In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, Jesse Hake speaks with Jessica Hooten-Wilson about her forthcoming book on Christian women whose lives and work have often been neglected because they are “too Christian for the feminists and too feminist for the Christians.” Hooten-Wilson looks to women at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as models for overcoming false divides between home and work, motherhood and the life of the mind, and Christian faith and women’s public voices. Through figures such as Anna Julia Cooper, Dorothy L. Sayers, Edith Stein, Mother Maria of Paris, Kate Bushnell, and Julian of Norwich, she explores how narrative portraits can illuminate deeper questions of Christian anthropology, virtue, vocation, and formation. The conversation highlights the need for classical Christian educators to recover women’s stories within the living tradition, not as additions for novelty’s sake, but as models of human flourishing worthy of imitation. Hooten-Wilson also reflects on silence as contemplative stillness rather than speechlessness, motherhood as both biological and spiritual, and the way women’s voices strengthen homes, schools, churches, and culture. The episode closes with practical suggestions for introducing students to women in the tradition through texts by Julian of Norwich, Perpetua, Christine de Pizan, and others. You can find more of Jessica Hooten-Wilson work through her substack and her podcast.

Suggested Reading & Resources:

• The Black Intellectual Tradition by Dr. Anika Prather, Dr. Angel Adams Parham, et al.
• The Passion of Perpetua by Mia Donato et al.
• The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan
• The Man Born to Be King by Dorothy Sayers
• The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Complete 6-Book Set by Maryrose Wood
• Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage?: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress by Jessica Hooten-Wilson
• Reading for the Love of God: How to Read as a Spiritual Practice by Jessica Hooten-Wilson
• The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints by Jessica Hooten-Wilson

Suggested ClassicalU courses:

• Women in the Liberal Arts Tradition
• The Black Intellectual Tradition and the Great Conversation

In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, Jesse Hake—joined by guests Dr. Brian Williams and Jake Tawney—explores the pressing question of AI and human formation in the classroom. Framed by the classical vision of education as the formation of the whole person, the conversation challenges the assumption that efficiency, output, or technological adoption should drive educational practice. Drawing on philosophy, theology, and classroom experience, Tawney and Williams argue that AI risks not only replacing essential learning processes but also reshaping students’ understanding of what it means to be human. Echoing insights from thinkers such as Neil Postman in Amusing Ourselves to Death, George Grant in Technology and Justice and Technology and Empire, and Jacques Ellul in The Technological Society, they examine how modern technologies subtly form habits, attention, and culture. The discussion highlights how AI differs fundamentally from human thought—operating through pattern prediction and persuasion rather than truth-seeking and embodied understanding—while raising concerns about dependence, identity, and the loss of higher-order thinking. At the same time, the conversation points toward a hopeful alternative: classrooms rooted in wonder, dialogue, and embodied learning that cultivate intellect, virtue, and community.

These themes resonate deeply with the vision of classical Christian education found in ClassicalU courses such as The Scholé Way and The Monastic Tradition of Education by Dr. Christopher Perrin, as well as John Amos Comenius: A Visionary Reformer of Schools by Dr. David I. Smith, all of which emphasize contemplation, attention, and the formation of student loves. They also align with the broader tradition of technology critique found in George Grant’s essay “The Computer Does Not Dictate How the Computer Should Be Used” and Craig M. Gay’s Modern Technology and the Human Future: A Christian Appraisal. In a cultural moment shaped by distraction and technological acceleration, this conversation reinforces the enduring value of slow reading, rich discussion, and embodied community as the surest means of forming students who can think clearly, love rightly, and live wisely.

With gratitude to Joelle Hodge for convening this conversation and to Great Hearts Academies for recording it.

In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, Jesse Hake speaks with Dr. Patrick R. Manning about his book Be Still and Know: Contemplative Practice for Christian Schools and Educators. Drawing from the deep wells of the Christian contemplative tradition—from the Desert Fathers and Mothers to Benedictine, Ignatian, and Dominican spirituality—Manning argues that contemplation is not foreign to Christian education but central to it. He explores how reframing time, cultivating attention, and building intentional rhythms of silence and prayer can transform classrooms into “attention sanctuaries” in an age dominated by distraction. The conversation addresses pressing concerns such as student mental health, shrinking attention spans, and the pressures of productivity culture, offering both theological grounding and practical strategies for school leaders and teachers.

In dialogue with themes familiar to classical educators—such as those explored in ClassicalU courses The Scholé Way and The Monastic Tradition of Education by Christopher Perrin, and John Amos Comenius: A Visionary Reformer of Schools by Dr. David I. Smith—the episode connects contemplative practice to a broader recovery of attention in Christian schooling. Manning engages contemporary voices such as James Lang in Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It, Matthew Crawford in The World Beyond Your Head, and James Williams in Stand Out of Our Light, while drawing on the spiritual wisdom of Simone Weil in Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God, Wilfrid Stinissen in Eternity in the Midst of Time, and Sofia Cavalletti in The Development of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Through practices such as Lectio Divina and the Ignatian Examen, he calls Christian schools to reclaim their heritage—not by retreating from excellence, but by rediscovering how stillness strengthens attention, deepens community, and renews the soul of education.