Conservative commentator, podcaster, and writer Jonah Goldberg will speak about “Conservatism in the Age of Trump” at Grove City College as part of the College’s new “The Conservative Mind” lecture series.
Goldberg is a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, and longtime contributor to the National Review’s magazine and website. He writes a column for the Los Angeles Times and serves as editor in chief of The Dispatch. His books include “Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy” and “Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change”
Goldberg’s lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18 in the Morledge Great Room of Rathburn Hall is the inaugural entry in “The Conservative Mind” series. The lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register here: faithandfreedom.com/goldberg.
Hosted by the Institute for Faith & Freedom , the lectures are intended to provide answers to the questions: What is conservatism and what does it mean to be a conservative?
“This series will be a wonderful learning opportunity for anyone seeking to understand the conservative mind. This is a subject that The Institute for Faith & Freedom and Grove City College are uniquely positioned to tackle,” Political Science Professor Paul Kengor, the Institute’s senior director and chief academic fellow.
The founders of modern conservatism, from Russell Kirk and William F. Buckley Jr. to Ronald Reagan, had a well-informed understanding of conservatism. Kirk said that conservatism is less an ideology than it is an attitude. Conservatives believe in the “permanent things,” in an “enduring moral order” based on Biblical and natural law, and in “ordered liberty” anchored in both faith and freedom.
But many contemporary conservatives struggle to articulate conservatism’s distinctive ideas in today’s political climate. Recognizing that challenge, Grove City College – one of the most conservative colleges in the country – saw an opportunity to explore, articulate, and advance the ideas and principles underpinning conservatism, according to Kengor.
The series aims to bring in voices from across the conservative spectrum. “Conservatism has always been a broad tent. There has long been a range of voices. If you read conservative publications dating back decades, like National Review and The American Spectator, you will see vigorous debates over this or that conservative figure. Our series will be no different in hashing it out and navigating those waters,” Kengor said.
“We see Jonah Goldberg as someone who can continue to help us understand conservatism in the current era,” Kengor said. “And yet, he’s just one voice, which is why we’re doing a whole series on conservatism that’s open to a bunch of voices. There’s no single figure that we see as our model or paragon of conservatism, or that gets our imprimatur as the conservative ideal. We don’t do that. We want debate and discussion.”
Goldberg’s campus visit is sponsored by the College’s chapter of the American Enterprise Institute. Before the lecture, he will participate in a discussion with students hosted by the chapter at 3:30 p.m. in Sticht Lecture Hall in the Staley Hall of Arts and Letters on campus.