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Under the umbrella heading Abraham Lincoln Forum for Liberal Arts, Carthage is using new funding to establish and enhance programs that examine foundational texts.

Professors Seemee Ali and Michael McShane received more than $40,000 in grants and additional donations from the Jack Miller Center, the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, and the Creigh Family Foundation to seed these programs. Matching Carthage funds push the total above $50,000.

Named as a tip of the hat to Abraham Lincoln’s service as a trustee of the College in its early years, as well as his spirit of emancipation, the Lincoln Forum will feature several initiatives in 2020:

  • Guest Speakers: Building on the long-running Hannibal Lecture Series, the grant allows Carthage to bring in renowned scholars for presentations to students and the public.
  • Summer Fellowships: Similar to the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, paid fellowships are available for students to study classical texts or languages.
    Learn more and apply – deadline March 6
  • Award and Conference: A conference this fall will reveal the first recipient of the Abraham Lincoln Prize for Intellectual Freedom, which organizers plan to award to an influential scholar each year.

“Our generous donors recognize that the humanities are a great investment at this pivotal moment in our history,” said Prof. Ali, who directs the Western Heritage program in addition to teaching English and Great Ideas. “Even as the core values of liberal democracy are being debated in the public arena, we need more than ever to cultivate the modes of humanistic inquiry with which we can consider these values thoughtfully.”

The Jack Miller Center has been a loyal supporter of Carthage’s humanities programs in recent years, enabling the College to hire postdoctoral fellows to teach Western Heritage courses, to send faculty members to summer institutes, and to put on Constitution Day programs.

“We hope to help students appreciate the intrinsic value of foundational texts,” said Prof. McShane, who teaches courses in philosophy and Great Ideas. “Closely analyzing Dante can certainly help students to develop skills valuable in the future, but that profoundly beautiful poetry also holds value for human beings right here and now.”

The JMC is a nonprofit foundation that supports “the study of the central ideas and themes of American history and the broader traditions of Western civilization.” Founder Jack Miller, a self-made Chicago entrepreneur and philanthropist, has seen the fruits of Carthage’s efforts up close through grandson Adam Bernstein ’18.

The Liberal Arts at Carthage


Jack Miller Center logo The Abraham Lincoln Forum for the Liberal Arts at Carthage is a Jack Miller Center (JMC) Partner Program. Carthage thankfully acknowledges the generous support of the Jack Miller Center and the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation.