Welcome Home to the Russell Kirk Center

Strengthening America’s Tradition of Order, Justice & Freedom

The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal aims to recover, conserve, and enliven those enduring norms and principles that Russell Kirk (1918–1994) called the Permanent Things. Explore the Center’s programs, publications, and fellowships and join with us to continue Kirk’s work to renew our culture and redeem our time.

Sign up for our twice-yearly newsletter, Permanent Things, and receive our latest ebook, Russell Kirk’s Select Essays for our Times: Volume 1.

At the Kirk Center

Highlights

Video recording of “Adapting The Conservative Mind for the Current Generation” panel discussion in Washington, D.C.

Harvard’s John Adams Society studies political philosophy at the Kirk Center. 

Classic Kirk: “Renewing the Moral Order in American Society”

Events

April 6 | “The Roots of American Order at 50” Panel, Henry Symposium at Calvin University. Register here. 

April 10 | Calvin University Students’ Roundtable Discussion

April 11 – 14 | “Literature and the Moral Imagination,” Hillsdale College Students’ Seminar

On Campus

Explore Kirk On Campus

Russell Kirk understood his work was to convey to America’s rising generations an understanding of the process by which a healthy culture is transmitted from age to age.

We’re continuing this important work through Kirk on Campus as we host conversations about the permanent things on campuses across Michigan. We hope you’ll join us at an event, and help us prepare tomorrow’s leaders with an appreciation of the richness of the conservative intellectual tradition.

From the University Bookman

Swimming in the Secular Fishbowl 

Swimming in the Secular Fishbowl 

“Davignon’s persuasive analysis makes a valuable contribution to the study of secularization and religion by moving the conversation away from ethereal ideas and into the daily reality of people’s lives. Secularity is not the musings of professors in an ivory tower… It is more like the water in a fishbowl…”

Latest Pieces

Why America Needs to Rediscover American Exceptionalism

Why America Needs to Rediscover American Exceptionalism

“…Edwardsson traces the historical development of American exceptionalism and how it has changed throughout our history. Further, Edwardsson argues that the traditional view of American exceptionalism… has been undermined as a result of political ideology from both the political left and right.”

Portrait of an Artist

Portrait of an Artist

“The work of the Welsh artist Gwen John (1876-1939) has recently re-emerged from relative obscurity. This is due to two fine exhibitions in England in 2023… and a new book of her life by Alicia Foster, curator of those exhibitions… Collectively, they offer a welcome appreciation of the delicate and often brilliant paintings of an artist and complex personality who underwent both professional and spiritual trials in her fascinating life…”

Against the New Deal

Against the New Deal

“…editor Shlaes, biographer of Calvin Coolidge and historian of both the Great Depression and the New Deal, refuses to pull any punches. Yes, the New Deal ‘failed,’ but then ‘so did its critics.’” 

Correcting the Historical Record on Slavery

Correcting the Historical Record on Slavery

“Slavery, in fact, was everywhere for the vast majority of human history, and it still survives in places today. While Western civilization deserves credit for helping end it, the Catholic Church stands alone in both its early recognition and its consistent conviction that slavery is evil.”

About the Bookman

For six decades, the University Bookman, founded by Russell Kirk, has identified and discussed those books that diagnose the modern age and support the renewal of culture and the common good. Currently published online, the Bookman continues its mission of examining our times in light of the Permanent Things that make us human.

Subscribe for all Bookman Reviews and Essays

 

Welcome home to the Russell Kirk Center