Anthem Fellowship at University of Texas Is Renewed

Volume 10, Number 3, March 2004 Anthem Fellowship at University In the Media: Brook on Fox News; ARI Op-Eds in of Texas Is Renewed Major Newspapers The fellowship for the study of Objectivism Dr. Gotthelf tells Impact that he wrote a On February 14 Dr. Yaron Brook, executive at the University of Texas at Austin, which paper, “Ayn Rand on Concepts, Definitions, and director of the Ayn Rand Institute, was a guest on was established in 2000, has been renewed for Essences,” which was presented at the annual At Large with Geraldo Rivera, which airs on the another three-year term. meeting of The Ayn Rand Society, held in conjunc- top-rated Fox News Channel. The subject of the Established by the Anthem Foundation for tion with the American Philosophical Association, interview was the future of Iraq’s political system. Objectivist Scholarship, the fellowship is the first Eastern Division, meetings on December 28, 2003. A former United States ambassador to Iraq was of its kind. The principal beneficiary has been The paper was part of a panel titled “Ayn Rand on also interviewed during the program. Dr. Brook Dr. Tara Smith, associate professor of philoso- Concepts, Essences, and Scientific Progress.” He is argued that Iraq should become a state that protects phy at the university. In the last three years the currently teaching a course on concepts, essences individual rights, with a constitution modeled after fellowship has sponsored scholarly gatherings, and the objectivity of kinds, which includes sub- that of the United States, and not a state ruled by workshops for graduate students and scholar- stantial coverage of the Objectivist theory. whichever ethnic group constitutes the majority. ships, among other types of support. In November Dr. Gotthelf was invited to * * * Under the auspices of the fellowship, give a guest lecture on Atlas Shrugged to a large From October to March grocery workers in several Objectivist scholars—including introductory philosophy class at the University of California were on strike against three supermarket Dr. Harry Binswanger, Dr. Allan Gotthelf North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The invitation came chains, Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway. The labor and Dr. Darryl Wright—have been visiting from the department of philosophy and the course dispute attracted a great deal of state-wide news instructors at the school. instructor, who was teaching the book. coverage. Commenting on the dispute between the This semester Dr. Smith is teaching a * * * employers and the workers, ARI issued “Exploiters freshman honors seminar titled “Values in Ashland University Joint beneficiaries of the vs. Victims in the Grocery Strike,” an op-ed by the Fiction and Philosophy of Ayn Rand.” As fellowship are Dr. C. Bradley Thompson, professor Elan Journo and Dr. Brian P. Simpson. part of this course, Dr. Shoshana Milgram, a of history and political science, and Dr. John The Los Angeles Times published the article, literature professor at Virginia Tech, will come Lewis, assistant professor of history. Established: under a different title, on January 29. The Times to give two guest lectures on Atlas Shrugged. The three-year fellowships began in 2002. has a circulation of more than one million. Several Plans are underway for another guest lecturer In the spring, thanks to the support of the fel- other newspapers and Web sites also carried it. and for a private workshop at which a number lowship, Dr. Lewis will be Visiting Scholar in the The piece was referred to (and sometimes quoted) of Objectivist scholars can discuss their works Department of Classical Studies at Rice University in several newspaper stories on the strike, most in progress. in Houston, Texas. Dr. Thompson is at work on notably in the British newspaper The Guardian. During this academic year, Dr. Amy Peikoff a book comparing the French and American The full text of the piece is reprinted on page 2. is a visiting lecturer at the school, also under Revolutions, and Dr. Lewis is at work on a book * * * the auspices of the fellowship. Last semester she about homeland defense in history. In January, as the trial of Martha Stewart began, taught an undergraduate course on contemporary A scholarly gathering on business ethics was ARI rereleased “Martha and the Tall Poppies,” moral problems and another (upper division) held at Ashland University last year under the an op-ed by senior writer Robert Tracinski. That course on ethical theories, surveying the role of auspices of the fellowship. article was published by 20 newspapers and Web reason in the ethics of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, the * * * sites, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Orange Pragmatists and Ayn Rand. This semester she is Drs. John Lewis, Amy Peikoff, Tara Smith County Register and Herald Sun of Australia, again teaching the course on moral problems and and C. Bradley Thompson will