Lifelong Learning Courses


‘The Holy Trible’: Coordinated Readings from the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Qur’an

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

From a literary perspective, the Hebrew Bible, New Testament and Qur’an constitute an “Abrahamic scriptural trilogy” in which the later works build upon — and depend upon — the earlier works. Yet, although the paired “Old and New Testaments” are often read together (as “The Holy Bible”), the trilogy as a whole (which might be termed “The Holy Trible”) rarely is. This course will be devoted to the close reading and literary analysis of coordinated selections from all three of the major Abrahamic scriptures in an effort to better understand each of the works in its own right and in its relationships to the other two as well as the “Abrahamic scriptural trilogy” as a whole. No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. All readings and discussions will be in English. ◊ More →


“We Must Not Be Afraid To Be Free”: The Trials of George Anastaplo

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

George Anastaplo (1925-2014) has long been a legend for his decade-long Cold War fight against the State of Illinois’s refusal to admit the young World-War-II veteran to the practice of law on the basis of Anastaplo’s assertion of fundamental rights he believed enshrined in the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. This course will combine a study of Anastaplo’s case (from its obscure 1950 Chicago beginning through its famous 1961 U.S. Supreme Court culmination) with a study of Anastaplo’s views on American fundamental rights.  Readings will include key documents from the case at its various stages as well as selections from Anastaplo’s scholarly works on the U.S. Constitution (plus relevant historical documents), and will be supplemented by an audio recording of Anastaplo’s pro se oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court and the film Judgment at Nuremburg. This course is open to all. ◊ More →


“It Can’t Happen Here”? Sinclair Lewis on Tyranny in America

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

In a time when many believe that contemporary events are unfolding in ways that bode ill for the future, the dystopian classics of youth are the focus of renewed interest as possible guides to “what might happen”. This course will be devoted to a careful, mature consideration of one such classic, It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (the first American writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930) as we seek both to understand the text as a literary work originating in its own time and place and to glean possible insights into our own time and place. For the first class, please read chapters 1-13.
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(Cinematic) Visions of Christ

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > UNDERGRADUATE [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Although the very first depictions of Jesus were textual, pictorial representations of him were not far behind. At the turn of the 20th century, Jesus rose on the silver screen, first as simple recordings of theatrical “passion plays” and then as full-blown features depicting a wide variety of “Jesuses”. This course introduces students to the range of textual and cinematic depictions of Jesus by a close examination of a number of canonical and non-canonical gospels as well as of a number of major “Jesus movies”. ◊ More →


Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM / ZMM) Sidecar

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

This course is a synchronized supplement to a parallel reading of Robert Pirsig’s classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM / ZMM) and Plato’s Phaedrus. As such, it functions something like a sidecar to a motorcycle. The core sidecar readings include (selections from) works on Zen/Buddhism, a “guidebook” to Pirsig’s novel, the book whose title was the model for Pirsig’s title, and the philosophical text that first introduced Pirsig’s narrator to the “classic and romantic modes of reality and probably shaped these terms in his mind more than he ever knew.” Two bonus readings are the subject of a separate stand-alone session several weeks after the completion of both the primary and core sidecar readings. ◊ More →


21st-Century African-American Perspectives on Race

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Through close reading and discussion of a number of modern classics this course will seek to better understand two lines of African-American thinking about racism today. The more mainstream, “liberal” school of thought contends that America has always been — and is still today — a fundamentally racist nation. The less known, “conservative” school of thought contends not only that America has made great racial progress, but that the greatest obstacle to further progress is the “liberal” narrative itself. Readings includes works by Derrick Bell, Shelby Steele, Ta-Nehisi Coates, John McWhorter, Ibram Kendi, and Glenn Loury. Prior to the first class, please do the readings indicated on the syllabus and watch the 2020 documentary What Killed Michael Brown? … with as much “critical empathy” for each work as possible. ◊ More →


A Matter of Black and White: 20th Century Perspectives on Race

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Inspired by W.E.B. DuBois’s famous thesis that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line”, this course will try to understand a variety of 20th-century perspectives on race through a sympathetic examination of a selection of classic works of fiction, nonfiction, and cinema by authors and directors Black and White, including: DuBois himself, Rudyard Kipling, Frantz Fanon, Thomas Dixon, Jr., James Baldwin, and Joseph Conrad, as well as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Prior to the first class, please do the short readings and watch D.W. Griffith’s (in)famous 1915 silent film, The Birth of a Nation … from a perspective as “critically empathic” as possible. ◊ More →


