Back to School Conference 2026

About Joseph Loconte

Joseph Loconte, PhD, Director of the Rivendell Center in New York City, is a Presidential Scholar at New College of Florida and the C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at Grove City College. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at Sagamore Institute, and as a Senior Fellow at Founding Forward and at the Trinity Forum. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918 (Harper Collins, 2015)

Mr. Loconte previously served as a an Associate Professor of History at the King’s College in New York City and as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University.

Mr. Loconte’s commentary on religion and public life appears in the nation’s leading journals and newspapers, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Affairs, the New Criterion, National Geographic, Law and Liberty, the National Interest, and National Review. For 10 years he served as a commentator for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. He was the winner of the 2017 Best Article award from the Tolkien Society for his article How J.R.R. Tolkien Found Mordor on the Western Front.

Mr. Loconte’s other books include: God, Locke, and Liberty: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in the West (Lexington Books, 2014); The Searchers: A Quest for Faith in the Valley of Doubt (Thomas Nelson, 2012); The End of Illusions: Religious Leaders Confront Hitler’s Gathering Storm (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004); and Seducing the Samaritan: How Government Contracts Are Reshaping Social Services (The Pioneer Institute, 1997).

Mr. Loconte has testified before Congress on international human rights and served as a human rights expert on the 2005 Congressional Task Force on the United Nations, contributing to its final report, “American Interests and U.N. Reform.” From 2001-2003, he was an informal advisor to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He also served as a speechwriter for British MP Andrew Mitchell, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

Mr. Loconte is a native of Brooklyn, NY, a forlorn fan of the NY Mets, and a frequent traveler to sunny Italy.

About Donna-Jean Breckenridge
Donna-Jean lives with her family in a four-generation house in northern New Jersey. She comes from a rich legacy of pastors, evangelists, and missionaries, and takes seriously the verse, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required.” She herself is a Bible college graduate, with a degree in Biblical Literature.

It was her desire to recreate the best parts of that childhood with her own children. When their oldest child was an infant, early in 1986, Donna-Jean read Susan Schaeffer Macaulay’s For the Children’s Sake and found that Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy was the one she and her husband wanted for their home. She currently serves on the AmblesideOnline Advisory, teaches her beloved grandchildren, narrates books on Audible, and enjoys public speaking. She is also involved in church ministry, and she is actively pursuing several writing projects.