Cairn University is excited to announce the hiring of author and professor Dr. Steele Brand. He will formally join the faculty in Summer 2023, after he concludes his current responsibilities at The King’s College in New York City and the James Madison Program at Princeton University.
In tandem with hiring Dr. Brand, Cairn is thrilled to introduce a new Politics, Philosophy, and History (BA) program designed by Dr. Brand. This academically rigorous program, when paired with the University’s Bible and theology core curriculum, provides students with a robust, multidisciplinary understanding of the world and how Christians are to engage in the current culture. It will emphasize many of history’s great texts, starting with Scripture. PPH students will then work through ancient works like Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero; through medieval texts like Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas; and then through modern works like Burke, Kierkegaard, Voegelin, the Federalist Papers, and the speeches of Abraham Lincoln. The history component will be one of the program’s unique strengths, grounding the texts in their historical contexts with a rigorous tour through military, political, and cultural events. Students will know decisive battles, the great works of art, social movements, and the constitutional orders out of which humanity’s animating ideas have emerged. You can learn more about the program at cairn.edu/programs/pph.
When asked what motivates PPH, Brand cited Alfred the Great, who fought off Vikings and inspired the formation of England. Alfred was a Christian king who commissioned a history of his people, personally translated works of philosophy, and restored learning throughout his kingdom. Alfred said that he did this because there are “certain books which are the most necessary for all men to know.” Students studying PPH at Cairn will study such texts, the ideas that animate them, and the human stories surrounding them. Like Alfred, they will study so that they may build a more beautiful and flourishing civilization.
Dr. Brand earned his PhD from Baylor University, his MA from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and his BA from Texas A&M University. He serves as a scholar at the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center of the American Bible Society and is an ordained minister. Among his other accomplishments, Dr. Brand is the author of Killing for the Republic: Citizen-Soldiers and the Roman Way of War (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019), which explains Rome’s strategic military ideals and its subsequent success and influence. His time in the U.S Army as a tactical intelligence officer added to his intimate knowledge and understanding of such a subject. Interviews and popular versions of his work have appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Hill, Fox News, and Time, among others.
You can learn more about Dr. Brand and his work at steelebrand.com.
