The Foundations of Culture
May 2-5, 2006
Dr. Russell Hittinger / Dr. Timothy Fuller

This four-day conference was led by two professors: Dr. Russell Hittinger and Dr. Timothy Fuller. Dr. Russell Hittinger serves as chair of the Philosophy department at the University of Tulsa, where he is also a Research Professor in the School of Law. He has also taught at Catholic University of America, Princeton University, Fordham University, and New York University. He is an Academic Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C. Professor Hittingers books and articles have been published by Oxford University Press, the University of Notre Dame Press, the Review of Politics, as well as several law journals

Dr. Timothy Fuller received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) in 1971 and returned to his teaching post at Colorado College. He served as chair of the Political Science department and also as Acting President of the College. Professor Fuller has written many scholarly articles in this field as well as edited several books for Yale University Press. In March 2002 he was appointed by President Bush to the Presidents Advisory Council on the Arts.

Throughout this conference, the phenomenon of culture was examined from the perspective of the late German philosopher Josef Pieper (1904-1997). After experiencing the damage of totalitarian ideology first hand, Pieper wrote extensively about culture as the basis for the rebirth of free society. In 1946, Pieper began to teach at the University of Munster in Westphalia. In lectures and over 50 books, the philosopher engaged his existentialist contemporaries in debate, grounding himself in his mastery of the classical thinkers. The great English poet, T.S. Eliot, said of Pieper: He restores to their position in philosophy what common sense obstinately tells us ought to be found there: insight and wisdom. Professors Hittinger and Fuller helped students apply Piepers insights into the phenomenon of culture to their own historical realities.