The Wisdom of Athens and Jerusalem and Lessons for Today: Jacob Howland

American Thought Leaders

The Epoch Times

Government, News, Politics

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

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Summary

“When we are dispersed and we interact with other human beings only online, and the algorithms feed back our preferences and desires to us, what it effectively does is kind-of isolate us in these multiple sub caves.”

Jacob Howland is the provost of the University of Austin, a new, private liberal arts university that is pushing back against censorship and politically popular narratives in higher education.

As dean of the Intellectual Foundations program, Howland gives students a comprehensive education in the Western tradition, emphasizing both “Athens and Jerusalem,” he says.

“After communism fell, it’s as if the historical amnesia had removed the capacity of those who were still around to reckon with the past,” he says. “There are inexhaustible resources in the tradition, and if we’re going to find our way forward, we’ve got to understand the past.”

Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Transcript

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0:00.0	When we are dispersed and we interact with other human beings only online
0:05.8	and the algorithms feed back our own preferences and desires to us,
0:10.2	what it effectively does is kind of isolate us in these multiple sub-caves.
0:14.3	Jacob Howland is the provost of the University of Austin,
0:17.8	a new private liberal arts university that is pushing back against censorship
0:22.1	and politically popular narratives in higher education.
0:25.8	Once Trump was elected, people felt free to say what they actually believe and to say things
0:31.0	like, I'm a patriot, I care about the United States of America, we need borders, men
0:36.6	aren't women. As Dean of the Intellectual
0:38.8	Foundations Program, Howland gives students a comprehensive education in the Western tradition,
0:44.7	emphasizing both Athens and Jerusalem, as he says. There are inexhaustible resources in the tradition,
0:50.6	and if we're going to find our way forward, we've got to understand the past. This is American Thought Leaders, and I'm Yanya Kellick.
0:58.7	Jacob Howland, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.
1:02.2	It's great to be here, Jan. Thank you.
1:05.2	A lot of people are wondering, what's happening in America right now?
1:09.4	Many Americans, frankly, but also Canadians, I am having
1:12.5	people call me saying, hey, what is Trump doing? What are they doing over there? Europeans, I mean,
1:18.2	everywhere. What's your take? Well, I have a lot to say about this. Before the election,
1:24.3	I felt there was a kind of doom coming at us.
1:29.3	And I've been trying to think about sort of the way to represent this and why I felt that.
1:36.3	I think it started in 2020 with COVID.
1:39.3	Everybody was told to get behind their locked doors.
	...

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