The W. H. Brady Program in Culture and Freedom at the American Enterprise Institute explores the problems of freedom and culture in contemporary society through research, publications, conferences, and student fellowships.

Many of the most urgent problems facing American society today are those of reconciling individual freedom with cultural values and habits that make freedom and progress possible. America has achieved stupendous levels of economic prosperity, technological prowess, and social equality, but these blessings have been accompanied by a range of unsettling problems--family breakdown, poor schools, high levels of crime, a coarsening of popular culture, the ethical dilemmas of bioengineering, and now the overarching threat of mass terrorism. These problems have a common root: The unprecedented power and autonomy of modern man are producing not only richer and more satisfying lives but also serious social risks. The great, enduring political question--how to achieve the right balance between the claims of individual freedom and the claims of a wider culture or polity--is being presented today in the starkest possible form.

William H. Brady

This question was central to the thinking and philanthropy of William H. Brady, one of the founding fathers of the conservative intellectual movement beginning in the 1950s and an active participant in its councils until his death in 1988. It has been central, also, to the work of AEI, which has long focused not only on immediate domestic and foreign policy problems but also on issues of culture, politics, and social thought.

In 1991, AEI's work in the field was expanded by the W. H. Brady Chair, a memorial to William Brady that supported a succession of eminent scholars and intellectual activists--Leon Kass, Christina Hoff Sommers, Lynne Cheney, Hillel Fradkin, and Sally Satel. The W. H. Brady Program in Culture and Freedom, established in 2003 by Mr. Brady’s family and foundation, is designed to consolidate and expand this vital intellectual tradition. The program supports some of America’s most original and courageous scholars and social critics, and is intended to provide a worthy and productive memorial to the life and accomplishments of Bill Brady.

William H. Brady (1915-1988) was a prominent Milwaukee industrialist and philanthropist with wide-ranging interests in political philosophy, economics, foreign policy, and culture. He was for many years the chief executive officer of the W. H. Brady Company, known today as the Brady Corporation. Mr. Brady was a founding supporter of National Review, the Heritage Foundation, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

PROGRAM SCHOLARS

The Brady Program supports the work of several AEI scholars:

W. H. Brady Chair Charles Murray Charles Murray, the W. H. Brady Chair, presents his newest book, In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State, which outlines Murray's radical plan to replace all income transfer programs.   Selected recent work:   Aztecs vs. Greeks What's Wrong with Vocational School? Intelligence in the Classroom More of Murray's writings and events

Lynne V. Cheney Lynne V. Cheney lectures on such topics as liberalism, feminism, and "American exceptionalism."   Selected events:   The Knowledge Deficit Democracy and the Constitution: Essays by Walter Berns Civic Education for a World at War    Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali researches the relationship between the West and Islam; women’s rights in Islam; violence against women propagated by religious and cultural arguments; and Islam in Europe. She has recently published Infidel, an inspiring memoir that lays bare the essential struggles between religion, faith, and freedom.   Selected recent work:   Confronting Holocaust Denial Setting Themselves Apart Faced with Radical Islam, Europe Is in Danger of Decay More of Hirsi Ali's writings

Leon R. Kass Leon R. Kass has recently published two books: The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis and Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, the 2003 report of the President's Council on Bioethics.   Selected recent work:   Cast Me Not Off in Old Age Lingering Longer A Way Forward on Stem Cells More of Kass's writings

Michael Novak Michael Novak lectures throughout the United States and Europe on topics such as business ethics, corporate governance, the environment, and religion. His latest book, Washington's God, provides a bold and mostly unseen view of George Washington's religious beliefs and practices.   Selected recent work:   A Force Spirit of 1776 Just Tragic? More of Novak's writings

Sally Satel Sally Satel and Christina Hoff Sommers are the authors of One Nation under Therapy, a book discussing the different ways therapeutic psychology has displaced traditional ethics as a guide for many Americans. They delivered a lecture on the subject in early 2004. Satel's selected recent work: The Trouble with Traumatology First, Do Harm Sometimes, the Why Really Isn't Crucial Sally Satel's newest book: The Health Disparities Myth More of Satel's writings

Christina Hoff Sommers Sommers's selected recent work:   Post-Super Bowl Feminism Liberal Bias Rules UNM Law School Where the Boys Aren't More of Sommers's writings

Christopher D. Levenick is a postdoctoral fellow with the program. He has written about the Americanization of God and religious arguments in public debate.    Levenick's selected recent work: Laus Deo Like a Mighty Wind A Comic Says the 'G' Word: Gratitude More of Levenick's writings

EVENTS

"Religion and the American Future"

Religion stands at the center of many of the most pressing questions of the early twenty-first century.  Western civilization may, indeed, be at an epochal inflection point: the turn from its ancestral faiths bears momentous implications for the future.  This workshop, bringing together an array of thinkers from a variety of disciplines, examined the current crisis and explored avenues for its resolution.

• Speakers include Marcello Pera, Michael Novak, John C. Green, Fred Barnes, Nicholas Eberstadt, Christopher Levenick, Roger Kimball, Charles Murray, Leon Kass, David Gelernter, Douglas Kmiec, Michael S. Greve, Kevin Seamus Hasson, and Roger Scruton
  

"Art, Politics, and Religion in America Today"

Camille Paglia talked about the culture war, focusing on the politicization of American universities and the maligning of Western civilization by campus theorists "addicted to French or German ideas that have no relevance to American culture." She also discussed the need for students to study the Bible in order to understand great art and literature; the mediocrity and triviality of current popular culture, which is the entire cultural landscape of the young; the decline of public education into feel-good humanitarianism; and the liberal politicization of the NEA, NPR, PBS and how this has severely damaged the cause of art in the United States.

• Speakers include Christina Hoff Sommers and Camille Paglia
  

"The New Neuromorality"

The first panel of this conference addressed current claims of new neurotechnologies. Is there a link between neurobiology and social problems such as addiction, criminology, and social psychology? The second panel discussed legal and moral agency issues that arise out of this new neuroscience. Does this new science undermine the concept of free will? What are the ethical problems raised by our growing understanding of the neural biology of behavior, personality, and consciousness? How is neuroscience being used in the courtroom today? What impact will these discoveries have on our legal system?

• Speakers include Martha Farah, Hank Greely, Sally Satel, Philip Tetlock, Thomas Zeffiro, Steven Pinker, Christina Hoff Sommers, Joshua Greene, and Stephen Morse

Recent W. H. Brady Social Policy Luncheons

• May 22, 2007: Francis Fukuyama, "Regulating Human Biotechnologies"
• April 17, 2007: Jeffrey Rosen, "The Courts and Public Opinion: Why Justices Follow the Election Returns"
• March 13, 2007: Michael Novak, "Atheism After September 11, 2001"
• February 27, 2007: Leon Kass, "Organs for Sale? Propriety, Property, and the Price of Progress"
• January 17, 2007: Mark McClellan, "Trends in Government-Financed Health Care"
• December 6, 2006: Ryan Sager, "Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party"
• November 28, 2006: David Frum, "The Impact of Recent Congressional Elections"
• October 18, 2006: Virginia Postrel, "The Power of Glamour"
  

CONTACT

Program Director Samuel Thernstrom

Samuel Thernstrom Director, W. H. Brady Program on Culture and Freedom   American Enterprise Institute 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-862-5870 Assistant: 202-862-4872 Fax: 202-862-5815 E-mail: SThernstrom@aei.org