Magnus Podcast: Conversations from the Catacombs of Liberal Education
Albertus Magnus Institute, Inc.
100 episodes
1 month ago
Welcome to Magnus Podcast - a production of the Albertus Magnus Institute, Inc. Imagine an academy deeply rooted and committed to the classical liberal arts, stocked to the brim with well-known, world-class faculty, and universally accessible. Now imagine it being completely affordable, even free. This was the vision of St. Albert the Great, father of classical education: an education that is at once freeing and free. A true and human liberation has always been the promise of an education in the liberal arts. Indeed, for the better part of the last 3,000 years, it was no mystery where one could learn how to cast off the shackles of the world and what to study to achieve that liberated state. In no uncertain terms, the classical liberal arts undoubtedly served as the intellectual foundation of Western Civilization. However, we are no longer a society of free men. The tradition of the liberal arts was left behind in favor of a more “practical” alternative. Many were promised a “liberating” education, and ironically received a soft enslavement. Graduates today are unemployable and inextricably saddled with debt, for an education they were told was “necessary for employment.” Worse still, society has abandoned the time-honored methods for discovering truth; “civil” discourse has been discarded and “arguments” only seek to divide, leaving our true sense of wonder unsatisfied. We propose a paradigm shift in education – or more appropriately, a resurrection of the universal and timeless tradition of the classical liberal arts. We want to provide an affordable academic forum for students to engage in guided conversations in a shared pursuit of truth itself. The truth, which alone is liberating, and must once again be liberated - drawing all men to itself: OMNES AD VERITATEM.
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Welcome to Magnus Podcast - a production of the Albertus Magnus Institute, Inc. Imagine an academy deeply rooted and committed to the classical liberal arts, stocked to the brim with well-known, world-class faculty, and universally accessible. Now imagine it being completely affordable, even free. This was the vision of St. Albert the Great, father of classical education: an education that is at once freeing and free. A true and human liberation has always been the promise of an education in the liberal arts. Indeed, for the better part of the last 3,000 years, it was no mystery where one could learn how to cast off the shackles of the world and what to study to achieve that liberated state. In no uncertain terms, the classical liberal arts undoubtedly served as the intellectual foundation of Western Civilization. However, we are no longer a society of free men. The tradition of the liberal arts was left behind in favor of a more “practical” alternative. Many were promised a “liberating” education, and ironically received a soft enslavement. Graduates today are unemployable and inextricably saddled with debt, for an education they were told was “necessary for employment.” Worse still, society has abandoned the time-honored methods for discovering truth; “civil” discourse has been discarded and “arguments” only seek to divide, leaving our true sense of wonder unsatisfied. We propose a paradigm shift in education – or more appropriately, a resurrection of the universal and timeless tradition of the classical liberal arts. We want to provide an affordable academic forum for students to engage in guided conversations in a shared pursuit of truth itself. The truth, which alone is liberating, and must once again be liberated - drawing all men to itself: OMNES AD VERITATEM.
How do we know that what we know is true? What does it mean to participate in the truth? What is the object of the will?
Dr. Thaddeus Kozinki joins John to discuss Plato’s divided Line and the levels of being and knowledge. ]
Don’t be a tool..just use one. Join John Johnson and Austin Klise, the founder of Klise Consulting as they discuss techne and technology and the implications therein.
Join John Johnson and Angel Adams Parham as they have a discussion about race befitting the dignity of a liberal artist.
Angel Adams Parham is Associate Professor of Sociology, senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, and Associate Director for the major in Political and Social Thought at the University of Virginia. Through her research in historical sociology, she engages in inquiry that examines the past in order to better understand how to live well in the present and envision wisely for the future.
Learn more about the Albertus Magnus Institute!
Learn more about Father Owen Carroll
Dr. Ryan Messmore of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education joins John to talk about the foundation of the Catholic Faith, the nature of God, and the doctrine of the Trinity. Listen and hear about the good work of ICLE and the pillars of the Catholic Faith and Christ’s relationship with His creation.
Dr. Tiffany Schubert of Wyoming Catholic College joins Larissa to discuss the idea of the hero. From Virgil’s company of heroes and heroines to Jane Austen’s many female heroines, Dr. Schubert guides us to understand them in light of tragedies and comedies, fate and providence, and epics and novels.
Alex Lessard of Adeodatus joins John Johnson to talk about the ongoing Classical education renewal. Join them in this lively conversation where they discuss issues facing the movement and explore unique solutions and ideas to refine the renewal even more.
Grab a beer and celebrate our 100th episode with us! John Johnson discusses the soul, the city, and the citizen in this Three Beers Episode with Senior Fellow Palvos Papadopoulos and special guest Ryan Hammill of the Ancient Language Institute.
Who is man, what is he building, and why does this matter?
Alan Cornett of Cultural Debris joins John Johnson to discuss mans relationship with architecture and both the worldly and eternal implications therein. Listen as they explore the architecture behind majestic Italian Cathedrals, bold American Art Deco and oppressive modern urbanism.
This episode is the recording of our recent Q & A webinar where we answered questions from participating Fellows and shared our vision for liberal learning. Now we’re sharing it with you. Whether you’re a returning or new listener, we hope you enjoy, and we hope to see you in the Cohort!
