Episodes
Wednesday Feb 28, 2024
Ep. 50 - Timothy Knotts on the New England Consortium of Classical Educators
Wednesday Feb 28, 2024
Wednesday Feb 28, 2024
This is Episode 50 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education.
In this episode, Timothy Knotts sits down with Dr. Scott Postma to talk about the New England Consortium of Classical Educators and their mission to point New England to the unifying Truth found in Christ and His creation, the Good of fellowship with like-minded individuals, and the Beauty reflected in great works of literature, science, and art, through teaching, conversation, and conferences.
Timothy is a co-founder of the Consortium, and lives in Windsor, Connecticut with his wife, Cynthia, and their four protégés. He is the author of Reasoning Together: Philosophy, a soon to be released high school introduction to philosophy, and is occasionally published on the CiRCE and Kepler blogs. Timothy is a Lead Curriculum Developer for Classical Conversations, a CiRCE Institute certified master teacher, a recovering attorney, an amateur poet, and lover of the beautiful.
- Learn more about the Consortium of Classical Educators.
- Learn more about the New England Consortium Summer Conference in Maynard, MA on July 12-13, 2024.
- For live, online courses in the classical Christian tradition, visit Kepler Education.
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Ep. 49 - Jennifer Courtney Presents a Workshop on Reading Poetry
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
This is Episode 49 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education.
This episode is a workshop on Reading Poetry given by Jennifer Courtney at the New England Consortium of Classical Educators in the summer of 2023.
Jennifer Courtney has a passion for developing curriculum that helps homeschool parents to give their children a classical, Christian education. She and her husband Tim live in Oklahoma and have home educated their four children, three through graduation. She currently serves as the Sr. Global Curriculum Director for Classical Conversations MultiMedia. Jennifer is the author of Ancient World Echoes, Old World Echoes, and New World Echoes. These readers include fairy tales, fables, and poems designed to be read as a family. As a child, Jennifer loved Charles Dickens so much that she used to carry a hardback copy of his stories to kindergarten.
The New England Consortium of Classical Educators (NECCE) exists to point New England to the unifying Truth found in Christ and His creation, the Good of fellowship with like-minded individuals, and the Beauty reflected in great works of literature, science, and art, through teaching, conversation, and conferences.
- Learn more about the Consortium of Classical Educators.
- Learn more about the New England Consortium Summer Conference in Maynard, MA on Jul 12-13, 2024.
- For live, online courses in the classical Christian tradition, visit Kepler Education.
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Ep. 48 - Jarrod Richey on the Role of Music and Singing in Classical Christian Education
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
This is Episode 48 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education.
This episode is a talk titled "Some Enchanted Reasoning: Music's Joy and Beauty in Classical Christian Education" given by Jarrod Richey at the Southern Consortium of Classical Educators in the summer of 2023. Jarrod Richey is a music educator, choir director, church musician, and author living in northeast Louisiana with his wife and children. He writes about music and education at Musically Speaking.
The Southern Consortium of Classical Educators is a teaching and training event for anyone interested in Classical Christian Education. Educators, families, and community leaders can receive professional development and a greater understanding of the purpose and practice of the educational movement sweeping the nation.
Learn more about the Consortium of Classical Educators. For live, online courses in the classical Christian tradition, visit Kepler Education.
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Ep. 47 - Heatherly Sylvia on Seven Steps Toward a Classical Life
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
This is Episode 47 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education.
This episode is a talk titled "Seven Steps Toward a Classical Life" given by Heatherly Sylvia at the New England Consortium of Classical Educators in the summer of 2023.
The New England Consortium of Classical Educators (NECCE) is a institutional partner of Kepler Education and exists to point New England to the unifying Truth found in Christ and His creation, the Good of fellowship with like-minded individuals, and the Beauty reflected in great works of literature, science, and art, through teaching, conversation, and conferences.
Learn more about the New England Consortium of Classical Educators or to register for the 2024 NECCE Conference.
For live, online courses in the classical Christian tradition, visit Kepler Education at www.kepler.education.
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
This is Episode 46 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education.
In this episode, Dr. Postma is joined by Daniel Foucachon, CEO of Roman Roads Press, to talk about Old Western Culture and what it looks like to be a classically educated entrepreneur and publisher of classical Christian curriculum.
Old Western Culture is an expression coined by C. S. Lewis to talk about historical periods of time and the thinking and philosophies that influenced those periods. Taking a cue from Lewis's observation, Daniel launched a Christian approach to the Great Books curriculum that has become the hub of Roman Roads Press and its growing curriculum and monograph publication arms.
