Episode 32: Taking a Classical Approach to Entrepreneurship with Dr. Matthew Smith

Summary

What does an entrepreneur have in common with a polymath? In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, Robert talks to Dr. Matthew Smith, the founding president of Hildegard College. Hildegard is an all-new Christian college located in southern California that takes a unique approach to the liberal arts, merging the classical, Great Text tradition with entrepreneurship. In this conversation, Matthew speaks to why American higher education needs a reset, why Hildegard’s undergraduate program emphasizes the study of entrepreneurship classically and the unique challenges students today face as opposed to students a decade ago.

Quote

“Entrepreneurship—the study of how to serve your neighbor by building new things, by understanding economics and the commercial world, by understanding how organizations work and what it means to be a leader—is a way of giving students the means to act upon the convictions that they formulate in their liberal arts education.”

Dr. Matthew Smith

Topics

• Intro to Dr. Matthew Smith [1:05]
• Does the education system need a reset? [1:52]
• What makes Hildegard College different than other private, Christian colleges; how learning at Hildegard is embraced as a way of life [6:07]
• Naming the college after St. Hildegard of Bingen [10:50]
• The unique challenges students face today as opposed to 7–15 years ago [12:41]
• Matthew’s thoughts on the purpose of education: to learn how to discern what is good and true [16:56]
• Mixing the classical, Great Text education (liberal arts) with entrepreneurism [20:14]
• The Polymath Project: Hildegard’s applied senior thesis [23:22]
• What is the Quadrivium? [26:05]
• Matthew’s hopes for his students’ futures [31:36]
• Matthew’s upcoming book Shakespearean Recognitions [35:06]
• Farewell to Matthew [37:32]
• “Current Events Discussion”: Leigh Bortins on Fox Nation [38:54]
• Ad: The Homeschool Freedom Action Center [41:24]
• “Classical Crypto”: Reviewing the fundamentals of crypto [42:36]
• Outro [46:16]

Mentions

• Hildegard College
• The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis | Classical Conversations Books
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley | Amazon
• Mary Wollstonecraft | Wikipedia
• Undergraduate Program | Hildegard
• St. Hildegard of Bingen | Wikipedia
• Fortuna | Wikipedia
• Boethius | Wikipedia
• Aristotle’s Physics by Aristotle | Amazon
• The Quadrivium | Wikipedia
• Shakespearean Recognitions: Philosophies of the Post-Tragic by Dr. Matthew Smith | Matthew J. Smith
• Poetics by Aristotle | Amazon
• Request Info | Hildegard College
• Hildegard College | Instagram
• Hildegard College | Facebook
• Hildegard College | Twitter
• Hildegard College | LinkedIn
• The MisEducation of America | Fox Nation
• The Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation by Pete Hegseth and David Goodwin | Amazon
• Bitcoin
• Satoshi Nakamoto
• “What Is Proof of Work (PoW) in Blockchain?” | Investopedia
• Ethereum
• Cardano
• XRP | Ripple