Carberry Tower in East Lothian, Scotland.
Announcement

Common Sense Society Announces Inaugural Program in Scotland

July 26, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C.Common Sense Society (CSS), a leading international educational network, is pleased to announce the inaugural class of Caledonia fellows. These diverse young leaders will gather from across Europe and North America, representing the fields of journalism, engineering, law, music, education, public service, and more.

CSS Caledonia fellows will participate in six days of intensive seminars led by distinguished faculty, exploring first principles of liberty and Western civilization, ancient and modern political thought, the moral foundations of economic behavior, intermediary institutions, construction of human cities, conservation and stewardship, and more. In addition to participating in lectures and discussions, fellows and faculty alike will be immersed in Scotland’s captivating nautical beauty and culture.

“The Caledonia Fellowship offers a path out of the collectivist mindset and self-defeating identity politics that seems to be gripping Scottish society in the last few decades,” said CSS president and C.E.O. Marion Smith. “Several years in the making, the programming thoughtfully weaves in Scottish Enlightenment thinkers and ideas which have singularly impacted Western civilization and culture. At a time when so many of the foundational ideas and institutions of Western civilization are under attack, the Caledonia Fellowship will serve as a reminder of what makes the West a beacon of liberty, prosperity, and beauty for the world—not least because of the contributions of Adam Smith, David Hume, and other leading lights of the Scottish Enlightenment.”

Scottish-born and international bestselling author Niall Ferguson will be among the faculty at the week-long gathering. “The Scottish Enlightenment was an intellectual renaissance with a disproportionate impact on the rest of the world,” said CSS trustee Professor Niall Ferguson. “Common Sense Society has provided Caledonia fellows a marvelous opportunity to study and discuss the fruit of this cultural flourishing, its impact on the West’s development, and why Western civilization is still worth fighting for today.”

Find out more about the Caledonia Fellowship and get to know the 2023 class, or learn more about other upcoming fellowship opportunities for young professionals with Common Sense Society. 

2023 Class of Caledonia Fellows

Ms. Jessica Andrews is communications director for Senator John Kennedy and served as a senior advisor with his 2022 campaign. She was previously communications director for the House Judiciary Committee (Republicans) during the Mueller investigation and 2019 impeachment proceedings, after serving at the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research in the United Arab Emirates. She holds an M.Div. from Southern Seminary as well as a B.B.A. and B.A. from Mercer University.

Mr. Tomasz Bachosz is a lead growth engineer at Inflow, a Y-Combinator backed startup which develops the number one solution in the world for ADHD management. He was previously an entrepreneur with startups founded in N.Y.C. and San Francisco with V.C. backing. He holds M.Sc. in computer science from the University of Oxford, a B.Sc. in computer science from New York University Abu Dhabi, and was named in Poland’s Forbes 25 under 25 for his developments in new technologies.

Ms. Joanna Baron is executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation. She was the founding national director of the Runnymede Society and previously practiced law as a criminal defense barrister. She studied law at McGill University and classical liberal arts at St. John’s College (Annapolis and Santa Fe).

Ms. Eva Chipiuk is a lawyer who most recently represented leaders of the Freedom Convoy and cross examined the sitting prime minister of Canada. She launched a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the government and Canada’s public broadcasting company for negligence and misinformation, and has started a podcast to help Canadians understand their legal rights and political processes so they can be more active citizens. She holds a B.Sc. in psychology from the University of Alberta, an L.L.B. from the University of Ottawa, and an L.L.M. in alternative dispute resolution from York University—Osgoode Hall Law School.

Mr. Michael Connors is a postgraduate scholar with the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, currently completing an M.A. in liberal arts at St. John’s College. Prior to moving to the U.S., he was the director of music at Cammeray Public School and the North Shore Community Band, in Sydney, Australia. He holds a B.M. from the Queensland Conservatorium and a graduate diploma of education from Griffith University.

Mr. Øyvind J.V. Evenstad is a schoolteacher and freelance writer living in Oslo, Norway. He is one of the founders of the Norwegian association for all conservative students (FAKS) and former leader of its first chapter. He holds an M.A. in ancient philosophy, a B.A. in philosophy and history of ideas, and a postgraduate certificate in education from the University of Oslo, as well as having completed courses in English and religious education from the University of York and the University of Glasgow.

Mr. Ethan Green is an award-winning researcher into the collapse of Roman democracy. He has written and lectured on numerous subjects such as constitutional theory and the English Civil War. As a student at Exeter University, he was an international debater and president of multiple debating societies. Currently, he works alongside Ideas Matter to organize events in support of freedom of expression such as the Battle of Ideas Festival and salons within Cambridge and Oxford Universities.

