Dr. Angel Parham on A Liberal Education for All

Classical Education

About our Guest:

Dr. Angel Parham is Associate Professor of Sociology and senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Her area is historical sociology, where she engages in research and writing that examine the past in order to better understand how to live well in the present and envision wisely for the future. Her research and teaching are inspired by classical philosophies of living and learning that emphasize the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. She shares this love of history and of classical learning through Nyansa Classical Community, an educational non-profit focused on K-12 students which provides lower and upper school curricula in the humanities to schools and homeschools. Parham is the author The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature, published with Classical Academic Press (2022). She is also the President of the Board of Academic Advisors for the Classic Learning Test (CLT) which takes an approach to academic testing that seeks to reconnect knowledge and virtue. Parham completed her B.A. in sociology at Yale University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

If you would like to volunteer or write for Nyansa Classical Community, email Angel. [e-mail] or visit Nyansa Classical Community here.

Show Notes
Dr. Paham discusses her Christian outreach through Nyansa Classical Community (a non-profit Classical after-school program). Nyansa works alongside schools to help them give beautiful classical texts in public schools for the children who stay for after-school care. We also dive into the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois in the eduation of African-Americans. We also discuss "What is a liberal arts eduation and why does it matter?" The origins of "liberal" means that it is freeing and to truly flourish.

Some topics in this episode include:

• Why Homer is important for all students and to help develop good foundations for understanding a virtue-based learning environment
• What is the African-American tradition?
• The education debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois
• Why a liberal arts education casts a vision for the future and why it matters.
• Anna Julia Cooper's impact on the tradition of African-American education
• What is the true heritage of the African-American education in The United States?
• The grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages according to the essay, "The Lost Tools of Learning" by Dorothy Sayers.
• What is the black intellectual tradition?
• The importance of learning languages from other cultures to fully explore other cultures and their literature

Books In This Episode
The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Omeros by Derek Walcott
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington

Musicans in the Black Tradition
Joseph Bologne
Opera Créole

Book she wishes she had read earlier
The Republic by Plato

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Credits:

Sound Engineer: Andrew Helsel

Logo Art: Anastasiya CF

Music: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic

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