Coming Online Events
One-day ONSITE seminar tuition is $125 per person. Any contribution above $125 is classified as a tax-deductible donation. Special events have differing tuition. Scholarships are available for teachers and students. Or, become a subscriber in the Community of Lifelong Learners for $40 per month for unlimited attendance at on-site and online events, or $25 per month for only ONLINE events.
Please inquire via email here.
Ongoing Online Weekly Intensives
Online Seminar Series - NOW ENROLLING
Selections from Philosophical Investigations
by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Thursday Evenings - January 6 to 27
“Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.”
Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein was published posthumously in 1953. Within the analytic tradition, the book is considered by many as being one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century, putting forth the view that conceptual confusions surrounding language use are at the root of most philosophical problems. The book paved the way for philosophy in the middle of the twentieth century and continues to influence contemporary philosophers working in the philosophy of language and mind.
“Language is a labyrinth of paths. You approach from one side and know your way about; you approach the same place from another side and no longer know your way about.” We invite you join us as we explore this challenging and highly influential work.
These four online seminars will take place on Thursday evenings, 5:30-7:30PM Pacific Time. All reading materials (in English translation) will be supplied and our seminar leader will be Walter Sterling of St. John’s College. The group will be limited to 14 participants and no prior knowledge is required. Teachers will be offered 2 CEU credits for participation as requested.
Online Seminar Series - NOW ENROLLING
On the Soul by Aristotle
Tuesday Afternoons - January 11 to February 15
What is the Soul?
What does it mean to be a natural living thing? Are plants, animals, and people alive simply because of an arrangement of their material parts, or does life spring from something else? Is the soul (psyche) the cause of life, and what are the nutritive, sensational, motional, and intellectual powers of the soul? Is the soul of a living being essentially its form, over the body? Aristotle presents a view that avoids the simplification of both material minimalism as well as the soul as something distant from the body. But in the soul, are there any aspects in it that might endure beyond the end of the body? We invite you to join us for these six weekly Tuesday lunchtime meetings, beginning January 11, as we engage with this intriguing and challenging work.
“For if the eye were an animal, the soul of it would be its sight…”
These six online seminars will take place on Tuesday afternoons, 12:00-1:30PM Pacific Time.
All reading materials (in English translation) will be supplied and sessions will be facilitated by tutors experienced in shared inquiry and the Socratic method. Groups will be limited to 14 participants and no prior knowledge is required. Teachers will be offered 2 CEU credits for participation as requested.
Change of Date:
Online Seminar Series - NOW ENROLLING
The Century Cycle by August Wilson
Thursday Afternoons - February 17 - April 21
August Wilson - "the theater's poet of Black America"
Like Odysseus conjuring stories from the Underworld in The Odyssey, the characters in August Wilson’s plays conjure stories out of the centuries-long experience that made the Atlantic Ocean, as one of those characters tells us, “the biggest unmarked graveyard in the world.” Wilson’s plays are unique in American letters and language. Indeed, they are almost singular in English. There has been no project like his Century Cycle in the history of the English language, aside from Shakespeare’s history plays, which count about the same number and (excluding an outlier or two) cover a period of national experience of roughly comparable length.
August Wilson (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He is best known for a series of ten plays, named The Century Cycle, which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. His works delve into the African American experience as well as examinations of the human condition. Winner of two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, and nominated for Academy and Primetime Emmy Awards, this collection of plays are each set in a different decade and aim to sketch the Black experience in the 20th century and "raise consciousness through theater" and echo "the poetry in the everyday language of black America".
These ten online seminars will take place on Thursday afternoons, 12:00-2:00PM Pacific Time. Our tutor will be Eric Stull. Participants will received a beautiful hardcover ten-play collection as part of the tuition. Groups will be limited to 14 participants and no prior knowledge is required. Teachers will be offered 3 CEU credits for participation as requested, and partial scholarships are available.
This Ten-Week Series is $500. Community of Lifelong Learners subscribers receive a discount of $50 through a refund. Payment options are available.
Online Seminar Series - NOW MEETING
Greek Intensive Section Three: Plato and Aristotle
Thursday Evenings - September 16 to December 16
Isocrates, the Greek rhetorician, once remarked that what makes one an Athenian is not the blood that runs through one’s veins, but the ideas in one’s mind. How can we access this ancient world, with some aspects so foreign and others so familiar, and discover foundations that changed the trajectory of civilization. This series is developed in four sections: 1) Gods and Epics, 2) Tragedy and Comedy, 3) Philosophy, 4) History. Attendees will gain a deep understanding of Greek life through some of its greatest authors, and will be better able to see the profound influence the Greeks have had on the entirety of the west and the world. Online seminars will take place on Thursday evenings, 5:30-7:30PM Pacific Time. Cohort Two (if attendance warrants) will take place on Tuesday evenings, 5:30-7:30PM Pacific Time.
