From June 19 to 25, 2011, the Witherspoon Institute held its annual seminar on the Moral Life and the Classical Tradition, a program of the Schreyer Summer Seminars. Each year, this seminar brings together rising high-school juniors and seniors to discuss some of Plato's great works as well as a variety of themes in Christian moral thought, with the purpose of preparing these students intellectually and morally for the college classroom and culture that they will soon enter.

This year, students grappled with five of Plato's dialogues, Meno, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo, and delved into such works as C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, Pope John Paul II's Fides et Ratio and Love and Responsibility, and St. Augustine's Confessions. In their Christian Moral Thought seminars, the students were presented with a wide range of subjects, all of historical and contemporary debate, particularly regarding Faith and Reason. In their Plato seminars, the students encountered and engaged one of the most important philosophers in history: Socrates. Through the five Platonic Dialogues, the students joined the Socratic discussion about virtue, justice, piety, death, faith, reason, wisdom, knowledge of God, epic, lyric, comedic, and tragic myths, and finally, the telos of education.

As one participant said, the seminar is also a chance for students this age to meet kindred spirits, interested in having serious conversations about faith and philosophy and supporting each other in their quest for knowledge and faith. These students cherish the opportunity, not only with dedicated and experienced faculty, but with student preceptors and their fellow classmates, for robust and vibrant conversation, friendship, and commitment to the pursuit of knowledge. The seminar was directed by faculty leaders Seana Sugrue (Ave Maria University); Ana Samuel (The Witherspoon Institute); Paul Macdonald (Bucknell University); and Matthew O'Brien (Villanova University).

This year's seminar was attended by seventeen students from seven different states. The students resided and attended seminars on the campus of Princeton University. Since its inception, the cost of the seminar has been almost entirely covered by the generosity of the supporters of the Witherspoon Institute. Students pay a registration fee of $200, which covers less than 20 percent of the seminar's per-person expenditure.

As one student wrote reflecting on the seminar: My week at the Moral Life and Classical Tradition seminar was one of the best weeks of my life. Not only did I thrive off of the stellar teaching, group discussions, and intellectual curiosity of my peers, but I also developed a deeper thirst for "faith seeking understanding." I am planning to share this love for inquiry as soon as I get to college by creating a Faith and Reason book club. In the words of Socrates, I have become a lover of inquiry, and will follow [it] wherever it may lead [me].

The Witherspoon Institute is an independent research center that works to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute promotes the application of fundamental principles of republican government and ordered liberty to contemporary problems through a variety of research and educational ventures. To support the Witherspoon Institute, please follow the contribution instructions or donate online via PayPal.