Liberal Learning,
the Ancients, and Ourselves:
A Lecture on Old Learning and the Modern World
David M. Whalen
Provost and Professor of English, Hillsdale College
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
In the Classical world, educational thought and practice was various and endlessly disputed, and it involved many apparently "useless" studies. What import can a liberal education, deeply rooted in that Classical world, have in our digital, pragmatic, and highly specialized age?
David M. Whalen obtained his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Kansas. A member of the faculty at Hillsdale College, where he currently serves as provost and professor of English, he has taught at the University of Kansas and Belmont Abbey College. The topics of his published articles include Renaissance Poetry, Educational Philosophy, and the writings of John Henry Newman. Dr. Whalen and his wife, Janet, have eleven children and live in Quincy, Michigan.
