Faculty Publications and Presentations

Robert D. Kaplan: The Revenge of Geography Study Guide, 2012-2013

Steven A. Samson — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:01:15 PST

Roger Scruton: A Political Philosophy Study Guide, 2006-2012

Steven A. Samson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:43:34 PST

Pierre Manent: Democracy without Nations? The Fate of Self-Government in Europe Study Guide, 2012

Steven A. Samson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:15:54 PST

C. S. Lewis The Abolition of Man Study Guide, 1972

Steven A. Samson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:56:35 PST

John Fonte: Sovereignty or Submission: Will Americans Rule Themselves or Be Ruled by Others? Study Guide, 2012

Steven A. Samson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:10:08 PST

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn: Leftism: From De Sade and Marx to Hitler and Marcuse Study Guide, c. 1990-2012

Steven A. Samson — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:39:44 PST

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. and David A. Welch, Understanding Global Conflicts and Cooperation, 9th ed. Study Guide, 2012

Steven A. Samson — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:27:33 PST

Charles Hill: Trial of a Thousand Years: World Order and Islamism Study Guide, 2012

Steven A. Samson — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 05:56:46 PDT

Religious Liberty in the Early American Republic

Steven A. Samson — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:27:00 PDT

The early nineteenth century in America was a period in which the idea of religious liberty came to be worked out in practice in a setting of growing diversity. The immediate effect of the dissolution of state religious establishments was to strengthen the vitality and prestige of the churches themselves. Before the end of the century, the church historian Philip Schaff could regard as normal ‘a free church in a free state, or a selfsupporting and self-governing Christianity in independent but friendly relation to the civil government.’

Marcello Pera: Why We Should Call Ourselves Christians Study Guide, 2012

Steven A. Samson — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:34:54 PDT

Marcello Pera’s Why We Should Call Ourselves Christians provides a framework for understanding the moral crisis of our age represented by liberalism’s diversion from its foundations in a Christian culture and its conversion into a corrupter of that culture through what he calls “the secular equation.”

The February Revolution of 2011: A Harbinger of Arab Spring

Steven A. Samson — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 07:44:33 PDT

Behold Arab Spring! Nature abhors political vacuums. Machiavelli himself recognized the brutal nature of what is apt to fill such a vacuum. Abraham Lincoln anticipated this problem even in America in his early Lyceum Address by envisioning the rise of an American Napoleon. The question is whether the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of a cause measures up to or falls far short of the worthiness of the cause itself.

The Crisis of Our Age: An Update

Steven A. Samson — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 07:44:30 PDT

John Calvin recognized the moral hazard that arises when people are induced to act contrary to their consciences. Perhaps all the buzzing, blooming confusion of our modern media culture has become simply a mechanism for demoralizing the population, by making all of us accomplices in people’s bad behavior, by assaulting, weakening, and gradually undermining our moral defenses. As David Chilton characterized it: “If this is a culture, it belongs in a Petri dish.” People with bad consciences are more easily manipulated as they become fatalistic and slavish in their attitudes.

Faustian Bargains: Entanglements between Church and State in America

Steven A. Samson — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:07:00 PDT

As the state extends its operations into all areas of social life, it breaches the protective 'wall of separation' that has traditionally kept the church free from overt regulation by the civil authorities. This is manifested in several ways: first, a statutory extension of state police powers through social legislation; second, a restriction or pre-emption of certain activities that were once held to be outside the purview of the state; third, a vitiation of the principle of religious non-interference through judicial interpretations of the First Amendment; and fourth, an adversary posture toward churches taken by many agencies of the state while pursuing their regulatory objectives. As a consequence, churches are facing novel restraints on their ecclesiastical or corporate rights, immunities, and privileges. Originally written in 1984, this piece is updated by a brief review of subsequent developments that addressed many of these concerns.

Simone Weil: The Iliad, or The Poem of Force Study Guide

Steven A. Samson — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 07:35:07 PDT

Helen Silving: Jurisprudence in the Old Testament Study Guide, 2011

Steven A. Samson — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 07:33:19 PDT

Thucydides: The Funeral Oration of Pericles Study Guide, 2011

Steven A. Samson — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:56:03 PDT

Vishal Mangalwadi: India Study Guide, 2011

Steven A. Samson — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:53:55 PDT

201104 OBITER DICTA: MID-FEBRUARY 2011

Steven A. Samson — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 07:46:32 PDT

Helen Silving: Jurisprudence in the Old Testament Study Guide

Steven A. Samson — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:49:09 PDT

Lord Peter Bauer: From Subsistence to Exchange and other Essays: Study Guide, 2006-2011

Steven A. Samson — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:46:57 PDT