Quaestus is a student-led journal from ¿Û¿ÛÄÛ±Æ's Batterman School of Business and Concordia University Ann Arbor's Haab School of Business presenting ideas about Liberty, Virtue and Economics, from a Christian perspective, to promote human flourishing. Our vision is to inspire the next generation of Christian thought leaders by addressing global issues with sound economic and moral principles.
Because it will be most conducive to clear communication, I’m going to take this opportunity to be somewhat informal. Quaestus (Kway-stus) is basically a group for students who want to get people to talk about important topics. Together, we form an editorial board of between five and seven undergraduate or graduate students, led by Dr. Scott Niederjohn with Dr. Daniel Sem as an advisor. We run two writing contests, one in the fall and one in the spring. Student editors are either chosen from the winners of these contests or invited by the current editorial board after demonstrating writing ability.
Quaestus serves two main functions. First: we publish two periodicals a year, one in the fall and one in the spring. The fall periodical involves transcriptions from speakers at ¿Û¿ÛÄ۱ƒs annual Liberty, Faith, and Economics summit. The spring periodical includes articles by students, faculty, and Quaestus editors. Any ¿Û¿ÛÄÛ±Æ student or faculty member can publish articles through Quaestus, although they must be accepted and peer-reviewed by the editorial board. The idea is that people can read the fall periodical for inspiration, then write articles for the spring periodical based on the themes of the fall periodical. Themes generally relate to free speech, economics, healthcare, and politics.
Second: we develop and lead forums to promote conversations on contentious topics. Our general model is to select one or more experts to speak on an issue. If we can, we will invite speakers with opposing perspectives. Our speakers will present publicly on the topic, demonstrating to the student audience that a healthy and productive conversation on this topic is possible. Students always get a chance to question our speakers at the end of the forum. In the past we have led forums on racial relations, Roe v. Wade, educational issues, and the like. This spring our topics will be climate change, gender and feminism, and religious freedom. Expect one forum each month of February, March, and April.
For the members of the editorial board, Quaestus serves as an excellent opportunity to practice writing, editing, and publication. We experience the peer-review process, develop strategies for marketing our publications, and learn to sharpen our thoughts. There are also opportunities to interact with leading experts in various fields, as well as chances to attend and present at conferences.
The following periodical includes transcriptions from the fall Liberty, Faith, and Economics (LFE) Summit at Concordia Wisconsin. This event is run by the Concordia Free Enterprise Center in association with the , an American think tank focusing on religion and liberty. The summit is held annually and has drawn numerous high-profile speakers including this year’s keynote, Yeonmi Park. The focus of this year’s LFE summit was freedom under pressure. A second periodical will be published in the spring including student and faculty articles related to this topic.
Ultimately, our goal as an institution is to practice fruitful conversations and careful thought. Quaestus, which means profit in Latin, has a special emphasis on things that are profitable for us to be thinking about and discussing. As you read the following transcriptions, we hope you will be inspired by them into further questioning of our world, conversations about truth, and perhaps even to step into publication yourself.
Isaiah Mudge
Senior Editor
LFE Event Quaestus Essay Competition
Due Dec. 1st at 11:59pm
There are TWO categories for this competition: the Topic Question category and the Free Response category. Please choose one to respond to.
LFE Topic Questions
This year’s Liberty, Faith, and Economics (LFE) Summit focused on three dimensions of liberty and freedom: economic, political, and religious. Please pick one or a combination of the three sources quoted below to focus your essay upon. You should also contribute your own resources and sources (please refer to the requirements section below). As you consider essay topics, consider the questions listed below for ideas to help get you started.
Religious: Matthew 25:29
“For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
NOTE: If you are stuck on something to write about, research the Matthew Principle.
Political: John Adams, in a letter to the Officers of the Massachusetts Militia, 11 October 1798
“Our constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Economic: Julian L. Simon, The State of Humanity
“Adding more people causes problems. But people are also the means to solve these problems. The main fuel to speed the world’s progress is our stock of knowledge; the brakes are our lack of imagination and unsound social regulations of these activities. The ultimate resource is people — especially skilled, spirited, and hopeful young people endowed with liberty — who will exert their wills and imaginations for their own benefits, and so inevitably they will benefit the rest of us as well.”
Questions
- Are economic, political, and religious freedom interconnected? Can the three (or two of the three) passages below be connected in your essay?
- Which of the three types of freedom is the most important? Does one have to come first, and if so, why?
- Can a society have religious or economic freedom without political freedom? Can political freedom occur without economic freedom? What does history tell us?
- Reflect on the implications of the passage below from Matthew on the role of religious freedom in our society. What happens when societies gain or lose religious freedom?
- Considering the quote from John Adams below, do you think he was right? Does our constitution only work for “moral and religious” people? Support your ideas
- How has our constitution and system of government helped Americans avoid the mass suffering that many autocratic and communist countries have been afflicted by and were discussed by Mr. Harbison at the LFE event?
- How could economic freedom be considered our first basic “right”? Can you be free if you don’t own your own labor, property, and wealth?
- Ever since the first economist Adam Smith, the discipline of economics has sought to discover what makes countries rich and poor. Does economic freedom matter for human flourishing? What about political or religious freedom? Why?
Your goal is to recognize the intersection of different perspectives on freedom while making an argument about the presence and impact of liberty (or lack thereof) in our lives and society. Essentially, you are joining a great conversation about economic/political/religious freedom and, in consideration of what has been said before, contributing an idea of your own (either in agreement or dissent). As you write, keep these questions in mind: Why should your audience care about what you are saying? What is the evidence for your argument? The best essays communicate something that you care deeply about.
