The Witherspoon Institute

An independent research center in Princeton, New Jersey.

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Help Us Grow our High School Programs

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In just one year, enrollment in the Witherspoon Forum has grown by 138%.

What began as a small gathering of high school students committed to serious intellectual friendship is now a growing national community. Students are seeking real conversation and thoughtful engagement with enduring questions about freedom, virtue, faith, and the common good.

In a culture marked by distraction and noise, young people are looking for spaces where they can read closely, think deeply, and speak honestly.

Our next goal is ambitious: to double enrollment again next year.

We need your help.

If you know a high school student who would thrive in rigorous discussion and genuine intellectual community, please encourage them to apply. A personal recommendation makes all the difference.

Together, we can help form the next generation for thoughtful leadership and moral courage.

Learn more at winst.org/forum.

A Civic and Educational Response to Campus Extremism

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In a recent op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, “A Solution to Campus Extremism,” Robert P. George, the Witherspoon Institute’s Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow, argues that increasing extremism on both sides of the political spectrum is not an accident, nor merely the result of a few radical voices. It is the predictable outcome of an educational system that has abandoned the intellectual and moral foundations of a true liberal education.

In his article, Professor George contends that universities have failed to provide students with a substantive grounding in the classical liberal tradition and civic education, the disciplines that cultivate critical thinking, humility, rational debate, and an appreciation for shared humanity. When students are deprived of that inheritance, they become vulnerable to dogmatism and polarization, whether from the left or the right.

The answer, he argues, is not censorship or surveillance, but a renewal of classical and civic learning, a recommitment to open inquiry, and the rigorous pursuit of truth.

At the Witherspoon Institute, we share this conviction. Our work is dedicated to renewing the intellectual and moral foundations of our civil society through education rooted in timeless wisdom and ordered toward truth.

We invite you to read the article and to join us in this effort to rebuild the conditions for genuine learning and civil friendship.

Summer Seminars at the Witherspoon Institute

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Serious Study. Honest Conversation. Lifelong Friendship.

Each summer, the Witherspoon Institute welcomes exceptional high-school, undergraduate, and graduate students from around the world to Princeton, New Jersey, for a series of intensive residential seminars in philosophy, public affairs, and the foundations of a flourishing human life.

Grounded in classical and contemporary texts and led by distinguished scholars, the Summer Seminars offer students the opportunity to examine the most important moral, cultural, and political questions of our time through rigorous, Socratic discussion. Together, participants grapple with enduring questions about freedom and responsibility, natural law and human dignity, the impact of technology on the human person, and the meaning of community and friendship in a healthy society.

Applications for Summer 2026 are now open.

Learn more at winst.org/summer

R. J. Snell on the Return of Marcionism

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Witherspoon’s Academic Programs Director, R. J. Snell, recently joined the Tikvah Podcast for a conversation on modern expressions of the Marcionite heresy.

In his discussion with Jonathan Silver, Dr. Snell explores how ancient theological errors have reappeared in contemporary cultural and political life in efforts to separate the New Testament from the Old, or to sever Christian moral teaching from its Hebrew roots.

The episode offers a timely examination of the dangers of forgetting or rejecting Christianity’s Hebrew patrimony.

The full conversation is available on the Tikvah Podcast: Listen here.

New Publication: “The Death of Rabelais: A Play” by Jane Clark Scharl

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We are pleased to announce that Jane Clark Scharl, our Associate Director of Operations at the Witherspoon Institute, has released a new dramatic work entitled The Death of Rabelais: A Play. The book, published by Wiseblood Books, is now available in print.

In this richly imagined play, the creator draws inspiration from the life and legacy of the sixteenth-century French humanist and satirist François Rabelais. On a bitter January night, Rabelais, fleeing religious strife in Paris, throws off the jester’s cap and dons Death’s cloak to accept an invitation to a Twelfth-Night festival; before the night is done he faces not only games and riddles, but a confrontation with Death itself and the unsettling possibility that grief, rather than mere joy, lies at the heart of reality.

The play invites readers (and future performers) to reflect upon laughter, mortality, and the search for truth in a world at once comedic and tragic — a theme that resonates deeply with the character of our Institute.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Jane on this achievement. Order Now!

Finding Truth and Friendship in Divided Times

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In a lively episode of Unbridled, published by the Civitas Institute, our Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow Robert P. George joins Cornel West for a candid conversation about truth, virtue, and friendship across deep disagreement.

Despite opposing worldviews, George and West describe how their friendship endures through a shared love of truth and a commitment to honest dialogue — an example of the intellectual charity and civic friendship at the heart of Witherspoon’s mission.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here: Civitas Institute — Finding Truth and Friendship in Divided Times

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