All reading materials (in English translation) will be supplied and sessions will be facilitated by tutors experienced is shared inquiry and the Socratic method. Groups will be limited to 12 participants and no prior knowledge is required. Teachers will be offered 3 CEU credits for participation. The Four-Month Weekly Series is $600. Subscribers receive a $100 discount. Payment options are available.
Online Seminar Series - NOW MEETING
American History Intensive - Section Two: The Declaration of Independence to the Civil War
Wednesday Evenings -
September 29, 2021 to March 23, 2022.
Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America that “Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.” By most accounts, America is a profound experiment whose effect on the world cannot be overstated. Through a keen sense of destiny and a wealth of natural resources, the country has helped to transform political structures globally, as well as humankind’s vision of itself. The meaning of the “shot heard round the world" in 1775 is still unfolding, with no guarantee that a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” By varying degrees, the nation continues to strive to live up to its principles, and the struggle for equality for all its citizens continues to be a central difficulty.
Through the lenses of race, religion, politics, education, media, commerce, science, and culture, this series will explore the history of America through three four-month sections, and will attempt to find answers to our essential American questions: How can we describe the American Mind? What are the country’s core values and central tenets? Can those core values and central tenets endure? How has America’s role on the international stage changed over time?
Online seminars will take place on Wednesday evenings, 5:30-7:30PM Pacific Time. All reading materials will be supplied and sessions will be facilitated by tutors experienced is shared inquiry and the Socratic method. Groups will be limited to 12 participants and no prior knowledge is required. The Five-Month Weekly Series is $700 and is not included in the recurring subscription package, but subscribers receive a $100 discount. Payment options are available.
Online Seminar Series - NOW MEETING
The Brothers Karamazov Intensive -
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Every Other Wednesday Afternoon -
September 29, 2021 to April 6, 2022
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
Set in 19th-century Russia, The Brothers Karamazov is a passionate philosophical novel that enters deeply into questions of God, free will, and morality. It is a theological drama dealing with problems of faith, doubt and reason in the context of a modernizing Russia, with a plot that revolves around the subject of patricide. This book has been acclaimed as one of the supreme achievements in world literature.
These fourteen online seminars will take place on Wednesday afternoons, two weeks apart, September 29, 2021 - April 6, 2022 - 12:00-1:30PM Pacific Time. The book will be supplied and sessions will be facilitated by tutors experienced in shared inquiry and the Socratic method. Groups will be limited to 12 participants and no prior knowledge is required. Teachers will be offered 3 CEU credits for participation as requested. The Online Series is $350 and is not included in the recurring subscription package, but subscribers receive a $50 discount. Payment options are available.
Free Community Online Series
Free Online Community Seminar Series
The Foundations of Our Republic, Take II
Monday, December 6, 2021
What are the fundamental principles of our Republic? Are these principles based on a view of objective reality/nature, or simply the "consent of the governed"? Depending on how one addresses the previous question: Are these principles changeable, and if so on what grounds? How should one read the founding documents? What authority does the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary branches have? What are rights? Are they based on nature or consent? Are they inalienable? Please join us as we explore these political works through semi-monthly evening meetings.
The December 6 reading is:
Alexis de Tocqueville - Democracy in America
Volume One - Chapter 8 (final third)
Pages 246-276
Schedule:
5:30 - 6:30PM PST
Readings in the series:
Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, selected Federalist Papers, selected Anti-Federalist Papers, the U.S. Constitution, selections from Democracy in American, Dred Scott Decision and Dissenting View (edited), selected Lincoln speeches, Lincoln Douglass Debates (edited), Plessy v. Ferguson and Dissenting View (edited), Brown v. Board of Education, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Proposed Equal Rights Amendment, UN Declaration of Human Rights
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Free Online Community Seminar Series
The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome by Fustel de Coulanges
Thursday, December 9, 2021
The Ancient City (La Cité antique), published in 1864, is the most famous book of the French historian Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges. Based on texts of ancient historians and poets, the author investigates the origins of the most archaic institutions of Greek and Roman society. He warns of the error that lies in examining the habits of ancient people with reference to those of today, when it is necessary to avoid our biases and study ancient peoples in the light of the facts. Please join us as we explore this thought-provoking work through semi-monthly lunchtime meetings.