Prizes
- 1st - $750
- 2nd - $500
- 3rd - $250
Or enter the Free Response category
Relate your area of study or interest to the broad topics presented at the LFE event (Did any of the speakers remind you of a book or historical event or ethical concept or artistic period or medical principle or musical idea? Is there an area/field that interests you which relates to the LFE content?). The point of this prompt is to encourage you to think outside the box and recognize how seemingly unrelated areas, like medicine, literature, and economic liberty, are all connected in our lives and add to the richness and complexity of what it means to be human.
Prize
- 1st - $750
Requirements
- APA format
- Word count suggestion: 1,500 - 3,000
- 3+ sources (scholarly journal or academic book)
- Cited throughout essay and in a bibliography
- Essays without any sources will not be considered for winning a prize.
There are recordings of the LFE summit on the Free Enterprise Center site, so it’s ok if you missed some of the speakers!
Essays should reference the content of the LFE presentations, but do not need to directly quote or cite the speakers in the essays. For instance, one could write about socialism as a broad concept in their paper without necessarily directly referring to George Harbison’s talk. Of course, if it would help develop your essay, feel free to use LFE materials but it is not a requirement for the essays.
Essay Workshop Event!
- Oct 28th at 6:00pm in the Lakeshore room
- Need help formulating ideas or gathering sources? Come speak to the Quaestus editorial staff to improve your essay!
Quaestus Conversations provides monthly audio content designed to spark conversations beyond our Concordia audience, and showcase our student contributors' exceptional work.
Co-Editor in Chief
Alyssa Giese, Class of 2025, Lutheran Secondary Education Broadfield Social Studies
Co-Editor in Chief and Publication Editor
Ella Mudge, Class of 2025, Nursing & Studio Art
Business and Marketing Editor
Anna Young, Class of 2024, Marketing with MBA in Business Scholars Program
Research Editor
Jonathon Weir, Class of 2027, Management and Finance
Senior Editor and Research Editor
Eleanor (Ellie) Mroczenski, Class of 2025, Lutheran Secondary Education and Natural Sciences
Senior Editor
Temish Christiansen, Class of 2025, Philosophy & Computer Science
Senior Editor
Michelle Gain, Class of 2026, Communications Sciences and Disorders
Senior Editor
James Schultz, Class of 2026, Lutheran Secondary Education Broad Field Social Studies
Senior Editor
Harrison Hulse, Class of 2028, Master of Divinity at Concordia Seminary Saint Louis
Legalize Marijuana
Date: March 19, 2024
A civil discourse and panel discussion surrounding cannabis, legalization, and adverse health effects
Delete TikTok Now
Date: February 15, 2024
As Congress considered a bill to force TikTok out of the United States, Quaestus brought a panel of national and local speakers together to discuss data privacy and the consequences of mass data collection by foreign governments. Jake Denton, a Tech Policy researcher at The Heritage Foundation, provided a national and legal overview of the situation. Concordia's own Professor John Fields then discussed the consequences of mass data on individual privacy. Questions from the audience allowed students to explore their own concerns and interests as these broad issues affect their lives
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Date: November 14th, 2023
With the outbreak of war in the Middle East, Quaestus invited an inter-disciplinary panel of speakers to discuss the context and nuances of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Dr. Patrick Steele, Professor of History at ¿Û¿ÛÄÛ±Æ, detailed the broad history of the conflict and major turning points in Israel-Palestine relations in the last century. For a theological perspective, Rev. Kevin Parviz discussed the LCMS views on Israel and Zionism as well as the Christian response to war. The modern political circumstances of the Israel-Palestine conflict were described by Dr. Lamont Colucci, Political Science Professor and Director of the ¿Û¿ÛÄÛ±Æ National Security and Space Center. Together, the historical, theological, and political perspectives provided a framework for understanding and reacting to the Israel-Palestine conflict
Three Perspectives on Climate Change
Date: February 6th, 2023
In order to push past the surface level limitations of the common debate surrounding climate change, Quaestus invited a panel of thinkers across disciplines to discuss the various perspectives which surround our response to environmental catastrophe and growing concern about the future of our planet. Dr. Angus Menuge, Mr. Steve Einhorn, and Dr. Joseph Jacobsen, representing the fields of Philosophy, Business, and Environmental Science respectively, shared their take on the matter and dialogued in response to one another and questions from student listeners in an insightful exploration of our ideal response to the climate change question.
The Value of Higher Education: Kevin Sheridan, Scott Niederjohn, William Cario, Dr. Gonzalez-De Jesus
Date: November 8th, 2022
Students wondering about the worth of their tuition dollars in light of recent conversations about “student loan forgiveness,” “falling enrollment numbers,” and the like came to hear a panel of informed economists and university administrators discuss the value of higher education from their respective backgrounds. Dr. Scott Niederjohn is a Professor of Economics and the head of the Concordia Free Enterprise Center here at ¿Û¿ÛÄÛ±Æ and Mr. Kevin Sheridan is the director of Financial Aid at ¿Û¿ÛÄÛ±Æ. Together, they tackled the economical angle of this conversation by bringing together statistical details and important insights from trends in the field. On the other hand, Dr. William Cario, then Interim President of ¿Û¿ÛÄÛ±Æ, and Dr. Naydeen Gonzalez-De Jesus, Executive Vice President of Student Success, gave a great reminder of the intrinsic, lasting value that higher education has for the mind and the soul of the young American citizen today
The Hong Konger Viewing Party
Date: October 25th, 2022
¿Û¿ÛÄÛ±Æ students came together to watch Acton Institute’s new film The Hong Konger, which describes the harrowing journey of Jimmy Lai, a young, scrappy businessman from Hong Kong who roused a wave of revolution unlike any other seen in this generation as China grew increasingly hostile to the freedoms of his fellow citizens. To find out more about this modern-day hero,