Transcript
Scott Bertram (0:04)
Every week, Hillsdale College president Larry Arn joins Hugh Hewitt to discuss great books, great men and great ideas. This is Hillsdale Dialogues, part of the Hillsdale College Podcast Network. More episodes at Podcast Hillsdale. Edu or wherever you find your audio.
Hugh Hewitt (0:30)
Morning Gloria and Evening Grace. Hello, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt. That music means, as it does every Friday, the last radio hour of the week, the last broadcast hour of the week is the Hillsdale Dialogue. All things Hillsdale can be found at hillsdale. Edu. All of our dialogues, hundreds of them@hughforhillsdale.com and my guest is, as most times, Dr. Larry Arn, President of Hillsdale College. And we are back deep into this book, the Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill, the first volume in his six volume history of World War II. Dr. Arn, I hope you are well. I hope school has gotten off to a good start. And we are off to a good start on this. We're in chapter three, lurking Dangers. When you begin a school year, are you looking around for lurking dangers or you're just enjoying yourself?
Larry Arn (1:15)
No. Well, I'm in Washington right now. I had to leave, but I refused to travel in the first 10 days of school because Hillsdale College is happier than Disneyland. We have my life. Those weeks are planning the year with the staff talking to the freshmen about the honor code and then the seniors. The first of four capstone lectures. And the stark difference between a freshman and a senior is very obvious and fun. Freshmen are easy to talk.
Hugh Hewitt (1:49)
What was the capstone lecture about? The first one?
Larry Arn (1:53)
Well, it's a. The capstone lectures are part of our core curriculum and they're three years old now and they're still a work in progress. But what seems to work the best is to talk to them about ultimate aims they don't want. They're seniors now, so, I mean, first of all, you can say anything to a freshman because whatever you say, they haven't heard it before. Okay? But to the seniors, you don't want to insult their lofty elevation, so you don't repeat the arguments about what the liberal arts are, stuff like that. We're all about that here, but everybody understands it too. So I talked to them about how to be. The first lecture is what to do with your last year. And what I say is, you've been drinking from a fire hose, you've gotten into a major. You've got much more specific knowledge about the major than other things. But the actual hardest challenge is to put it all together. Why is it coherent? Why is this chosen? And that's they, they, they. And, you know, it's a. The senior class is split in two. So I. I taught the first half of this term and the second half of the next term, and they, you know, like, I. I began with a story about a freshman who's a physics major and who's very advanced. I had talked to him in the dining hall the other day, and he said that he came. I said, why'd you come here? And he said, well, I came here because the physics program is strong, and also I want to study the liberal arts. And of course, when I said that to the seniors, they all laughed because they anticipated my question. I said, so physics is not among the. The liberal arts. And, you know, he immediately grows doubtful. And then, you know, the next question is, what is physics? And, you know, he's a. He's a physics nerd. I've since learned he's, you know, particularly smart, and he wants to study physics, and he's been studying physics. And I said, what is it? And that's the hardest question. So I asked them what physics is. The seniors, right, and there's a young man, the man. He's a man now named Devin Foley, and he was in the first class I ever taught. He lives in Minneapolis, and he's a very successful man now, but he was very unruly as a kid, and darned if there isn't Jack Foley, his son, in the capstone course this term. And so, you know, that makes you feel like an old man, but. And Jack is terribly like his dad. And so I said, what's physics? And, you know, when you try to define something, you want to say what you think about it, what it does, where it comes from. And, you know, those are all part of a definition of anything. But what is the thing? What is its essence? That's Socrates question, right? T este. What is that thing? And so Jack starts talking this. I'm recounting my lecture the other. Other night, which was particularly fun. And. Oh, and the one who asked the best question gets to drive the cyber truck. So there's. So there's competition, you know. Anyway, he offered one. I said, okay, that's something. It does. And then the next one, you know, but, you know, what is it you say? Physics is the study of something. It is an academic subject, but I'm asking you to study a poet. And, you know, so we just went there, and by now everybody's laughing, and it was very. It was a lot of fun. The first two weeks of Hillsdale College are very great fun.