportunity.鈥� We put out the call, and sure enough, we got a great response.鈥�

The center chose five scholars to participate in the pilot program, focused on its 2019-20 theme, 鈥淎merican Identities鈥�:听Iain Bernhoft, professor of English at Providence College, Rhode Island; Nathan Dinneen, professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York; Josh Vandiver, professor of political science, Ball State University, Indiana; Ryan Dawkins, professor of political science, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado; and Russell Fehr, who earned a PhD in History from the University of California, Riverside.听

Participants received a $5,000 honorarium, office space and library privileges. Shilo Brooks of 精品SM在线影片鈥檚听Herbst Program for Engineering, Ethics and Society听and director the Engineering Leadership Program served as the day-to-day leader of the institute.

Participants met three times a week and made presentations of their work to the group. They also participated in readings and reading groups and various social engagements, Pasnau says.

鈥淚n one way or another, all were doing work that has a bearing on the interesting question of 鈥楢merican Identities.鈥� It鈥檚 such a rich topic, and there are all kinds of ways you can get at it,鈥� he says, citing work ranging from the 鈥渘uts and bolts of American politics 鈥� demographics; who votes; voting blocs,鈥� and the history of conservative ideas and how they interact with American identity.

The center judged the program a success and intends to recruit eight scholars for the 2020-21 academic year as the next step beyond the pilot stage. The theme for the next batch of Summer Institute scholars hasn鈥檛 been finalized, but Pasnau notes that 鈥渋t鈥檚 going to be an election year, and that will be topic A1 on everybody鈥檚 mind.鈥�

As much as anything, the institute is designed to highlight the center鈥檚 work and, perhaps, plant the seeds that may one day see the flowering of similar efforts on other campuses.

That鈥檚 important, Pasnau says, because of continuing pressures to reduce universities鈥� emphasis on Western civilization.听听

鈥淭here is a tendency for universities to disengage from this territory. But the reality is, if you look around on campus, you see a huge number of faculty and students who are squarely engaged in the traditions of Western civilization,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a shame if we鈥檙e scared of these issues and don鈥檛 take pride and invest in them.鈥�

The Benson Center is widely associated in the public mind with conservative scholarship, but Pasnau believes that鈥檚 partly a function of media coverage.

鈥淒iversity of thought is something we are interested in, and it鈥檚 very much a part of our mission to try to promote a range of events to bring interesting folks in from lots of different vantage points,鈥� Pasnau says. 鈥淏y definition, a fair number of them are going to be conservatives, but we bring in people from all over the map. 鈥� If you come to a random selection of events, you鈥檙e as likely to hear somebody on the left as on the right.鈥�

Highlights of the center鈥檚 fall-semester lineup include conservative Catholic New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, on Sept. 17; Jonathan Haidt,听professor of Ethical Leadership at听New York University's Stern School of Business and found of the centrist Heterodox Academy, on Oct. 15; and Robert Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago, in December.

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