Ms. Paige Hunter holds a B.A. from McGill University and a M.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh. Her graduate thesis focused on Canadian security and foreign policy toward the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. During the 2021 Canadian federal election campaign, Paige was the candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada for New Westminster-Burnaby. She currently lives in Vancouver where she works as a security risk consultant and crime statistics analyst.

Mr. Peter Kaemingk is a researcher and lecturer in philosophy of law at Leiden University. He is also the founder of the Pascal Institute. He holds an M.A. in philosophy of religion from Harvard University and a B.A. from St. John’s College (Annapolis).

Mrs. Ellie Krasne-Cohen is the founder of Krasne Strategies, a consulting firm. She is a senior fellow at Parents Defending Education, visiting fellow at Independent Women’s Forum, and an A.E.I. Civic Renewal Fellow. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Kansas, and an M.A. in divinity from the University of Chicago.

Mr. Austin Lamb is a Ph.D. student of political theory and American politics at Boston College. He holds an M.A. in political science from Boston College, as well as a B.S. in political science and a B.A. in Spanish from Boise State University. He has written for American Purpose, The American Conservative, The American Mind, and Bright Lights Film Journal.

Mrs. Agata Lupoměská served as deputy director of the Office of the Head of the Foreign Service and Political Expert to the Ambassador to the Court of St. James. She previously worked at the Centre of Political Thought in Kraków, Poland’s oldest conservative think-tank. She holds an M.A. in international relations from the Jagiellonian University, where she also studies law, with a focus on public international law and European law.

Dr. Selena Milanovic is a biomedical engineer dedicated to harnessing the potential of technology to enhance the quality and healthcare accessibility. Having completed a D.Phil. at the University of Oxford, Selena became an expert advisor at Siemens, where she cooperates with international policy makers and was twice honored as a Forbes Under 30 leader in science and healthcare.

Ms. Ella Nixon is a curator and third year Ph.D. candidate at Northumbria University. Her research pertains to the transformative power of art, twentieth-century female artists, and regional art galleries. She completed a B.A. in history at the University of Cambridge followed by an M.A. in art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London.

Ms. Annie Phillips is the executive director of Renaissance at SAINT in London. She was previously a media and policy advisor to an Australian M.P. and has worked in strategy and research across various industries and sectors. She holds an M.Phil. in public policy from Cambridge University and a B.Com. majoring in commercial law and public sector management from Macquarie University.

Mr. Samuel Rapinoja de Carvalho is an assistant to a member of the Finnish parliament. Previously he worked as a secretary for the Finns Party Youth, of which he is currently a board member. He is also chairman of the Finns Party Youth Uusimaa region and a member of the board in the Espoo local chapter of the Finns Party.

Dr. Loren Rotner is assistant chief academic officer and assistant professor of intellectual foundations and political philosophy at the University of Austin. From 2017-2021, he served as the special assistant to President Pano Kanelos and visiting tutor at St. John’s College, Annapolis. He earned his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University, his M.A. from UT-Austin, and B.A. from Kenyon College, all in political science.

Ms. Lindsay Shepherd is a columnist at the Canadian news organization True North, as well as author of Diversity and Exclusion: Confronting the Campus Free Speech Crisis. Lindsay is on the board of directors of the Conservative Party of British Columbia. She holds an M.A. in cultural analysis and social theory from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a B.A. in communication and political science from Simon Fraser University.

Dr. Jowita Thor is a historian specializing in the history of women, law, religion, and sexuality in Britain and Ireland. From October 2023, she will work as an economic and social research council postdoctoral fellow at the Law School, University of Strathclyde. She previously worked as a research assistant for a project on Ireland’s Magdalene laundries at the Centre for Crime and Social Justice (Strathclyde), and a project manager at the Centre of Theology and Public Issues (Edinburgh). Jo was educated at Universities of Edinburgh, and Tübingen. Her doctoral research explored the history of Protestant Magdalene Asylums in Scotland.

Mr. Ofir Zigelman is senior manager of product management, expansion strategy at Amazon Web Services (A.W.S.). Prior to A.W.S., he served as senior intelligence officer in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and team commander in Unit 8200, an elite Israeli intelligence technology unit. He also served as a research fellow at Harvard, and holds a law degree from Tel Aviv University, an M.B.A. from Wharton, an M.P.A. from Harvard, and an M.A. in international relations from Cambridge.

Common Sense Society (CSS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes liberty, prosperity, and beauty through education and public discourse. The fellowships, curriculum resources, publications, cultural programs, and national campaigns of CSS illuminate the enduring ideas that have transformed the course of human history for the better. CSS does not accept funding from governments or political parties.

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For more information, contact Emily Soper at emily@commonsensesociety.org.

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