Abraham in Ancient Texts

COURSES > LIFELONG

Although many people today think of Genesis as our primary (or only) source of “information” about Abraham, this is not the case.  On the contrary, a range of ancient authors wrote about Abraham from a range of perspectives.  Indeed, a few ancient authors even wrote as if they were Abraham.  This course will examine a range of these ancient Abrahams by reading excerpts a number of texts from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions (including: Genesis, The Book of Jubilees, The Testament of Abraham, Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, essays by Philo of Alexandria, Romans, Galatians, the Koran, and Tales of the Prophets) in order to better appreciate both “the many faces of Abraham” and the various uses to which Abraham has been put.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. ◊ More →


African-American Classics

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Although issues of race and slavery have long been a prominent subject of American writing, the classic works of African-American authors are often unknown beyond the African-American community. This course will examine a selection of such classics in order to understand the works themselves, the canon of which they form a part and their relationship to comparable Euro-American works. Texts will include: David Walker’s Appeal, Frederick Douglass’s autobiographical Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, W.E.B. DuBois’s The Souls of Black Folk, and more. ◊ More →


An Introduction to Sigmund Freud

COURSES > LIFELONG

As one of the great turn-of-the-century thinkers, Sigmund Freud’s development of psychoanalytic theory and practice forever changed the way people – even people who disagreed with him – looked at the human mind.  This course will provide an introduction to Freud’s life and views through a careful reading and discussion of three of his works: An Autobiographical Study, The Interpretation of Dreams (selections), and Moses and MonotheismNo prior experience of any kind is required. ◊ More →


Apologies of Socrates and Gospels of Jesus

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > CONGREGATION | COURSES > ONLINE
[→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

The lives and deaths of Socrates and Jesus had some remarkable parallels. Both were charismatic teachers claiming to be on divine missions. Both were executed by the ruling elites they challenged. And both were vindicated in the writings of their disciples. This course will explore these and other parallels by reading and discussing two Apologies (Defenses) of Socrates, one by Xenophon and one by Plato, and a number of gospels, some that made it into the New Testament and some that didn’t. In addition to examining the teachings of each figure, we will consider how each one’s calling and legacy is portrayed in the various accounts. The two Apologies of Socrates will be supplemented by selected other dialogues by Xenophon and Plato related to the death of Socrates. ◊ More →


Arts of Affluence [1]: Wealth and the American Dream

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

For better or worse, one version of the American Dream has long equated “success” with “material wealth”. This course will explore that equation through the close reading and discussion of important fiction and non-fiction works from America’s Gilded Age and the consideration of two films on wealth in America (Citizen Kane by Orson Welles and Born Rich by Jamie Johnson). Texts will include: Horatio Alger’s Ragged Dick, Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby as well as Andrew Carnegie’s “The Gospel of Wealth”, and Thorsten Veblen’s The Theory of the Leisure Class. ◊ More →


Arts of Affluence [2]: (Passive) Investing on Wall Street

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Modern financial research suggests that investing success is generally unrelated to investing skill — and therefore that the best way to “win” the investing “game” is not to “play” it at all. This course will examine the “passive investing thesis” through the close reading and discussion of contemporary investing classics alongside a consideration of Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street. Texts will include: Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, Burton Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street and William Bernstein’s The Four Pillars of Investing. ◊ More →


Arts of Affluence [3]: Families and Inheritance (Planning)

COURSES > LIFELONG

Family legacies often have unintended consequences. Through the close reading and discussion of fiction and non-fiction works and the consideration of two films,  this course will explore the types and consequences of family legacies and consider the ways in which such legacies can be designed to help and not hurt. Texts will include: Hughes’s Family Wealth, Hausner and Freeman’s The Legacy Family, Williams and Preisser’s Philanthropy, Heirs and Values and Condon and Condon’s Beyond the Grave as well as Booth Tarkington’s The Magnificent Ambersons, Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and William Shakespeare’s King Lear. ◊ More →


Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults: YEAR 1

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Founded in 1946, the University of Chicago’s Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults is a structured, four-year, non-credit curriculum in which students read and discuss the classics of the Western traditions under the guidance of experienced staff instructors. Readings span ancient Greece and ancient Israel to modern Europe and America and include works of philosophy, drama, fiction, poetry, politics, and history. These works present a variety of perspectives on enduring human questions, such as: What is justice and how can we best achieve it? What does it mean to live a good human life? What is truth, does it exist, and how do we find it? ◊ More →


Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults: YEAR 2

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Founded in 1946, the University of Chicago’s Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults is a structured, four-year, non-credit curriculum in which students read and discuss the classics of the Western traditions under the guidance of experienced staff instructors. Readings span ancient Greece and ancient Israel to modern Europe and America and include works of philosophy, drama, fiction, poetry, politics, and history. These works present a variety of perspectives on enduring human questions, such as: What is justice and how can we best achieve it? What does it mean to live a good human life? What is truth, does it exist, and how do we find it? ◊ More →


Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults: YEAR 3

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES ONLINE [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Founded in 1946, the University of Chicago’s Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults is a structured, four-year, non-credit curriculum in which students read and discuss the classics of the Western traditions under the guidance of experienced staff instructors. Readings span ancient Greece and ancient Israel to modern Europe and America and include works of philosophy, drama, fiction, poetry, politics, and history. These works present a variety of perspectives on enduring human questions, such as: What is justice and how can we best achieve it? What does it mean to live a good human life? What is truth, does it exist, and how do we find it? ◊ More →


Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults: YEAR 4

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURES > ONLINE [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Founded in 1946, the University of Chicago’s Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults is a structured, four-year, non-credit curriculum in which students read and discuss the classics of the Western traditions under the guidance of experienced staff instructors. Readings span ancient Greece and ancient Israel to modern Europe and America and include works of philosophy, drama, fiction, poetry, politics, and history. These works present a variety of perspectives on enduring human questions, such as: What is justice and how can we best achieve it? What does it mean to live a good human life? What is truth, does it exist, and how do we find it? ◊ More →


Co-Evolution of Christianity and (Rabbinic) Judaism

COURSES > LIFELONG

Although “Christianity” is often thought of as a younger religion than “Judaism”, Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity actually co-evolved from a common Second Temple starting point and thus stand to one another as “sisters” rather than as “mother-and-daughter”.  This course will trace the parallel development of these two Abrahamic religions through an examination of a selection of primary and secondary texts in order to better understand each in its own right and in relation to the other, as well as their relationship to their common precursor.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. ◊ More →


Could It Happen Here? Now? Dystopian Novels for Our Time

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

In a time when many believe that contemporary events are unfolding in ways that bode ill for the future, the dystopian classics of youth are the focus of renewed interest as possible guides to “what might happen”. This course will be devoted to a careful, mature consideration of four such classics as we seek both to understand each text as a literary work originating in its own time and place and to glean possible insights into our own time and place. The texts are: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World; Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here; George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four; and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. ◊ More →


Dead Sea Scrolls

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > CONGREGATION [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Although discovered in the late 1940s, the Dead Sea Scrolls — a collection of Judaic texts dating from roughly 200 BCE to 100 CE — have only recently become fully available to scholars and the public.  In this course, we will explore these ancient documents both by reading a selection of them (as well as secondary texts that put them in context) and by comparing them to traditional biblical texts from the same era.  In addition to seeking an appreciation of the scrolls themselves, we will also seek greater understanding of various strands of thought current at the dawn of both rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. ◊ More →


Delivered from Destruction: The Bible’s Exodus and Virgil’s Aeneid

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Origin or foundation epics are common to many cultures. In this course we will examine two such epics side-by-side: the Exodus epic (Exodus-Joshua) from the Bible, in which the Israelites are transformed from slaves in Egypt into masters in Canaan, and Virgil’s Aeneid, in which the vanquished at Troy are transformed into the victors at (what will become) Rome. Through careful consideration of both stories we will seek to better understand each epic in its own right as well as what the two stories have in common and what makes each story unique. ◊ More →


