“Concern Filled with Hope”: Todd Breyfogle and Shilo Brooks on Liberal Education and Self-Government

<form class="advanced-query advanced-query--left alignwide" data-uuid="5df49664-d4cc-4f4e-b751-880d6efe9f09"> <div class="advanced-query__layout"> <div class="advanced-query__facets"> <div class="advanced-query__facets-layout panels"> <div class="advanced-query__active"> </div> <div class="advanced-query__facet advanced-query__facet--search"> <label class="advanced-query__facet-label has-meta-variant" for="advanced-query__search-input"> </label> <div class="advanced-query__search"> <input type="text" class="advanced-query__search-input" id="advanced-query__search-input" name="filter[search]" value="" placeholder="" > <button type="submit" class="advanced-query__search-submit" aria-label="Submit keyword search"> <svg class="svg svg--svg-assets-svg-icon-search" role="presentation" focusable="false" height="0" width="0"><use xlink:href="#svg-assets-svg-icon-search"/></svg> </button> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">What is the role of education in a democracy? How might liberal education equip the United States for the next 250 years of its &#8220;extraordinary experiment in social life&#8221;?</p> </div> </div> <div class="advanced-query__results advanced-query__results--list"> </div> <nav class="advanced-query__pagination advanced-query__pagination--more wp-block-buttons"></nav> </div> </form> <div class="header alignfull header--cover-flat has-background has-primary-wash-background-color"> <div class="header__layout"> <div class="header__content"> <h1 class="header__title has-h1-variant">Archives</h1> </div> </div> <figure class="header__media" role="presentation"> </figure> </div> <div class="wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2386" height="1240" alt="Screen capture of two men seated on a stage in front of an Aspen Institute background. Two glasses and a water carafe sit on a low white table between them. The heads of some audience members can be seen in the foreground. The man on the left is light haired, bearded, and wearing black pants, a salmon-colored dress shirt, and a black jacket. The man on the left is dark-haired, clean shaven, and wearing a grey suit and a white dress shirt." src="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB.png" class="wp-image-269644 size-full" srcset="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB.png 2386w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-800x416.png 800w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-1500x780.png 1500w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-768x399.png 768w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-1536x798.png 1536w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-2048x1064.png 2048w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-1920x998.png 1920w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-1600x832.png 1600w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-1200x624.png 1200w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-1024x532.png 1024w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NEW-IMAGE-FOR-POST-SB-TB-300x156.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2386px) 100vw, 2386px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content"> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">On July 8, Todd Breyfogle (Senior Advisor for Humanistic Studies and Practices, Aspen Institute; Aspen-Kern Program for Leadership and Character in Higher Education) sat down with Shilo Brooks (President &amp; CEO, the George W. Bush Presidential Foundation; Professor of the Practice, Southern Methodist University Department of Political Science) for <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/america-at-250-liberal-education-self-government-and-the-future-of-the-republic/">&#8220;America at 250: Liberal Education, Self-Government, and the Future of the Republic.&#8221;</a> at Paepcke Auditorium on the Institute&#8217;s Aspen, Colorado campus. The event was part of <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/aspen-community-programs/">Aspen Community Programs</a>&#8216; McCloskey Speaker Series.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The two discuss the communal and personal benefits of continued engagement with the United States&#8217; founding documents; the connection between character and democracy; expanding opportunities for civic education; and reasons for optimism about the future of the republic. Watch the full conversation below:</p> </div></div> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="America at 250: Liberal Education, Self-Government, and the Future of the Republic" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LyyWFYByHkA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div></figure> <p>The post <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/todd-breyfogle-and-shilo-brooks-on-liberal-education-and-democracy-america250/">&#8220;Concern Filled with Hope&#8221;: Todd Breyfogle and Shilo Brooks on Liberal Education and Self-Government</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org">Aspen Institute</a>.</p>