To learn more about Old Western Culture or Roman Roads Press, visit their website. Or, to find live online course using Roman Roads Curriculum, visit Kepler at www.kepler.education.
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
Ep. 45 - Serving Students with Special Needs in Classical Christian Education
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
This is Episode 45 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education.
In this episode, Dr. Scott Postma is joined by Dr. Gregory Soderberg and his wife, Cynthia, a trained S2C Practitioner, and the director of Spellibrate. Spellibrate is a S2C (Spelling to Communicate) education model that presumes competence in children with special needs while building the skills they need for reliable communication and simultaneously equipping the parents to work with their child.
Because Classical Christian Education focuses on teaching students rather than merely teaching a curriculum, there is much in common between these pedagogical methods of education. In this way, Classical Christian Education is poised to help students with special needs, like Autism and Down's Syndrome.
To learn more about Classical Christian Education, or online course opportunities for students with special needs, visit Kepler at www.kepler.education or contact Dr. Gregory Soderberg at gregory.soderberg@kepler.education.
NOTE: we apologize for the low-quality audio glitch at 1:15-2:30.
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Ep. 44 - Generalization vs. Specialization
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
This is Episode 44 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog sponsored by Kepler Education.
In this episode, Scott Postma is joined by Kepler's Academic Advisor, Joffre Swait, to discuss generalization and specialization. In a world that is increasingly more specialized, research is demonstrating what classical educators have known all along—generalists are typically more successful in life and work that specialists. While specialists tend to excel in their profession more quickly at the outset, they also stagnate quicker; whereas, generalists are slower out the gate but tend to flourish in a longer more sustained fashion, and do so in all areas of life and work.
Learn more about Kepler and Classical Christian Education at www.kepler.education.
Thursday Nov 17, 2022
Ep. 43 - Brent Pinkall and Redeeming the Six Arts
Thursday Nov 17, 2022
Thursday Nov 17, 2022
This is Episode 43 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog sponsored by Kepler Education.
In this episode, Brent Pinkall, a lecturer in rhetoric at New St. Andrews College and author of the new book, Redeeming the Six Arts: A Christian Approach to Chinese Classical Education joins Scott Postma to talk about the characteristics of the six classical Chinese arts and how they relate to the Western liberal arts.
Brent argues that classical Christian education is not fundamentally a canon of fixed texts or subjects but rather an approach rooted in the Fifth Commandment: Honor thy father and thy mother. Insofar as our ancestors differ, the languages, literature, and arts we study will also differ. Although Chinese Christians share the same "spiritual" fathers as their Western counterparts, their "earthly" fathers are different, and therefore their curriculum must reflect not only a shared "Christian" heritage but also a unique "classical" heritage.
- Purchase Redeeming the Six Arts here.
- Learn more about New Saint Andrews College here.
- Read the Consortium Blog here.
Thursday Nov 03, 2022
Ep. 42 - Joe Carlson and the Divine Comedy
Thursday Nov 03, 2022
Thursday Nov 03, 2022
This is Episode 42 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog sponsored by Kepler Education.
In this episode, Scott Postma talks with Dante Scholar, Joe Carlson, about his new translation of Dante's Divine Comedy.
Joe is a graduate of New St Andrews College, in Moscow, ID, completed his MA and is now pursuing PhD in Literature at the University of Dallas. He is married to Jen, they have one son, Joseph Benaiah, and prior to pursuing his doctorate, he served as a pastor in California for seven years.
Joe's books can be found at Roman Roads Press and he is teaching a Dante course on the Kepler Education platform in the Spring of 2023. In addition to reading Dante, Joe highly recommends listeners read Michael Ward's book, Planet Narnia.
Wednesday Oct 26, 2022
Ep. 41 - Dr. Mike Wilhelm on Youth Ministry and the Iona Project
Wednesday Oct 26, 2022
Wednesday Oct 26, 2022
This is Episode 41 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog sponsored by Kepler Education.
In this episode, Dr. Mike Wilhelm joins Scott Postma to talk about the Great Books and the life of the mind, ministering to youth as the senior chaplain at a residential child care facility, and the Iona Project—a quasi-neo-monastic gap-year opportunity for college graduates.
Dr. Wilhelm is the senior chaplain at Cal Farley Boys Ranch near Amarillo, TX. Cal Farley Boys Ranch is NOT actually exclusively for boys and has been a leader in residential childcare services for over 80 years. CFBR meets the needs of children and families by way of the continued generosity of supporters while never seeking state or federal funds to support the work.