Divine Epics [1]: Hebrew Bible, Iliad, and Qur’an

COURSES > LIFELONG

This course is a rare opportunity to compare three foundational texts that are usually read independently or in pairs, yielding surprising insights into the texts and ourselves. Reading the Hebrew Bible with the Iliad illuminates the polytheistic elements of the Bible and the ways modern readers are conditioned to misread it as a purely monotheistic work. Reading the Qur’an alongside the Hebrew Bible illuminates the Biblical foundations of the Qur’an and the reasons many readers of the Bible assume the Qur’an “got it all wrong.” Through close, coordinated readings participants will understand three divine epics in a new light. ◊ More →


Divine Epics [2]: Homer and the Bible

COURSES > LIFELONG

This course is a rare opportunity to compare four foundational texts that are usually read independently or in pairs, yielding surprising insights into the texts and ourselves. Beyond extending an existing story, sequels comment upon, reinterpret, and at times even repudiate the events and values of the original. This course examines the Odyssey as a sequel to the Iliad and the New Testament as a sequel to the Hebrew Bible in an effort to understand the later works both as independent works and in terms of their vital relationship to their predecessors. ◊ More →


Divine Epics [3]: The Qur’an and The Aeneid

COURSES > LIFELONG [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Both the Aeneid and the Qur’an can be viewed as the culmination of divine trilogies — the Aeneid completes the story begun in the Iliad and Odyssey, and the Qur’an follows the Hebrew Bible and New Testament (or, more precisely: the Torah and the Gospel).  This course will examine these “sequels,” both as independent works and in terms of their relationships to their precursors.  In addition, we will also compare and contrast Virgil’s account of the “Trojan exodus” of Aeneas, which culminates in the foundation of Rome, with the Exodus from Egypt, which culminates in the foundation of Israel. ◊ More →


Does Humanity Have a Death Wish? Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Although most famously known for his “erotic” theories that postulated a fundamental human drive for sex, reproduction and the continuation of life itself, during the period between the two world wars Sigmund Freud began to consider whether or not humanity also had a fundamental drive for self-destruction — a drive that was exacerbated by the conditions of modern, civilized life. After a brief introduction to Freud’s seminal theory of the human mind, this course will focus on a close reading and discussion of one of Freud’s last books, Civilization and Its Discontents, paying particular attention to Freud’s claim that “the fateful question for the human species seems to me to be whether [they] will succeed in mastering the disturbance of their communal life by the human instinct of aggression and self-destruction.” ◊ More →


East Meets West: Islam

COURSES > LIFELONG

No description available. ◊ More →


Forming Christianity: Selected Texts of Early Christianity

COURSES > LIFELONG

Although “Christianity” is often thought to have been part of God’s plan from the beginning of time, the historical emergence of religions centered on Jesus Christ looks in hindsight to have been anything but foreordained.  On the contrary, the emergence of “Christian Judaism” and its transformation into “Jewish Christianity” and beyond entailed several hundred years of creative and contentious development by a number of schools of proto-Christian thought.  In this course, we will examine the formation of what we know today as Christianity through a close reading of early Christian texts — some of which made it into the victors’ New Testament and some of which did not. ◊ More →


Freud on the Human Condition

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Although Freud has been primarily known for his theories of individual psychology, Freud himself never saw his work in such narrow terms. Rather, Freud constantly strove to develop a comprehensive theory of the human condition by using his psychology to explain fundamental features of human evolution, history and modern social life. In this course, we will approach Freud’s worldview, which often equated children, neurotics, “primitives” and proto-humans, through some of his lesser-read works which put his psychological theories in a larger context. ◊ More →


George Orwell’s 1984

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

You read it as a kid. Now understand it as an adult. You’ll be sorry when you’re done (but in a good way). Please read Part One prior to the first class.
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Hannah and Hitler

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

The causes and consequences of the rise and fall of Nazi totalitarianism are arguably among the most important lessons of the 20th century. This course will grapple with these issues through close readings of Hannah Arendt’s controversial classics The Origins of Totalitarianism and Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil alongside Adolph Hitler’s notorious Mein Kampf. Prior to the first class, please read the short assignments noted in the syllabus and watch Charlie Chaplin’s famous 1940 film, The Great Dictator. (Please do not watch any of the other films used later in the course.) ◊ More →


