Repairing The Ruins Conference
Show and Tell
Yesterday I arrived back from Atlanta, GA after having spent a few enjoyable days there for the Repairing the Ruins Conference. I want to again express my thankfulness to all of you who helped support me so that Study The Great Books could return as a vendor for the second year in a row. Many people stepped up to make it possible and helped with printing costs, flight, hotel, and other incidental expenses. Your help was very appreciated and well worth it for STGB!
During our time at the conference we met with many classical educators, administrators, and fellow vendors who are doing great work all around the country. It’s hard to overestimate the value of making connections like these, helping our brand to gain recognition, and spreading the word about our curriculum project. We gained many new free subscribers this past week and a good number of new paid subscribers (which is key to helping our project move forward).
This year’s theme at the conference was the life and influence of St. Anselm. If you have never read any of Anselm’s work then you are definitely missing out on something special. I would recommend beginning with his Proslogion. Anselm is the man who made famous the Ontological Argument for God’s existence. In a nutshell the argument states that once the being of God is properly defined and understood it follows necessarily that God exists. Since Anselm’s time there has developed a whole branch of philosophical theology called “Perfect Being Theology” or “Necessary Being Theology” and many thinkers today continue to find this approach compelling (self included).
Fellow Laborers in the Field
I had the privilege of spending time with some great people while at the conference and want to highlight a few of them whose work would, no doubt, be a blessing to you.
David Goodwin is the president of the ACCS and it was a pleasure to see him once again. I appreciate his leadership, vision, and uncompromising stance on truth.
Martin Cothran is the provost at Memoria College and an author some great logic curriculum at Memoria Press. I have enjoyed him for years on X/Twitter and it was really great to spend time with him in person this past week.
Louis Markos is a professor at Houston Christian University and the author of many fantastic books which illuminate the Great Books and Western Tradition. He is a C. S. Lewis aficionado and absolute classic movie buff. It’s always fun to hang out with him and learn.
Grant Horner is a professor at The Master’s University (and expert mountain climber). He is another great mind who has done much to further classical Christian education in our country. He is often available to come and speak at schools around the country so you might consider reaching out to him.
Andrew Kern is the president and CEO of Circe Institute which does a lot of work to further classical Christian education all around the nation. Circe has a national annual meeting as well and numerous regional meetings to help equip classical Christian educators. He is as humble as he is wise (which is to say much in both cases).
These are just a few examples of the many stellar people involved with continuing the good fight to repair the ruins of education in our country. I am thankful to know them and work alongside them and countless others who are no less worthy of mention.
ACCS Vendors
Along with the many great speakers and fellow laborers you get to meet at ACCS’s Repairing The Ruins Conference there is also the fact that you get to benefit from the great resources and goodies offered in the vendor hall! Of course this is where STGB was set up to talk with people about our work, but there are so many others who are also doing great work that I want to shout out a few of them.
I want to acknowledge the many other curriculum publishers who are doing great work. Although I am obviously partial to what we are up to as a curriculum developer, I have learned much over the years from the material produced by Memoria Press, Canon Press, Roman Roads Press, and Veritas Press. These curriculum houses and more were all at RTR this year (and generally are there every year).
The Classical Difference, which is a part of the ACCS itself, works hard to connect prospective families, and parents of students in ACCS schools, to classical Christian education. They have a magazine that they publish regularly and distribute nationally with articles on classical Christian education demonstrating its value. They are a great resource for schools to give out to the parents of their students as well as to those checking out the school on a campus visit. They also sell really cool stickers and t-shirts at their booth and, my personal favorite, a Gandalf inspired pipe.
Everyone who goes to the RTR conference always looks forward to picking up something from Eighth Day Books! They are a permanent fixture at the conference and they are one of the best Christian bookstores in the world (without exaggeration). I was privileged to live in Wichita, KS for some years where they are headquartered and I always loved spending time looking at their curation of Great Books (especially their Inkling’s section). The people who work there are knowledgeable, friendly, love Christ, and they are interested in advancing his kingdom through sharing the written word.
Christian Halls International is doing some really exciting work towards taking back higher education from the liberal elites and away from governmental influence. They help start local Christian colleges and I am personally excited to get to know their work better. You should check them out.
The Rafiki Foundation is doing incredible work starting classical Christian schools in Africa, training teachers, and supporting churches and other Christian ministries. You should absolutely check them out and consider giving them your support.
Now for the one I am most excited to tell you about, The Medieval Map Maker! What could be cooler than hand drawn maps of world history, geography, and literary imagination? Making them in Medieval style! I am THRILLED to announce that STGB was able to strike a bargain with this fantastic company and that we will now begin featuring their maps in our curriculum! Below are just a few examples of the kind of thing you can expect to see in our curriculum moving forward thanks to their incredible work and willingness to partner with us.
Our study guide on Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor will include:
Our study Guide for Dante’s Inferno will include:
Our Study Guide for Plutarch’s Life of Alexander will include:
You can check out their Etsy Store to see (and purchase) many, many more incredible maps which will be working their way into our curriculum as we continue to produce our material.
It was a great time and great success being at Repairing The Ruins this summer. We will, Lord willing, be back next year for the conference meeting in Texas Summer 2025. Don’t forget that through the end of July our paid subscriptions (which gives you complete access to our PDF study guides and to periodic online book discussions, etc.) are 20% off at just $4 a month or $40 a year. Also, don’t forget to register for our Summer Giveaway of C. S. Lewis’ Collected Letters, The Gateway to the Great Books, and The Great Books of the Western World!
Please pray for us as we continue to be busy this summer with the upcoming AFHE convention and the Give Them an Answer student apologetics conference. Thank you for supporting us through prayer, sharing our articles and material, and through financial support. May the Lord bless and keep you!
Yours in Christ,
Jacob Allee