About the Institute
As part of the Honors College of Texas Tech University, The Institute for the Study of Western Civilization seeks to foster research and discussion among the university’s faculty about the nature, origins, and future of the West; encourage the development of courses and programs on Western civilization and its classic texts; and bring to Texas Tech scholars for whom the study of Western civilization as a distinct phenomenon is a major concern.
The Institute also seeks to serve American education as a whole via conferences, publications, a website, and online networks linking scholars and students at every academic level. There is currently no major American university committed to propagating the study of our civilization throughout academe. In establishing The Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Texas Tech makes that commitment.
The Institute will engage the public-at-large through talks and presentations to civic groups, web based resources for independent learning, and field seminars for Texas Tech alumni and others interested in deepening their knowledge of Western civilization and its realization in the United States.
The Institute is developing a scholarly program organized around a series of intellectual projects, each promoting a particular line of investigation. Implemented over time, these projects will pursue inquiries into topics. Read more about the Areas of Investigation.
In its work, the Institute will also recognize the great accomplishments of other civilizations and cultures, aiming through scholarly comparison to learn from them and, in that process, learn more about the West itself.
Finally, the Institute will provide forums for all those interested in Western civilization – whatever their view of its history and nature – to engage in the reasoned, open, and informed debate that ennobles academic life and should always be at its heart.