How to Read Classic Texts

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

One of the foundational premises of the Basic Program is that reading is a skill. And that like many skills, one can get better at reading through theoretically-informed practice. In this short course, we will examine the theoretical perspective on good reading contained in Mortimer Adler’s famous How to Read a Book, which we will practice through a close examination of the beginnings of a range of classic texts. After all, if we don’t understand the beginning of a work, how can we hope to understand the ending? ◊ More →


How to Read Plato’s Dialogues as Literature

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! ◊ More →


How to Read Religious Texts as Literature

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Like its counterpart “How to Read Classic Texts,” this course aims to help students improve their reading skills as they approach reading religious texts as literature. ◊ More →


How to Read the Book of Genesis as Literature

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.” ◊ More →


How to Read the U.S. Constitution as Literature

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. ◊ More →


Hubris and Empire: Livy on the Early History of Rome

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

The Roman Empire is frequently evoked as a cautionary tale for modern America. Rising from humble beginnings, Rome dominated the western world for over 600 years before falling to barbarian hordes and its own dysfunction. As a Republic, Rome developed institutions based on law and justice that were used by the Founding Fathers of the United States as models for their own government, but which may also have contained the seeds of their own destruction. In this course we will read and discuss the first five books of Livy’s history, Ab Urbe Condita (From the Founding of the City), often known in English as The History of Rome. These books begin with the semi-mythical founding of Rome by Romulus and chronicle the early development Republic. Through his discussion of early Rome, Livy also gives us a commentary on the contemporary upheavals that he witnessed during his own lifetime as Rome moved from Republic to Empire under Julius and Augustus Caesar. ◊ More →


In the Face of Adversity: Homer’s Odyssey and the Bible’s Job

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

The twin foundations of “Western” civilization are often thought to be the Classical tradition of ancient Greece and Rome on the one hand, and the Biblical tradition of ancient Israel on the other. In this course, we’ll explore how “Athens” and “Jerusalem” addressed the common human predicament of adversity through the close reading of a key text from each: Homer’s Odyssey and the Bible’s Book of Job. Along the way, we’ll consider the literary, philosophical, and religious aspects in an attempt to understand each work in its own right as well the similarities and differences between them. ◊ More →


Jesus for Jews (and Others)

COURSES > LIFELONG

Although the figure of Jesus has permeated Western culture for nearly 2,000 years, many Jews and other non-Christians find the figure of Jesus a problematic one, difficult to study and comprehend. As a result, many of the great Western works that presuppose a sympathetic understanding of Jesus remain opaque. This course provides a sympathetic introduction to the figure of Jesus as well as an exploration of some of the challenges that Jews in particular often face in dealing with Christianity’s appropriation of one of Israel’s greatest sons. Readings from the Bible will be supplemented by Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. ◊ More →


Lost Books of the New Testament

COURSES > LIFELONG

Although 27 books were included in the fourth century anthology known as the New Testament, early Christians produced a great many more books considered sacred by various communities.  Among these other books were additional gospels, acts of the apostles, epistles and apocalypses.  In this course, we will read and discuss a selection of the surviving “lost books” that did not make it into the Bible (as well as several of the canonical books that did) in order to get a sense of the works themselves, the similarities and differences among them and between them and the canonical works, and of the process that led to the creation of the Christian canon. ◊ More →


Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed

COURSES > LIFELONG

Perhaps the greatest medieval Jewish philosopher, Moses Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed is a scholastic attempt to reconcile the “revelation” of the Torah and the “reason” of Aristotelian philosophy.  This class will be devoted to reading the Guide in an attempt to gain insight in the both Maimonides’ perspective and the general issues he raises. ◊ More →


Manifestations of the Kabbalah: The Zohar

COURSES > LIFELONG

Along with the Bible and the Talmud, The Zohar was one of the pillars of medieval Judaism.  Unlike those earlier works, however, The Zohar (or “The Splendor”) purports to provide a mystical path to God.  This class will read and discuss portions of The Zohar, in order to both learn about Kabbalah and about the connections between this and the other pillars of Judaism.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. ◊ More →


