Richard M. Weaver

Deadline for fellowships is February 15^th of the year in which they will be awarded.

Scholar, historian of ideas, and rhetorician, Richard M. Weaver (1910–1963) was deeply concerned with the decline of liberal arts education in America. Against the collectivists who sought uniformity, lowering of standards, and the imposition of liberal ideology, Weaver upheld the idea of excellence and the role of education in producing unique individuals capable of making reasoned choices. Against the apostles of specialization and permissiveness, Weaver maintained the integrity of academic disciplines while affirming the unity of knowledge.

In his essay "Education and the Individual," Weaver discussed the relation of liberal education to a free society in terms integral to the establishment of the Richard M. Weaver Fellowship Awards Program in 1964:

A liberal education specifically prepares for the achievement of freedom. Of this there is interesting corroboration in the word itself. "Liberal" comes from a Latin term signifying "free," and historically speaking, liberal education has been designed for the free men of a state. Its content and method have been designed to develop the mind and the character in making choices between truth and error, between right and wrong. For liberal education introduces one to the principles of things, and it is only with reference to the principles of things that such judgments are at all possible. The mere facts about a subject, which may come marching in monotonous array, do not speak for themselves. They speak only through an interpreter, as it were, and the interpreter has to be those general ideas derived from an understanding of the nature of language, of logic, and of mathematics, and of ethics and politics. The individual who is trained in these basic disciplines is able to confront any fact with the reality of his freedom to choose. This is the way in which liberal education liberates.

The Weaver Fellowship Program is maintained exclusively for those who will teach, for that profession presents the greatest opportunity to deal with the first concerns of civilization, and thus with its ultimate preservation. The teacher has the opportunity and responsibility to provide for the continuation of a society that is learned, humane, and free. The Weaver Fellowship Program assists future teachers who are motivated, as was Professor Weaver, by the need to integrate the idea of liberal education with their teaching efforts, and, in so doing, to restore to university studies their distinction and worth.

See the 2006–2007 graduate fellowship recipients.

Application Information

Each Weaver Fellow receives a grant of $5,000 and payment of tuition at the school of his choice (either in the U.S. or abroad). The theme of the required essay is "Education and a Free Society." Applicants must also meet ISI's general fellowship requirements. A downloadable form can be found here.

Richard M. Weaver Fellowship Awards Committee

George W. Carey
Professor of Government, Georgetown University

William F. Campbell
Professor Emeritus of Economics, Louisiana State University

E. Christian Kopff
Honors Program, University of Colorado

Claes G. Ryn
Professor of Politics, The Catholic University of America

Andrew A. Tadie
Professor of English, Seattle University

R.V. Young
Professor of English, North Carolina State University

For more information, call (800) 526-7022, fax to (302) 652-1760, or email awards@isi.org.