be lecturing at reaching a circulation of more than two million. also an upper-division introductory course on Objectivist Summer Conference 2004 in July. It was also reprinted on MarthaTalks.com, theories of knowledge. Mrs. Peikoff has studied Miss Stewart’s personal Web site, which helped at ARI’s Objectivist Academic Center and has bring it to the attention of countless more readers. been an instructor in the program. Peikoff Course Available Online The New York Times on January 25 ran In addition to the fellowship at the If you have yet to register for Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s new a short article, “And in the Right Corner, a University of Texas, the Anthem Foundation has course, “The DIM Hypothesis”—which began on February Defense for Martha Stewart,” that mentioned Mr. established two other fellowships, at Ashland 5—you may still do so. Latecomers are welcome to catch Tracinski’s article among several others posted on University in Ohio and most recently at the up with the class by listening to the online archive of audio MarthaTalks.com. Subsequently, Mr. Tracinski’s University of Pittsburgh. recordings. piece was mentioned in Fortune magazine, the The foundation is a nonprofit organization The teleconference sessions meet at 6 p.m., Pacific Boston Globe and Canada’s Globe and Mail. standard time, on these dates: March 4, 11, 18; April 15, 22, separate from ARI, but shares the Institute’s goal 29; May 6, 13, 20, 27; and June 3 (there were four sessions * * * of promoting the academic study of Objectivism. in February). President Bush in January outlined his plans for The foundation makes grants exclusively to The option of listening to the entire course online may the future of America’s space program, calling universities for teaching, writing and research on be of interest to those whose schedule prevents them from for manned missions to the moon and to Mars. Ayn Rand’s ideas. attending the live teleconference session. In response, we issued an updated version of Based on Dr. Peikoff’s book-in-progress (The DIM Hypoth- esis), the 15-session course looks at how philosophy shapes “Privatize the Space Program” by ARI writer Dr. Updates on Anthem Fellows a culture, analyzing areas as diverse as physics, psychology Robert Garmong. The article was carried by the University of Pittsburgh Dr. Allan Gotthelf, and parenting. A detailed course outline is available on our National Post of Canada, the Philadelphia Inquirer Visiting Professor in the Department of History Web site. and seven other newspapers and Web sites. It and Philosophy of Science, is also on the faculty The registration fee for general participants is $445, and reached a circulation of more than one million. of the Graduate Program in Classics, Philosophy for full-time students it is $245. For the course description In the article Dr. Garmong writes: “Extending and to register, please call 800-365-6552, ext. 239, or visit and Ancient Science. Established: The three-year www.objectivistconferences.com. man’s reach into space is not, as some have appointment began in 2003. continued on page 3 ARI Op-Ed: Exploiters vs. Victims in the Grocery Strike This editorial was produced by the Institute’s op-ed program and published (with some alterations) in the January 29 issue of the Los Angeles Times. The Times used a different title for the piece, “Union Packs Unfair Punch in Grocery Strike.” Several other newspapers and Web sites also carried it. University-Level Courses is flexible: students can work through it in four By Elan Journo and Brian Simpson years, but may take longer if they need to.) on Objectivism Although we seek students who intend The California grocery strike has entered its careers as professional intellectuals, the OAC is Each month Impact suggests readings and other fourth month—and there is no end in sight. also open to auditors—participants who attend resources for fans of Ayn Rand’s fiction who wish Workers are still picketing stores, the shelves are classes but who do not submit assignments to be to learn more about her philosophy, Objectivism. understocked, and profits are dwindling. Talks graded, nor take part in tutorials. between the grocery chains and the United Food Courses that are open to auditors vary from and Commercial Workers’ union have failed to RI’s Objectivist Academic Center offers year to year. They are posted on our Web site resolve the mutually harmful conflict. Why? Auniversity-level courses on Ayn Rand’s in the fall and announced in Impact. Auditors If the union’s demands are outrageous, why philosophy that are available nowhere else. may attend courses in a sequence that suits their can’t the stores walk away? The stores have hired The four-year undergraduate program, which interest. OAC courses are usually scheduled for substitute employees, so evidently some people is meant to supplement rather than replace weekday evenings, starting between 5 and 7 p.m.

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