Nag Hammadi Library

COURSES > LIFELONG

Sometimes described as the “Dead Sea Scrolls of Christianity”, the Nag Hammadi Library is a collection of primarily Gnostic Christian texts produced early in the Christian era and re-discovered in 1945 near the town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt. In this course we will read extensive selections of these texts (with the help of secondary sources that put them in context) in an effort to understand and appreciate a puzzling “heretical” form of early Christianity, both in its own right and in relation to orthodox Christianity.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. ◊ More →


One-Day Hebrew Bible

COURSES > LIFELONG [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

This seminar is an opportunity to consider the Hebrew Bible in a relaxed yet focused environment. What exactly is this work and where did it come from? Who wrote it? What are the main ideas contained in it? This one-day course will discuss these and other questions through a hands-on introduction to, and an overview of, one of the cornerstones of Western civilization and the “Abrahamic religions.” No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required, although completion of the advance readings is expected. The reading assignment will be posted online at least one month before the seminar date. ◊ More →


One-Day New Testament

COURSES > LIFELONG [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

This seminar is an opportunity to consider the New Testament in a relaxed yet focused environment. What exactly is this work and where did it come from? Who wrote it? What are the main ideas contained in it? This one-day course will discuss these and other questions through a hands-on introduction to, and an overview of, one of the cornerstones of Western civilization and the “Abrahamic religions.” No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required, although completion of the advance readings is expected. The reading assignment will be posted online at least one month before the seminar date. ◊ More →


One-Day Qur’an

COURSES > LIFELONG [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

This seminar is an opportunity to consider the Qur’an in a relaxed yet focused environment. What exactly is this work and where did it come from? Who wrote it? What are the main ideas contained in it? This one-day course will discuss these and other questions through a hands-on introduction to, and an overview of, one of the cornerstones of Western civilization and the “Abrahamic religions.” No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required, although completion of the advance readings is expected. The reading assignment will be posted online at least one month before the seminar date. ◊ More →


One-Day Three Traditions

COURSES > LIFELONG

This daylong seminar is a short, intensive exploration of the common and contrasting themes of the three Abrahamic scriptures: the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur’an. Selections from these works, which are rarely read together, will be read by participants before the seminar begins. Then specific passages will be compared, contrasted, and discussed, allowing participants to discover the different views of important subjects in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The result is an exploration of key concepts such as “justice,” “mercy,” and “true religion,” and an understanding of critical similarities and differences among these three bodies of literature.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required, although completion of the advance readings is expected. The reading assignment will be posted online at least one month before the seminar date. ◊ More →


Pirsig’s Progress: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as a Modern Spiritual Journey

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Since its publication in 1974, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (ZAMM) has been widely hailed as a modern classic as well as a work that defies conventional characterization. Part novel, part diary, part manifesto, ZAMM relates the thoughts and experiences of a philosophically-oriented unnamed middle-aged narrator as he progresses along a number of simultaneous personal journeys, all of which facilitate an overarching spiritual journey toward wholeness and wellness. Overall, though, ZAMM appears to be a special kind of “Chautauqua” designed to induce analogous journeys in readers. This course will undertake the ZAMM journey through close reading and discussion of this modern masterpiece along with related Platonic dialogues that lurk in the background. ◊ More →


Qur’an

COURSES > LIFELONG

Considered the record of the revealed word of God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel, the Quran is the third great scripture of the Semitic tradition and the foundation of all forms of Islam.  In this course we will read the Quran (as well as supplementary readings) to gain an initial understanding of the book, its perspectives on important concepts such as the nature of god and man, divine judgment, prophecy and history, the ideal society, the proper relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, jihad (“holy war” or “exertion”) and more.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. ◊ More →


Reading Prometheus Bound and Frankenstein … Twice!

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. ◊ More →


Reading Descartes’s Meditations … Twice!

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. ◊ More →


Reading Machiavelli and Macbeth … Twice!

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is sometimes read as a rebuttal of Machiavelli’s Prince. We’ll explore this notion by using the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book, to read each work 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, and political aspects of each classic work as well as the relationships between the two. ◊ More →


Reading Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals … Twice!

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 Plato’s Republic … Twice!

