Newest Conservatism101® Releases Led by Becky Norton-Dunlop, Matthew Spalding and Lee Edwards from The Heritage Foundation
Washington DC, November 12, 2013 – The Heritage Foundation, the nation’s largest conservative think tank, has released a series of three new online, multi-media courses earlier today which are engaging thousands of students in an online conversation about “The American Conservative Tradition.” Called Conservatism101®, the series is offered free online by The Leadership Institute and Free Think University® and presents “a rigorous examination of the American conservative intellectual tradition.”
Free Think University is hosting the Conservatism 101 courses on their website, with a new segment posted each week. Designed by university professor Chris Malagisi, the 14 segments are each two-hour, multi-media experiences featuring a 45-minute lecture from one of fourteen different conservative leaders, as well as supplemental reading materials. The Heritage Foundation’s Becky Norton-Dunlop (“Why are Buckley and Fusion Conservatism Important?”) and Lee Edwards (“Who were Robert Taft and Barry Goldwater?”) along with Matt Spalding (“What is Progressivism?”) present in Sessions 6, 7 and 8 of the 14-part series. Click here to check out: session 6, session 7, and section 8.
The lectures focus on the big questions of the conservatism movement – its origins and history, its driving principles, its successes and failings . . . and its future. After each session, students may complete an assessment through which they earn Free Think University scholarship points. These points can be applied in frequently announced competitions for cash scholarships that help students pay for their higher education costs and other life learning experiences.
In the lectures, students hear from some of the conservative movement’s most influential voices, including Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Stephen Moore from the Wall Street Journal, radio host Mark Levin, Patrick Deneen from the University of Notre Dame, Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council, Morton Blackwell from Leadership Institute, and many more. Click here to see the full lineup of speakers.
Free Think University partnered with Leadership Institute to produce original course content. The series supplements its current library of nearly 50 courses in the same format, which deal with other questions relating to The Great Conversation. More than 30,000 students have registered for classes or weekly alerts that are emailed to the growing community – “where students are free to learn and learn for free, anytime, anywhere” – according to the Free Think U website.
“No matter a person’s political leanings, Conservative, Liberal or otherwise, we think this collaborative project with Leadership Institute is an important contribution to a more civil dialogue about politics and the American experience,” said Free Think University co-founder Jim Van Eerden.
“All of our courses are framed by questions we receive from our students, who….want to know the case being made on behalf of an under-represented point of view – since the modern American university can sometimes be hostile to the competition of ideas.” Van Eerden said.
“Leadership Institute believes in equipping the next generation of leaders in America with a clear view of the values and ideals of the American Conservative Tradition,” said founder Morton Blackwell. “We are happy to be leading the way with Free Think University in bringing this world-class college course experience to thousands of students.
The next course in the Conservatism101 series – entitled “What is a Conservative National Security/Foreign Policy?” – will be taught by Clifford May of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. It will release on Thursday, November 14, at 12pm EST.
For more information about this course or Conservatism101, contact the Free Think University media relations desk (media@freethinku.com).
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About Free Think University®
Free Think University is where more than 30,000 free-thinking students have joined what Mortimer Adler called “The Great Conversation” – the dialogue of the ages about The Big Questions of our day, and where they participate in one of the fastest-growing independent scholarship funds in America. Submit questions for future courses to ideas@freethinku.com. For more information go to http://www.freethinku.com or follow @freethinku.
About Leadership Institute
Since 1979, Leadership Institute (“LI”) has trained more than 104,000 conservative students, activists, and leaders. Graduates include U.S. Senators and Congressmen, City Council members and local mayors, state legislators, and conservative organization leaders. LI offers 40 types of training schools, workshops and seminars, a free employment placement service, and a national field program that trains conservative students to organize campus groups. For more information go to http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/ or follow @leadershipinst.
About The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.