The American Studies Honorary

“To seek for truths in history. . . distinctly is not to indulge in dreamy visions of unborn ages, or to predict the inevitability of some political domination. Rather, the truths of history, the real meanings, are to be discovered in what history can teach us about the framework of the Logos, if you will: about the significance of human existence: about the splendor and the misery of our condition. In this inquiry, there must be joined with the historical discipline certain insights of philosophy and psychology. For historical consciousness necessarily is entwined with the mystery of personal consciousness.”
-Russell Kirk

“All great systems, ethical or political, attain their ascendancy over the minds of men by virtue of their appeal to the imagination; and when they cease to touch the chords of wonder and mystery and hope, their power is lost, and men look elsewhere for some set of principles by which they may be guided. We live by myth. ‘Myth’ is not falsehood; on the contrary, the great and ancient myths are profoundly true. The myth of Prometheus will always be a high poetic representation of an ineluctable truth, and so will the myth of Pandora. A myth may grow out of an actual event almost lost in the remote past, but it comes to transcend the particular circumstances of its origin, assuming a significance universal and abiding. Nor is a myth simply a work of fancy: true myth is only represented, never created, by a poet. Prometheus and Pandora were not invented by the solitary imagination of Hesiod. Real myths are the product of the moral experience of a people, groping toward divine love and wisdom—implanted in a people’s consciousness, before the dawn of history, by a power and a means we never have been able to describe in terms of mundane knowledge.” - Russell Kirk

This local society is the American Studies honorary. This honorary was organized in 1992 for American Studies majors and minors to promote academics and encourage campus involvement to promote American ideals. Membership requirements include completion of two of the four core courses (English 255, English 256, Politics 101, and IDS 300) and an overall grade-point average of 3.0.

Officers
Advisor: Dr. Dan Sundahl
President: Charles Couger
Vice President: Laura Wegmann
Secretary: Alex Meregaglia

More Information
To learn more about the honorary, contact Delta Pi Nu advisor, Dr. Dan Sundahl.