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 Plato’s Republic 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 Plato interweaves to create a Socratic “one man show” (think Fonda as Darrow or Holbrook as Twain) “on justice”. Whether you’ve attempted the Republic before or never cracked the cover, this course is for you. Please skim Books 1-4 of the Republic before the first class session. You may also want to read Adler’s How to Read a Book before or during the course but that is not required.
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Reading Rousseau’s Origin and Foundations of Inequality … Twice!

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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Reading Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice … Twice!

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. ◊ More →


Reading the Washington-DuBois Debate … Twice!

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.
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Shakespeare and His Others: Comparisons across Time and Space

COURSES > LIFELONG [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Reading Shakespeare’s plays in the context of similar plays by other great (and not-so-great) playwrights allows one to better appreciate the genius of both Shakespeare and his “others”.  In this course we will look at four pairs of plays in order to examine the similarities and differences in each pairing as we seek to understand the plays themselves in particular and “Shakespeare” in general.  After beginning with The Merchant of Venice and the contemporaneous The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe, we will consider Romeo and Juliet in conjunction with Nizami’s rendering of the medieval Arabian/Persian love story of Layla and Majnun and Antony and Cleopatra in conjunction with Kalidasa’s medieval Indian play The Recognition of Sakuntala.  We will conclude with a close reading of Hamlet alongside Tom Stoppard’s modern Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. ◊ More →


Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice as Christian Comedy

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > CONGREGATION | COURSES > ONLINE

Although modern interpretations of The Merchant of Venice often focus on the play’s characterization and treatment of the Jewish moneylender Shylock, both the play’s title and plot suggest that Shakespeare’s focus was on the Christian merchant Antonio. Through a careful reading and discussion of Shakespeare’s play in conjunction with selections both from Christopher Marlowe’s roughly contemporaneous The Jew of Malta and from the New Testament, this course will explore Shakespeare’s exaltation of “graceful Christianity” in both the major and minor plot threads of one of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays. ◊ More →


Shakespeare’s “Letter to the Ephesians”: The Comedy of Errors as a “Christianized” (Not “Plagiarized”) Pagan Play

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Perhaps because it is one of Shakespeare’s earliest and “lightest” plays, The Comedy of Errors has long been understood primarily as little more than an Elizabethan re-telling of an ancient Roman farce, The Brothers Meneachumus by Plautus. By reading Shakespeare’s work in conjunction with Plautus’s and also Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, however, this course will explore the possibility that Shakespeare not only modernized Plautus’s play but also (and more importantly) Christianized it, thereby giving The Comedy of Errors a much deeper significance than is generally realized. ◊ More →


Socrates Who Does (Not) Know: Gorgias, Charmides, Laches, Lysis

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Although Socrates has become iconic for “knowing that he doesn’t know”, only some of Plato’s dialogues actually cast Socrates in this light.  Other dialogues portray a Socrates who seems to know a great deal about a great deal (including love, politics, virtue and the afterlife).  In this course we will examine important dialogues of both types.  On the one hand we will read and discuss “aporetic” or “inconclusive” dialogues about the nature of temperance (Charmides), courage (Laches) and friendship (Lysis).  On the other we will consider Plato’s great Gorgias in which Socrates practically preaches for one particular notion of the good life. ◊ More →


Sweet Homer, Chicago: A Summer Reading of the Iliad

COURSES > LIFELONG

Homer’s Iliad has inspired audiences for nearly 3,000 years. This course will provide students with a rigorous but relaxed opportunity to study this seminal epic through close reading and discussion. Students will better understand the work itself, the culture that produced it, and the Iliad’s role as the “starting point” for all that came after. ◊ More →


Taking Judaism to the Gentiles: Josephus, Philo and Paul

COURSES > LIFELONG

At the end of the Second Temple period, Judaism was well on its way to becoming the dominant religion of the Roman Empire as Jews, “half-Jews”, and “God-fearers” worshipped the God of Israel in various ways and to various degrees.  Thus, like Hellenism before it, Judaism was (mentally) conquering its (political) conquerors.  In this course we will read selections from the works of three Hellenized Jews who lived around the time of Jesus and who were instrumental in “taking Judaism to the Gentiles” — and thus paving the way for the later rise and triumph of Christianity: (1) Josephus, a priest-general turned historian-apologist who participated in the Jewish revolt against Rome; (2) Philo of Alexandria, a leading figure in one of the leading communities of the Jewish Diaspora who attempted to reconcile Jewish religion and Greek philosophy; and (3) Paul (also known as Saul) who — despite often being thought of as a “Christian” — arguably lived and died thinking of himself as a Jew engaged in propagating what he understood to be the full, final flowering of Judaism. ◊ More →


