Jessica Hooten Wilson to Deliver Keynote at National Symposium for Classical Education

Jessica Hooten Wilson, the Fletcher Jones Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University, will deliver a keynote address at the upcoming  2025 National Symposium for Classical Education,

Hooten Wilson will complement the central theme of “Cultivating Wonder” with her talk, “Witness and Wonder.” In this address, she will explore Socrates’ pursuit of justice and how it relates to the education of future generations who love what is beautiful. “As educators we must witness to something higher than ourselves. We must become like the survivors at the conclusion of Fahrenheit 451 who embody the witness of the great tradition,” she explained. “‘Witness begets witness,’ writes Carolyn Forche. If we want are students to become those whose lives testify to something beyond their own pleasures; if we hope they are going to become the people who, in the words of Montaigne, know how to die well; we must know how to witness to them what is worth loving that they may become witnesses of the same.”

An accomplished author and scholar, Hooten Wilson has penned several influential works, including her most recent book Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage?: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress. Her earlier work, Giving the Devil his Due, earned the 2018 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award in the arts and culture category. Additionally, The Scandal of Holiness received a 2022 Award of Merit.

Hooten Wilson has been recognized for her contributions to the humanities, winning the prestigious 2019 Hiett Prize from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. Her other accolades include a Fulbright Fellowship to Prague, an NEH Fellowship to study Dante in Florence, and a Biola University sabbatical fellowship supported by the John Templeton Foundation. She was also honored with the 2017 Emerging Public Intellectual Award and serves as a Senior Fellow at The Trinity Forum. Her presence will is sure to support the Symposium’s mission to facilitate dynamic conversations about restoring and advancing classical education.

The National Symposium for Classical Education, set to take place at the Mission Palms Hotel in Tempe, Arizona, February 19-21, 2025, promises to be an inspiring event for educators and enthusiasts of classical education. The Symposium is the annual flagship event of the Great Hearts Institute, which is dedicated to renewing the tradition of classical education by directly supporting educators, school leaders, and families.

The Symposium draws participants from across the nation and beyond, uniting educators, school leaders, and public intellectuals to explore ideas in classical curriculum, pedagogy, and school leadership. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to hear from Jessica Hooten Wilson alongside other expert voices, including Sir Jonathan Bate and Matthew Crawford, making this year’s event one not to be missed.

REGISTER TODAY for the 2025 National Symposium for Classical Education to take advantage of early bird discounts at https://classicaleducationsymposium.org/en/registration-form.

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