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
American History Intensive - Section One: The Colonial Experience to the Declaration of Independence
Wednesday Evenings - April 21 to August 4.
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?
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. The Four-Month Weekly Series is $600 and is not included in the recurring subscription package, but subscribers receive a $100 discount. Payment options are available.
Online Seminar Series
The Republic of Plato Intensive
Tuesday Afternoons - May 4 to July 6.
What is justice?
That is the question that Socrates, within Plato's most famous dialogue, will explore with each of his interlocutors. Within this small group, we will carefully work though this text, investigating the issues of epistemology, political theory, the human soul, form and content, poetry, and more. We invite you to join us for ten Tuesday afternoon sessions, beginning May 4 and concluding July 6. If you were only going to read one Platonic dialogue in your educational career, this is the text to choose. Truly, no rounded liberal arts education is complete without it, and this book's influence on Western Civilization cannot be overstated.
These ten 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 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.
This Ten-Week Series is $350. Community of Lifelong Learners subscribers receive a discount of $50 through a refund.
Online Seminar Series - NOW ENROLLING
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 in Cohort One 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 in each section.
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. The Four-Month Weekly Series is $600 and is not included in the recurring subscription package, but subscribers receive a $100 discount. Payment options are available.
Free Community Online Series
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, June 24, 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 June 24 reading is -
Book Two - The Family - Chapters IX-X
Pages 76-95
Schedule:
12:00 - 1:30PM PDT
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Free Online Community Seminar Series
The Foundations of Our Republic, Take II
Monday, July 12, 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 July 12 reading is -
Constitutional Amendments 25, 26, 27.
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.
Upcoming Regular Events
Online Seminar Series
Stoicism - Part VI - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Books 7-12
Saturday, June 26, 2021
This series explores to varied aspects of Stoicism through the writings of Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and others. How best to live life, in the best and worst of times...
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Kevin Walker
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
(Attendees from Chapter One are automatically enrolled in future offerings of the series)
Online Seminar Series
Lunchtime with Ulysses by James Joyce
Chapters Eight and Nine: Laestrygonians and Scylla and Charybdis
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
(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 a study guide - Jame Joyce’s Ulysses - A Study by Stuart Gilbert. 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.
July 7 Reading:
Parts Eight and Nine of Jame Joyce’s Ulysses - A Study by Stuart Gilbert and Laestrygonians and Scylla and Charybdis of Ulysses by James Joyce
Schedule:
12:00-1:30PM PST
Tutor:
Barry Rabe
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Shakespeare's Henriad Series - Section Two
Henry VI - Part Three
Sunday, August 1, 2021
"I can add colors to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murtherous Machevil to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down."
Readings in the Series:
Henry VI - Part One
Henry VI - Part Two
Henry VI - Part Three
Richard III
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Eric Stull
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Herodotus - The Histories - Book Six
Sunday, August 8, 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 PDT
Tutor:
David Appleby
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
A Voice from the South by Anna Julia Cooper and The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois - Part One
Saturday, August 14, 2021
"We too often mistake individuals’ honor for race development and so are ready to substitute pretty accomplishments for sound sense and earnest purpose."
"The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery."
Reading Selection:
A Voice from the South - Part Two
The Souls of Black Folk - Chapters 5-8
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PDT
Tutors:
Anika Prather and Andy Gilman
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Stoicism - Part VII - The Consolation of Philosophy
by Boethius - Books 1-3
Sunday, August 15, 2021
This series explores to varied aspects of Stoicism through the writings of Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and others. How best to live life, in the best and worst of times...
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PST
Tutor:
Kevin Walker
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
(Current attendees are automatically
re-enrolled in the series)
Online Seminar Series
Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise by Toni Morrison
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Jazz is the second 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.
August 21 Reading:
Jazz - Chapters 1-3, pp. 3-87
Schedule:
12:00-2:00PM PDT
Tutor:
Patricia Locke
Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.