According to Russell Kirk in his essay “Cultural Debris,” civilizations are held together by moral and intellectual principles rather than force. The fabric of civilization is a complex tapestry woven from historical and philosophical threads, exemplified by its canon. As a conservative academic, Kirk was concerned with the state of the modern university, which has moved away from the liberal arts and towards “career education,” undermining the purpose of education. However, there are glimmers of hope, such as the University of Florida’s new program for civics education, the Hamilton Center, which aims to develop a curriculum focusing on the Western intellectual tradition and the ideals of the American Founding. The center has hired William Inboden as its founding director and has $13 million in total funding. Governor Ron DeSantis has also proposed adding Western Civ to the core curriculum for all Florida college students.
The decline of Western civilization studies has been detrimental to the humanities. Only 17 percent of American universities require students to learn Western Civ, and it has been replaced with progressive priorities. However, studying Western civilization is necessary as it is the source of the modern world, and Americans should understand it. It is also our inheritance, which Edmund Burke argued was necessary for maintaining continuity between generations. The history and literature that define the West must be handed down to maintain civilization itself.
Universities should place Western Civ studies at the center of their curriculum because it is necessary for the university to do so. The original Western universities were erected to educate priests and monks, with the belief in God at their center. The demise of the metaphysical soul of the academy has produced institutions with a mechanical and utilitarian worldview. Universities require foundational dogmas, and if those dogmas are not rooted in the civilization the university exists in, the dogmas will tear away at the spirit of the university itself. The dogmas of the West must be the cultural productions that our civilization has produced.
The Hamilton Center has a daunting challenge before it to weave these subtle threads back into the academy’s soul. However, for the sake of the academy and the West itself, it must be done.
