Category Archives: Lifelong

Reading the Washington-DuBois Debate … Twice!

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Although Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois are typically understood as ideological adversaries, a close consideration of their thought can suggest similarities as well as differences. Using the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book, this course is devoted to developing a thorough understanding of the core debate by reading Up from Slavery and The Souls of Black Folk twice, once quickly to get an overview and then again more slowly to figure out the details. Along the way, we’ll pay careful attention to the literary, philosophical, sociohistorical, and political aspects of each classic work. Continue reading →

Reading Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice … Twice!

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Using the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book, this course is devoted to developing a thorough understanding of perhaps Shakespeare’s most controversial play, The Merchant of Venice, by reading it once quickly to get an overview and then again more slowly to figure out the details. Along the way, we’ll pay careful attention to both the dramatic and the religious features of the text, and also compare Shakespeare’s play with Christopher Marlowe’s contemporaneous The Jew of Malta. Continue reading →

Reading Rousseau’s Origin and Foundations of Inequality … Twice!

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Using the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book, this course is devoted to developing a solid understanding of Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality (aka: The Second Discourse) by reading it once quickly to get an overview and then again more slowly to figure out the details. Along the way, we’ll pay careful attention to the literary, religious, and philosophical features that are woven together in the Enlightenment’s greatest account of “The Fall of Man” and a work that helped paved the way for the French Revolution and the development of Communism.
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How to Read the U.S. Constitution as Literature

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Like its counterparts “How to Read Classic Texts” and “How to Read Religious Texts as Literature,” this course is designed to help students improve their reading skills. In this case, by learning how to read the United States Constitution as “literature” rather than as “law” — and thereby discover new layers of meaning in what often seems like an old chestnut. Continue reading →

Reading Descartes’s Meditations … Twice!

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Using the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book, this course is devoted to developing a thorough understanding of Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy by reading it once quickly to get an overview and then again more slowly to figure out the details. Along the way, we’ll pay careful attention to both the dramatic and the philosophic features that Descartes interweaves in this philosophical creation story. Whether you’ve attempted Descartes’s Meditations before or never cracked the cover, this course is for you. Continue reading →

How to Read Plato’s Dialogues as Literature

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Like its counterparts in the “How to Read Classic Texts” series, this course is designed to help students improve their reading skills. In this case, by learning how to read Plato’s dialogues as “philosophical dramas,” the full appreciation of which requires attention to each work’s dramatic and philosophical dimensions (sometimes referred to as “form” and “content”) — as well as (sometimes) to its connections to other dialogues in Plato’s canon. Discover what folks who read Plato’s dialogues as thinly-veiled manifestoes are missing! Continue reading →

How to Read the Book of Genesis as Literature

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Like its counterparts “How to Read Classic Texts” series, this course is designed to help students improve their reading skills. In this case, by learning how to read the Book of Genesis as “literature” rather than as “scripture,” thereby unlocking new layers of meaning. We’ll focus both on paying close attention to the actual text on the page, and on becoming self-aware of the unconscious biases that we bring to this foundational book, as well as to the rest of “The Bible.” Continue reading →

Reading Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals … Twice!

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Using the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book, this course is devoted to developing a thorough understanding of Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals by reading it once quickly to get an overview and then again more slowly to figure out the details. Along the way, we’ll pay careful attention to both the dramatic and the philosophic features that Nietzsche interweaves in this “polemic”. Whether you’ve attempted Nietzsche’s Genealogy before or never cracked the cover, this course is for you.
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Reading Prometheus Bound and Frankenstein … Twice!

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Although Mary Shelley subtitled her most famous work “The Modern Prometheus,” few modern readers consider her novel in light of its ancient antecedent. This course will explore the full significance of Shelley’s Frankenstein by reading it closely in conjunction with a close reading of Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. We’ll use the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book of reading each work once quickly to get an overview and then again more slowly to figure out the details as we attempt to understand each work in its own right as well as the relationships between them. Continue reading →

The Foundation of Free Speech? John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Often cited as one of the most celebrated defenses of free speech ever written, John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty makes its case on the basis of utility rather than natural rights. But is Mill’s argument sound? We’ll attempt to find out as we consider his argument in detail. Please read chapter 1 prior to the first class. Continue reading →