Courtesy | Hillsdale College
Two professors from the history department won the Heritage Foundation’s Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prizes.
Bradley Birzer, professor of history and Russell Amos Kirk chair in American studies, and Wilfred McClay, Victor Davis Hanson chair in classical history and western civilization, were two of 14 scholars to receive the award this year.
“It’s not a surprise, but it kind of is a surprise that both of them would be honored in the same year,” Korey Maas, chairman and associate professor of history, said.
The award recognizes “higher education professionals whose important work advances key conservative policy priorities,” according to the Heritage Foundation’s website. It considers both teaching ability and publication, according to Birzer, who has four books coming out over two years.
“As much as the award was for me, it really felt like it was for Hillsdale,” Birzer said. “It meant a lot to me that I could represent this institution there. In fact, that meant everything to me.”
McClay wrote a history textbook, “Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story,” which is used for teaching high school, college, and for personal study, and he believes his work with the textbook is part of the reason he was chosen for the award. McClay said he grew concerned about the country 13 years ago when he believed the country changed dramatically due to the education of young people.
“I didn’t think young people were getting an accurate account of their country, of both its strengths and weaknesses. So, that’s what led me to write the book. I never dreamed I would write a textbook,” McClay said.
Birzer said he has been reading Heritage Foundation’s writings since high school when he did debate team.
“At age 59, just looking back at my life, thinking about how much these guys have influenced me, and now to be recognized by them — and kind of out of the blue — it’s like, ‘Oh, this is really cool.’ It’s kind of full circle,” Birzer said.
Birzer is the author of “Russell Kirk: American Conservative,” “J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-Earth,” “American Cicero: Charles Carroll of Carrollton,” and more. His most recent book, “The Declaration of Independence: A Radical Experiment in Liberty,” came out two days before he won the Heritage award.
Maas said that he is happy to see Birzer receive recognition from outside the college.
“Dr. Birzer is a longtime faculty member and just an incredibly humble guy and an incredibly vibrant teacher,” Maas said. “He does his work, and he doesn’t do a lot of bragging about himself. But we all notice that he manages to publish a book about every year, or at least every other year.”
McClay said that a love for history and teaching has driven him to do the work for which the award has recognized him.
“I love it. I don’t do it really out of a sense of duty, although I do have a sense of duty,” McClay said. “But I do it because I love it, and I love the subject. I love seeing people get excited about the subject, I love being here.”
The college hired McClay soon after the history department adopted “Land of Hope” as a text for the American Heritage class, according to Maas.
“It is great to have the Heritage Foundation recognize his ongoing contributions to the kinds of things that they’re interested in and the kinds of things that we’re interested in — like the American heritage and all sorts of policy questions to do with the family and with liberty,” Maas said.
Maas said that two professors from a small college like Hillsdale winning the award speaks to the failure of the broader education system. He said he believes that it displays the failure of many academic institutions in very basic areas.
“It’s confirmation that we’re doing something right,” Maas said.
