Arts and Sciences
Program
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 Hittinger’s
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 President’s 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 Pieper’s insights
into the phenomenon of culture
to their own historical realities.
|
