Episode 55: From Fragmentation to Fellowship: The Intellectual Renewal Behind Classical Education

About this episode

David Diener discusses the renewal of classical education and the role of philosophical training in fostering intellectual communities.

Description David Diener, Assistant Professor of Education at Hillsdale College and president of The Alcuin Fellowship , joins Christopher Perrin to reflect on how a philosopher’s training can become a vocational doorway into the renewal of classical education. Drawing from years in K–12 school leadership and now higher education, Diener describes why classical schools often foster unusually rich intellectual community—and why that matters in an age of academic fragmentation. He also introduces Hillsdale’s Master of Arts in Classical Education (MACE) , a program designed to address one of the movement’s biggest bottlenecks: forming well-equipped teachers and administrators. The conversation highlights how enduring philosophical anchors—from Plato and Aristotle to Aquinas—can be translated into concrete classroom practice. Diener then traces the role of The Alcuin Fellowship in deepening the movement’s historical and theoretical grounding, including its influence on The Liberal Arts Tradition. Finally, they look outward to the global growth of classical Christian education, including partnerships and training initiatives in Africa, such as the Rafiki Foundation , and expanding…

People in this episode

Host: Christopher Perrin

Guest: David Diener

Topics covered

• classical education
• intellectual community
• philosophy
• teacher training
• academic fragmentation
• global education initiatives

Keywords

• classical education
• David Diener
• Hillsdale College
• teacher training
• academic fragmentation
• philosophy
• The Alcuin Fellowship
• global education

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hillsdale College, The Alcuin Fellowship, The Liberal Arts Tradition, Rafiki Foundation, ClassicalU.com

Books & works: Master of Arts in Classical Education (MACE)

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