The Consortium Podcast

Ep. 46 - Daniel Foucachon on Old Western Culture and What it Means to Inherit the Humanities

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. 

Ep. 45 - Serving Students with Special Needs in Classical Christian Education

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.

Ep. 44 - Generalization vs. Specialization

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.

 

Ep. 43 - Brent Pinkall and Redeeming the Six Arts

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.

 

Ep. 42 - Joe Carlson and the Divine Comedy

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.

Ep. 41 - Dr. Mike Wilhelm on Youth Ministry and the Iona Project

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. 

• Learn more about the Iona Project, here, or watch the promo video here (3 min).
• Find, The Brothers Karamazov, here.
• Find The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris, here.

Ep. 40 - Dr. Junius Johnson and Redeeming Imagination

This is Episode 40 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog sponsored by Kepler Education.

In this episode, Dr. Junius Johnson joins Scott Postma to talk about Liberal Arts Education, Great Books, Fantasy, and redeeming the human Imagination.

Dr. Johnson is a Yale-trained, independent scholar of theology, philosophy, and literature who devotes his time to thinking and writing about whatever is good, noble, and excellent, and how to bring these things to bear to nurture meaningful lives. He resides in Memphis, TN with his wife, Rebekah, and their two children.

• You can learn more about Dr. Junius Johnson and the courses he teaches at Junius Johnson Academics.
• In the podcast, he recommends G. K. Chesterton's Tremendous Trifles. 
• In November 2022, he is speaking at the Eliot Society on The Imagination at the Heart of Discipleship.

 

 

Ep. 39 - Carrie Eben on Intellectual Virtues, Assessment, and Poetic Knowledge

This is Episode 39 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog sponsored by Kepler Education.

In this episode, Scott Postma talks with Carrie Eben, a classical educator and the founding consultant at Classical Eben. Carrie was introduced to classical education and Douglas Wilson’s book Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning in 1999 when she began working at St. Augustine’s Classical School in Tulsa. Since then, she has provided a classical education for her children in both private, classical schools (where she taught) and classical homeschool. She joined Classical Conversations in 2010 as an Essentials of the English Language tutor in Keller, Texas and has served in many other leadership and teaching capacities. Today she serves on the board of Sager Classical Academy, a classical Christian school in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Carrie holds a BSEd degree from John Brown University and MSEd from Oklahoma State University and is currently pursuing doctoral studies at Faulkner University. 

Together with Dr. Albert Cheng, director of the Classical Education Research Lab at the University of Arkansas, Carrie has a research article forthcoming in The Consortium Journal, "Assessing the Pedagogical Power of Poetry for Poetic Knowledge."

In the podcast, Carrie mentioned the book, Deep in Thought: A Practical Guide to Teaching for Intellectual Virtues.

Learn more about our sponsor, Kepler Education, and how this consortium of classical Christian educators is helping families connect with some of the top teachers in classical Christian education.

Ep 38 - Karen Elliott and Rafiki Foundation

This is Episode 38 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog sponsored by Kepler Education.

In this episode, Scott Postma talks with the executive director of the Rafiki Foundation, Karen Elliott. Rafiki means "friend" in Swahili and depicts the purpose of the Foundation - to help people know God and raise their standard of living with excellence and integrity. Since 1985, the Foundation has been building Rafiki Villages throughout Africa that seek to cultivate human flourishing through Bible study and classical Christian education.

Karen has served with Rafiki since 1990, including twelve years on the mission field, primarily in Nigeria. She is now Rafiki's executive director. She holds a BBA in finance/accounting and music minor from Southern Methodist University, Masters degree in Education from UTA and is currently pursuing doctoral studies at Faulkner University. 

 

Ep. 37 - Dr. Chris Swanson and Learning for Life

This is Episode 37 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog sponsored by Kepler Education.

In this episode, Scott Postma interviews Dr. Chris Swanson, president of Gutenberg College in Eugene, Oregon. Dr. Swanson shares his own unique education journey, Gutenberg's innovative (but not new) approach to a liberal arts education, and why educators should consider attending the Learning for Life Education Conference hosted by Gutenberg College in September each year. This year the conference is September 8-10, 2022.

 

Learning for Life Education Conference speakers and topics include:

• Amanda Butler of Classical Conversations “Reclaiming the Art of Conversation”
• Scott Postma Kepler Education “Preparing Students for a Life Worth Living”
• Andrew Pudewa Institute for Excellence in Writing “However Imperfectly: Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Teaching”
• Kathryn Smith Templeton Honors College “A Fairy Tale Education”
• Andrew Zwerneman Cana Academy “History: Seeing the Whole”
• Eliot Grasso Gutenberg College “Learning for an Integrated Life”
• Chris Swanson Gutenberg College “An Inquiry Approach to Mathematics and the Sciences”