Brock Institute for Mega Issues
Est. 2013
Drawing on the integrated wisdom of Jefferson and Milton, the Brock Institute for Mega Issues Education aims to develop methods for universities and think-tanks to encourage students to learn on a broad scale in order to understand and respond to the many issues affecting America today.
The Brock Institute will be charged with advancing the growth of holistic, issues-based integrated learning in higher education institutions in Great Britain, Canada
- Publishing books, yearly reports, and newsletters discussing the state of integrated education.
- Hosting conferences featuring top thinkers from around the world.
- Developing lectures, discussion groups and other programs that exhibit the mega issues affecting the world.
It is the hope of Rev. Charles Brock that the Brock Institute for Mega Issues will serve as a catalyst for reconnecting the methods of learning used by Jefferson and Milton with education today to develop a system that will fully encompass the many issues affecting America today.
Beginning in 2024, JES Scholar In-Residence, Dr. Andrew Roth will become the Director of the Brock Institute for Mega Issues Education.
Who is Charles Brock?
April 27th, 1935 - November 1st, 2023
The late Reverend Charles Brock, an Erie native, was an Emeritus Fellow, Chaplain, and Director of Ministerial Education, Mansfield College, Oxford, UK, where he taught for 35 years. He served as the Director of the Institute on the American Dream at Penn State Behrend, where he taught for the politics and religion departments for 20 years.
Rev. Brock was acting minister of The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Girard, PA and he was a Founding Member of the JES. Rev. Brock served as the Founder and Director of the Brock Institute for Mega Issues Education at the Jefferson Educational Society from 2013 until 2023.
Publications
PROBING EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA (PART TWO) - 8/4/2023
PROBING EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA (PART ONE) - 7/28/2023
PROBING EDUCATION POLISH, LITHUANIAN UNIVERSITIES YESTERDAY AND TODAY - 7/21/2023
PROBING EDUCATION POLISH UNIVERSITIES YESTERDAY AND TODAY (PART ONE) - 7/17/2023
PROBING EDUCATION CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: THE OLDEST BLACK COLLEGE IN AMERICA - 7/7/2023
PROBING EDUCATION THOMAS JEFFERSON ON EDUCATION - 6/23/2023
PROBING EDUCATION JOHN ADAMS AT HARVARD AND BEYOND - 6/16/2023
PROBING EDUCATION HARVARD AND BENAZIR BHUTTO - 6/9/2023
PROBING EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA AND ÁNGELA ABÓS BALLARÍN - 5/26/2023
PROBING EDUCATION ISAIAH BERLIN, 'HISTORIAN OF IDEAS' - 5/19/2023
ISSUES IN THE NEWS WHITE SUPREMACY & CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM - 5/15/2023
PROBING EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD AND ROGER BACON - 5/12/2023
PROBING EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF PARIS AND SIMONE VEIL - 5/5/2023
PROBING EDUCATION THOMAS AQUINAS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS - 4/28/2023
PROBING EDUCATION LAURA BASSI: BREAKS GLASS CEILING FOR 18TH CENTURY WOMEN - 4/24/2023
PROBING EDUCATION DANTE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA - 4/14/2023
PROBING EDUCATION FEZ UNIVERSITY-THE OLDEST IN THE WESTERN WORLD - 3/31/2023
PROBING EDUCATION AMAZING ANCIENT UNIVERSITIES-THEN AND NOW - 3/24/2023
JEFFERSON AND LINCOLN ON PASSOVER AND GOOD FRIDAY- 4/12/22
CULTURE WARS KEY TO ELECTIONS: INFLUENCE PEDDLERS, CONGRESS STYMIE CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS- 4/11/22
MYSTICS AND SKEPTICS: PALM SUNDAY AND THE MISSION OF CHRIST - 4/8/22
CULTURE WARS RAGE: A LOOK AT KEYS TO THE NEXT ELECTIONS - 4/4/22
RELIGION AND POLITICS: WASHINGTON, LINCOLN, AND THE POWER OF PROVIDENTIAL DEISM- 2/28/22
