Our Second Annual Symposium, The Restoration of the Imagination (held February 2017), was a success!
Many thanks to Anthony Esolen, Dale Ahlquist, Chris Check, et alia for their help in leading such a wonderful event!
The topic of the weekend was: In an age aglow with screens, the battle for the imagination, particularly of our youth, is a battle we are almost universally losing. Why does it matter and what is at stake?
In case you didn’t make it or if you just want to watch one of the talks again, they’re available below:
Professor Esolen teaches Renaissance English Literature and the Development of Western Civilization at Providence College. He is a regular contributor to Crisis Magazine and the author of many books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, and Reflections on the Christian Life. His most recent books are Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching, Defending Marriage, and Life Under Compulsion.
A renowned G.K. Chesterton scholar and speaker, Dale Ahlquist is the host of EWTN’s The Apostle of Common Sense. He is the author of G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense, Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton, The Complete Thinker, and All Roads: Roamin’ Catholic Apologetics. Dale is a regular columnist for The Catholic Servant, and his articles have appeared in Chronicles, Crisis, Catholic Rural Life, St. Austin’s Review, Faith and Reason, and Envoy. Dale is also the co-founder of Chesterton Academy based in Minnesota, rated one of the Top 50 Catholic High Schools in the U.S. by The Cardinal Newman Society.
Christopher Check is the President of Catholic Answers, the largest lay-run apologetics and evangelization organization in the English-speaking world. Chris holds a degree in English Literature from Rice University. He served for two decades as Vice President of The Rockford Institute and before that for seven years as a field artillery officer in the United States Marine Corps. His writings have appeared in, among others, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, This Rock, Touchstone, The Wanderer, Angelus, New Oxford Review and The Chicago Tribune.
Alan Hicks was the founding Headmaster of St. Gregory’s Academy, a classically inspired traditional Catholic boarding academy in Northeast Pennsylvania. He is a recognized and respected educator who has been involved in Catholic education as a teacher and administrator from elementary through high school and college on the East Coast, the Midwest and now in California. He has presented at Catholic conferences and seminars throughout the country on topics educational, philosophical and cultural.
Kevin O’Brien is the founder and artistic director of the Theater of the Word Incorporated, a Catholic theater company which tours the country evangelizing through drama. Although he was an atheist at an early age, Kevin’s experiences with the dramatic arts began a conversion process, that, with the help of the writings of G.K. Chesterton, eventually brought him into the Church. Kevin hosts the television series The Theater of the Word on EWTN and can also be seen on episodes of EWTN’s The Apostle of Common Sense, The Quest for Shakespeare, and The Journey Home.