The December 9 reading is -
Book Five - Conclusion - Pages 315-342
Schedule:
12:00 - 1:30PM PST
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Upcoming Regular Events
Online Seminar Series
Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise by Toni Morrison
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Paradise is the third of three novels about love and African-American history. Morrison said that they are intended to be read together, explaining, "The conceptual connection is the search for the beloved – the part of the self that is you, and loves you, and is always there for you." In 1993, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
December 5 Reading:
Paradise - pages 81-138
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Patricia Locke
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Epistemology -
Posterior Analytics II (selections) by Aristotle
Saturday, December 11, 2021 (date change)
What can we say we know with certainty? What does it mean to say that we know something? How do we know what we know? How does knowledge differ from belief? This series will include works from Plato, Aristotle, Empiricus, Descartes, Hume, Nietzsche, Russell, Popper, and others.
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Carol Seferi
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Herodotus - The Histories - Book Nine (conclusion)
Sunday, December 12, 2021
Known as the Father of History, Herodotus offers a detailed record of his inquiry on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars. In his account there are also many strange stories, myths, and folk-tales, causing even his contemporary critics to find his account too fanciful. Thucydides described Herodotus as a primarily a storyteller. Still, a large portion of the information Herodotus provides has been confirmed by historians and archaeologists. Join us for this series as we delve into history, story, legend, and humanity.
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
David Appleby
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Lunchtime with Ulysses by James Joyce
Chapter Sixteen: Eumaeus (pages 501-543)
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
(The series will take place the first
Wednesday of each month)
Ulysses is considered among the most important works of modernist literature and one of the greatest literary works in history. The book chronicles the appointments and encounters of Leopold Bloom in Dublin in the course of an ordinary day, June 16, 1904. Ulysses contains structural correspondences between the characters and experiences of Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus, in addition to events and themes of the early 20th-century, Dublin, and Ireland's relationship to Britain. Because of the book’s complexity and use of allusion, we will also slowly work through helpful study guides. We invite you to join us on this long lunchtime journey as we slowly and carefully work through Ulysses, one or two chapters per month.
January 5 Reading:
Chapter Sixteen: Eumaeus (pages 501-543) of Ulysses by James Joyce
Optional: Eumaeus of James Joyce’s Ulysses - A Study by Stuart Gilbert,
Eumaeus of Ulysses Unbound by Terrence Kileen
Schedule:
12:00-1:30PM PST
Tutor:
Barry Rabe
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Is Natural Law Real? - Part III
Saturday, January 8, 2022
The term natural law is a little hazy. Is natural law simply a more authoritative version of positive law? And if that is true, how might we understand how the founders of the American republic came to believe in the proposition that we are all endowed with certain inalienable rights which are self-evident truths? Conversely, does science and civil law show us that there are no natural laws, rather only values?
If natural law is real is it grounded in the metaphysical or in something else? How do we reconcile the problems of the is and ought, skepticism, positivism, notions of right and wrong, teleology, scientism, the connection between virtue and happiness, and human dignity.
We invite you to join us as we attempt to clarify what natural law means. We will read and discuss works by Sophocles, Heraclitus, Protagoras, Thrasymachus (in Plato), Aristotle, Cicero, St. Augustine, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, the American founders, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr, as well as the The U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, among other works.
January 8 Reading:
Selections Plato's, Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, Hobbes' Leviathan, and Maritain's The Rights of Man and the Natural Law
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Carl Bobkoski
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
History Plays - Edward II by Christopher Marlowe
Sunday, January 9, 2022
"You must be proud, bold, pleasant, resolute,
And now and then stab as occasion serves."
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Eric Stull
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Anguish and the Absurd -
Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason by Michel Foucault - Chapters 6-10
Saturday, January 15, 2022
This series will explore the troubling world of the absurd through the writings of Kafka, Gogol, Camus, Sartre, Borges, Beckett, Bulgakov, and others.
January 15 Reading:
Madness and Civilization - Chapters 6-10
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutors:
Paul Herder and Andy Gilman
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise by Toni Morrison
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Paradise is the third of three novels about love and African-American history. Morrison said that they are intended to be read together, explaining, "The conceptual connection is the search for the beloved – the part of the self that is you, and loves you, and is always there for you." In 1993, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
January 16 Reading:
Paradise - pages 141-217
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Patricia Locke
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
by Galileo - Conclusion
Saturday, January 22, 2022
"I therefore concluded, and decided unhesitatingly, that there are three stars in the heavens moving about Jupiter, as Venus and Mercury about the Sun..."
January 22 Reading:
Third Day pp. 318-399
Fourth Day pp. 416-465
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Larry Shields
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.