Culture & Formation
What does it take to form good children, wise leaders, and virtuous citizens?
Co-Chairs: Angel Adams Parham and Ryan S. Olson, Project Director: Christina Womble
Late modern social changes have transformed childhood and identity formation. With the rise of digital media, the decline of traditional family and community structures, and the disruptions of globalization, children now grow up in a more fluid, unpredictable world. Personal identity is no longer shaped by stable social roles or strong external authorities. Children grow up in a more mobile and individualized world where self-exploration is expected. Educational benchmarks, developmental stages, standardized trajectories of success, even the “discovery” of new mental disorders—all of these pressure children to conform to expectations of autonomy and strictly “rational” choice-making.
The Colloquy on Culture and Formation studies the impact of these late modern cultural shifts on the formation of both youth and adults in order to develop alternative frameworks for present and future development.
Projects
Moral Ecology Trust
Project Directors: Ryan Olson and Angel Adams Parham
The Moral Ecology Trust exists to connect and catalyze leaders with the shared goal of reconstituting healthy moral ecologies through vital, dense networks that provide inspiration, ideas, and mutual encouragement.
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The Moral Ecology Trust is founded on the belief that character is formed within a moral ecology — a web of meaningful relationships with parents, peers, educators, clergy, heroes, and influencers. As society’s norms and institutions have evolved, many character-forming features have been lost, resulting in unhealthy moral ecologies. The Moral Ecology Trust exists to connect and catalyze leaders with the shared goal of reconstituting healthy moral ecologies through vital, dense networks that provide inspiration, ideas, and mutual encouragement.
Nyansa Curriculum Development Project
Project Director: Angel Adams Parham
Nyansa Classical Community provides classical and religious curricula and programming designed to connect with and draw students from diverse backgrounds into the beauty of classical literature and the Great Conversation.
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Nyansa Classical Community provides classical and religious curricula and programming designed to connect with and draw students from diverse backgrounds into the beauty of classical literature and the Great Conversation. It aims to cultivation the poetic and moral imagination; to deepen delight and enjoyment of classical literature, language, and art; to tell classic stories using culturally and ethnically diverse images that resonate with young people from a variety of backgrounds, and to encourage students to cultivate truth, goodness, and beauty.