Today we bring you the 20th and final episode of season 3. This season we talked about all things liberal arts from music and monarchy to Plato and Socrates to freeing minds and humanizing humans. It only seemed right then, to finish this season with a return to the first guest, Professor Steven Cortright, who opened the show with an episode appropriately titled, “The Liberal Arts”.
He returns now to discuss the current state of higher education and a sneak peak into coming things for AMI.
This conversation between two ‘non- serial’ entrepreneurs, Christof Meyer and AMI’s own John Johnson, will change the way you view entrepreneurship and management, and give you a vision of a rightly ordered, God honoring way to run a business that finds it’s roots in the Liberal Arts tradition.
Learn more about Hildegard College
Author of the Summa Domestica, and The Little Oratory, Leila Lawler joins Larissa to talk about mothering, homeschooling, and raising children faithfully in this modern world. She explains how we can escape the traps of the modern world and provide something beautiful for our children to imitate, creating a balanced and harmonious home
Today, we are offering you another glimpse into the Magnus Fellowship; this time with Senior Fellow, Dr. Helen Freeh’s course, ”Friendship and Freedom in the Lord of the Rings.”
Blessed Feast of St. Albert the Great!
On this special day, we spoke with Leigh Bortins of Classical Conversations who, like St. Albert the Great before us, shares our love for a liberating education.
Education is never free, and, like all good things, the higher the quality of education, the higher the cost. She joins John and Larissa to discuss how to give our students a high quality education that is a better kind of free- free from the shackles and snares of our world.
Learn more about Classical Conversations, educational independence and Leigh Bortins
Educator, mother, grandmother, and daughter of the King, Leigh Bortins is best known for creating lifelong learners through her educational support program, Classical Conversations, which organizes classical academic communities for homeschooling families. Leigh founded Classical Conversations (or CC) in 1997 to know God and to make Him known through the power of community. After receiving a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, Leigh went on to write her Doctor of Ministry thesis on church-based global education for Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Join us as we attempt to make quality education accessible to all, despite the cost.
Once again, we are offering you a quick glimpse into the Magnus Fellowship; this time with Senior Fellow, Dr. Finley's class, “Rousseau and the Diabolical and Moral Imagination."
This course explores the moral dimensions of the imagination through an examination of literature and philosophy. The aim of the course is to define and understand the concept of “imagination” and to be able to assess its role—for good or ill—in thought, action, and politics. Eighteenth-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a pioneer of the Romantic movement and helped to shape the heart and mind of the West, both politically and in more subtle, but no less profound, ways. This course seeks to uncover some of the ways in which Rousseau’s imagination serves as a touchstone for what has perhaps been the dominant moral sensibility in the West for the past two centuries.
Find out how you can catch the rest of this course AND access all archived courses- over 40 hours of exceptional classes with some of the top educators in liberal learning.
Subscribe to our e-mail list today and stay up to date on all courses, articles, and podcasts!
Dr. Amir Sabzevary has spent the last thirty years teaching philosophy and religion. Today, he joins John to talk about the journey of both teaching and studying philosophy– how to trek through complicated lives as students and how to reach the unreachable students as teachers.
When is it permissible to kill? How should a priest respond when he hears a life changing confession? How should we respond when we disagree with authority?
This week on the Magnus Podcast, John and Larissa talk moral theology with high school teacher, Rocky Brittain and attempt to answer these (and more) difficult moral questions according to Catholic Theology and Thomas Aquinas.
In this fast paced world full of echo chambers and outrage machines, we are fooled into a misguided view of justice and rhetoric. Dr. Joshua Phillips joins us to talk about how we can properly understand the connection between justice and humility and the distinction between thinking wonderfully and thinking critically.
AMI exists because we, like so many, see a problem with the current university system. What is the modern university providing to its students in comparison to what it ought to be providing?
We just completed an 8 week summer course on John Henry Newman’s, ”The Idea of a University,” to grapple with these questions and come to understand what a university ought to look like.
As promised, here is a sneak peek into the first of 8 classes from this course.
Become a fellow and learn how you can access the entire course and attend more for free!
Magnus Podcast: Conversations from the Catacombs of Liberal Education
Welcome to Magnus Podcast - a production of the Albertus Magnus Institute, Inc. Imagine an academy deeply rooted and committed to the classical liberal arts, stocked to the brim with well-known, world-class faculty, and universally accessible. Now imagine it being completely affordable, even free. This was the vision of St. Albert the Great, father of classical education: an education that is at once freeing and free. A true and human liberation has always been the promise of an education in the liberal arts. Indeed, for the better part of the last 3,000 years, it was no mystery where one could learn how to cast off the shackles of the world and what to study to achieve that liberated state. In no uncertain terms, the classical liberal arts undoubtedly served as the intellectual foundation of Western Civilization. However, we are no longer a society of free men. The tradition of the liberal arts was left behind in favor of a more “practical” alternative. Many were promised a “liberating” education, and ironically received a soft enslavement. Graduates today are unemployable and inextricably saddled with debt, for an education they were told was “necessary for employment.” Worse still, society has abandoned the time-honored methods for discovering truth; “civil” discourse has been discarded and “arguments” only seek to divide, leaving our true sense of wonder unsatisfied. We propose a paradigm shift in education – or more appropriately, a resurrection of the universal and timeless tradition of the classical liberal arts. We want to provide an affordable academic forum for students to engage in guided conversations in a shared pursuit of truth itself. The truth, which alone is liberating, and must once again be liberated - drawing all men to itself: OMNES AD VERITATEM.