Talmud

COURSES > LIFELONG

This course will provide a brief introduction to one of the most important — and yet one of the least accessible and least read — texts of the Jewish tradition.  After a brief overview of the origin and history of this monumental work, the course will focus on reading and discussing a few important sections and considering their connection with the Hebrew Bible.  No background knowledge of any kind is required. ◊ More →


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

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. ◊ More →


The Nature of Knowledge: Plato’s Theaetetus and Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

In an age of “alternative facts”, it is perhaps worthwhile to revisit the foundational texts that have helped establish a longstanding conviction that some “facts” are more equal than others. This course will be devoted to a close consideration of two such texts: Plato’s ancient dialogue Theaetetus and Descartes’s modern monologue Meditations on First Philosophy. In the first, Socrates and his interlocutors examine three different notions of knowledge (and Socrates proclaims himself a “midwife of the soul”). In the second, Descartes claims to demonstrate the indisputable truth of (a) the existence of God and of (b) the existence of the immortal human soul — not to mention of (c) the existence of himself (because he thinks). In addition to seeking to understand each text on its own terms, we will compare and contrast them as alternative approaches to “certain knowledge”. ◊ More →


The Trial and Death of Socrates

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

The trial and death of Socrates is perhaps one of the most (in)famous events of philosophical martyrdom in Western history. As such it bears and repays close and repeated study in order to understand exactly who and what Socrates was, what happened to him, and what (if any) lessons the ancient event holds for our time. With such goals in mind, this course is devoted to a close reading and discussion of the four Platonic dialogues that revolve directly around the momentous events: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. ◊ More →


To Be, or Not to Be, a Victim? Reading Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy … Twice!

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Developed with South African apartheid and Northern Ireland’s “Troubles” in mind, Seamus Heaney’s adaptation of Sophocles’ Philoctetes explores the all-too-human tendency towards self-pity as an obstacle to communal reconciliation. Using the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book, this course, we’ll read Heaney’s play 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 dramatic, psychological, and philosophical features of a text that is frequently quoted by American politicians. ◊ More →


Tragedy and Comedy of Shakespeare: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice

COURSES > LIFELONG

As perhaps the greatest dramatist in the English language, Shakespeare was noted for both his tragedies (plays with unhappy endings) and his comedies (plays with happy endings. In this course we will carefully read and discuss one of each in an effort to understand each play in its own right as well as what made Shakespeare “Shakespeare” in general. The tragedy selection will be Hamlet (perhaps one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays) and The Merchant of Venice (perhaps one of his most misunderstood ones). No prior experience of any kind is required. ◊ More →


Two Feminisms: De Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind

COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > ONLINE

Writing just before and just after the second world war, Margaret Mitchell and Simone de Beauvoir depicted two types of feminism in two types of text. De Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) combines source data to make an explicit philosophical case for what might be called “progressive feminism”, while Mitchell’s romance Gone With the Wind (1936) makes an implicit case for what might be called “reactionary feminism” through its depiction of Scarlett O’Hara’s coming of age during and after the Civil War. The course will explore both works in an effort to understand each in its own right as well to appreciate the similarities and differences between the two feminisms. Please do the assigned readings listed on the syllabus prior to the first class session.
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Why They Hate Us: Cinematic Visions of ‘The Other Side’

COURSES > LIFELONG [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

“O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!”
– Robert Burns, “To a Louse” (1786)

Since September 11, one of the pressing questions of our time has been: why do “they” (Arabs? Muslims? Terrorists?) hate “us” (America? The West? Infidels?). Is it because they hate our freedoms? Or because they want to share our freedoms and hate our policies? Or something else? Through a careful consideration of 6 films (some made by “us”, some made by “them”) supplemented by selected readings (including al Qaeda communiqués), we will seek, in Robert Burns’s words, “to see oursels as ithers see us”. ◊ More →


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