GEORGE W. BUSH REMARKS ON 9/11 AND 1/6 ENLIGHTEN NATIONAL CONVERSATION - 9/22/2021
MYSTICS FOR SKEPTICS: JOHN BROWN – PURITAN MYSTIC - 6/30/2021
MYSTICS FOR SKEPTICS: JEFFERSON AND LINCOLN ON GOOD FRIDAY- 3/31/2021
FOREIGN POLICY: THE POINT IS NOT JUST TO COMPROMISE, BUT TO APPRECIATE OTHERS PART TWO - 10/20/2020
FOREIGN POLICY, AMERICAN NARRATIVE LINKED - PART ONE - 10/14/2020
MYSTICISM, POLITICS ARE CENTRAL TO GREAT AMERICAN HYMNS - 09/29/2020
SMARSH WOULD NOT HAVE MADE IT WITHOUT HER GHOST - 09/22/2020
JOHN ADAMS: ONE OF FEW PRESIDENTS OPEN TO OTHER RELIGIONS - 09/15/2020
D.H. LAWRENCE: GET CRACKING WITH YOUR DEFINITION OF GOD - 09/08/2020
LINCOLN’S MYSTICISM: HE TRIED TO LINK HIS WILL WITH GOD’S - 09/01/2020
MYSTICISM OF TUTU: TUTU WORKS TO MAKE SURE FAITH AFFECTS PEOPLE, POLITICS - 08/25/2020
POETRY OF HAFIZ RESONATES MORE THAN 600 YEARS LATER - 08/18/2020
MYSTICISM OF BUDDHA: FINDING NIRVANA CAN BE GOAL FOR THE WORLD - 08/11/2020
LAO-TSE: 'WHEN I LET GO OF WHAT I AM, I BECOME WHAT I MIGHT BE' - 08/05/2020
VISIONARY J.S. BACH PAINTED IN MUSIC AND RELIGION - 07/28/2020
JESUS: FULFILLING THE MISSION OF GOD - 06/30/2020
MOSES: THE MYSTIC PROPHET LIKE NO OTHER - 06/23/2020
MYSTICS FOR SKEPTICS ON TRUMP, MYSTICISM, AND THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING - 06/09/2020
MYSTICS FOR SKEPTICS - DALAI LAMA: A MYSTIC AND SAINT - 06/02/2020
PLATO ON LOVE AND MYSTICISM - 05/12/2020
BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX: MYSTICAL INTERPRETER OF LOVE - 05/05/2020
FRANCIS OF ASSISI: PATRON SAINT OF ECOLOGY - 04/28/2020
MYSTICS FOR SKEPTICS - 04/21/2020
LAWRENCE, ENGELS ON LOVE AND JUSTICE - 04/14/2020
BERNIE, JOE, AND DONALD ON RELIGION AND POLITICS - 04/07/2020
Lectures
Thank God for Jimmy Carter - 7/11/2023
White Supremacy & Christian White Nationalism - 5/1/2023
John Milton, Abigail Adams, & Thomas Jefferson: Revolution Yesterday and Tyranny Today? - 11/11/2022
John F. Kennedy - America's Catholic President - 6/27/2022
More than just a Portrait – Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office - 4/28/2022
Lincoln's Unifying Leadership and Relevance for Today - 2/9/2022
Brock Institute Blues Music Night - 9/29/2021
Holy Warrior Presidents - 11/19/2019
An Evening with Mountain Music: The Melting Pot Sounds of Appalachian Folk Music - 9/25/2019
Mary Magdalene: The Battle over a Woman's Place in History - 8/6/2019
Holy Warrior Presidents: How Madison and Eisenhower Handled Their "Holy Wars" in 1812 and WWII - 7/17/2019
World Religions - 6/4/2019
The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union - 4/25/2019
The American Dream in the U.S., Europe, and Asia: Is It Healthier There than Here? - 10/9/2018
World Religions and World Crises: Establishing Dialogue between Religious and Secular Thinkers - 8/6/2018
How John Quicy Adams and Andrew Jackson Created the Defining Conflict in the American Split Personality - 4/30/2018
Jesus the Warrior - 2/6/2018
The Story of the Blues - 2/1/2018
Erie's Immigration: Change Makers or Threats to the Status Quo? - 9/26/2017
The Gardens of Monticello and Little Italy - 5/18/2017
Jesus Christ - Redeemer, Reformer, or Revolutionary? - 2/7/2017
Fascism, Populism, and the Rise of the 'Us-first' Movement - 10/10/2016
Brock Institute for Mega Issues Education Presents: America's World Mission - Ideals and Betrayals - 8/2/2016
The Politics of Climate Change - 4/21/2016
Who Really Runs America? - 2/16/2016
The English Revolution - 4/16/2015
Governance Matters: The Challenges to Good Government - 8/27/2012
America's 200 Wars - 7/23/2012
Holy Warrior Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and the Roosevelts - 7/11/2011
Violence in the Bible and Qur'an - 10/18/2010
The Politics of Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad - 7/19/2010
Jefferson's Jesus - 6/15/2010
Religion and Politics: From Sarah and Hagar to Sarah and Hilary - 11/10/2008
