GBO Seminar Series for Adults
Your Chance to Experience Great Books
6-8 Week Programs - Once Per Week
Finally Open to GBSP Graduates & Adults!
New Sessions Starting Soon!
It's time for our long-awaited seminar series exclusively for adults and Great Books alumni now in college.
Join us for shared inquiry sessions that provide the exciting, literary exploration we typically reserve for our young people. Remember your favorite college seminar? Return to the classroom to engage in lively thinking and discussion again. Invest in your own mental wellness and engage in enriching discussion. Treat yourself to an adventure in great art and literature led by our distinguished faculty.
2021 Sessions for Adults
GBO Seminar Series
Join us for a six-week investigation into When Dreams Become Reality. Explore how imagination and dreams help shape how we see the world and give voice to what we might try to do within it. Our shared inquiry methodology enables you to simply show up, read expertly-chosen selections of literature together, and learn deeply through Socratic-style discussion. Readings include works by Elizabeth Bishop, Delmore Schwartz, Jorge Luis Borges, and others.
Led by Dr. Ilan Stavans and Noah Rosenblum, JD. Read more about these longtime Great Books Academic Directors below.
GBO Seminar Series Quick Facts:
- Wednesdays at 8:00pm Eastern - Starting Jan. 20, 2021
- 6 Weeks of 70 Minute Classes
- Tuition: $375
GBO Writer's Workshop
Everybody has a story. Everyday people telling their stories, modern memoir, is more important now that ever. With the loss of the art of letter writing, it is these stories that will connect us with each other and future generations. With the use of writing prompts and workshopping, students will develop the skills necessary to plot out and create their own memoir.
- Thursdays at 7:30pm Eastern - Starting Jan. 21, 2021
- 8 Weeks of 90 Minute Classes
- Tuition: $650
Led by Academic Director Jonathan Volk, a teacher of creative writing at University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
GBO Classical Explorations
Brothers Karamazov: In this six-week course, students will read and discuss Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic novel in its entirety. Class meetings will primarily be structured around close reading and discussion of the text, focusing on the novel's thematic and philosophical content - in particular, Dostoevsky's treatment of love, guilt, faith, family, choice, and piety - as well as its narrative structure, its status as a translated text, and its serial publication history. Students will be expected to read an approximately 150-page section of the novel for each class meeting and prepare a minimum of two discussion questions.
Led by Academic Director Max Suechting, a PhD candidate in Stanford University’s Program in Modern Thought & Literature.
Classical Explorations Quick Facts:
- Tuesdays at 8:00pm Eastern - Starting Jan. 12, 2021
- 6 Weeks of 90 Minute Classes
- Tuition: $525
Dubliners: Live from Dublin and led by a native Dubliner! Join us to read and discuss James Joyce's timeless work in this six week program. Explore the most famous and iconic stories of Dublin and meet the bars, theatres, and streets that make these stories come alive. Students will be expected to read an approximately 150-page section of the novel for each class meeting and prepare a minimum of two discussion questions.
Led by Academic Director Sam Ford, a performer, teacher, scholar of Irish culture, native Dubliner, and ultimate tour guide to Irish culture.
Classical Explorations Quick Facts:
- Tuesdays at 8:00pm Eastern - Starting Feb. 23, 2021
- 6 Weeks of 90 Minute Classes
- Tuition: $525
If you have questions, email us at info@greatbookssummer.com or call/text 203-612-9470.
Great Books Online is excited to announce that two of our most distinguished professors are leading our new seminar series exclusively for parents, adults, and Great Books graduates who wish to return for inspiring discussions.
Dr. Ilan Stavans & Noah Rosenblum JD will kick off the next Seminar Series on January 20.
Dr. Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities, Latin American and Latino Cultures at Amherst College, host of NPR’s In Contrast, and publisher of Restless Books, devoted to world literature in translation. Celebrated by the The New York Times as one of the foremost authorities on Latino literature and culture, Dr. Stavans is the recipient of many awards and honors including the Guggenheim Fellowship. His work, translated into a dozen languages, has been adapted into stage and film.
Noah Rosenblum earned his JD from Yale Law School and is pursuing his Ph.D. in intellectual history at Columbia University. Noah is the recipient of a Javits Fellowship from the US Department of Education, a Seigel Fellowship from the Consortium for Intellectual and Cultural History, and is a former Yale Law School Legal History Fellow. He is a graduate of Harvard and Deep Springs College.
Jonathan Volk will lead the Writer's Workshop starting on January 21.
Jonathan Volk received his MFA at the University of Massachusetts MFA Program for Poets & Writers, where he also teaches creative writing. He has work published in Black Warrior Review, DIAGRAM, Caketrain and elsewhere. His honors include the Harvey Swados Prize in Fiction and a nomination for the Pushcart Prize
Max Suechtung will lead the Classic Explorations: Brothers Karamazov on January 12.
Sam Ford will lead the Classic Explorations: The Dubliners on Feb. 23.
Sam Ford
Sam Ford is a writer, performer, and teacher with a passion for Dublin literature, history, and culture. A native Dubliner, he received his MSc in Urban Studies from University College London and his BA from Trinity College Dublin. The ultimate tour guide to Dubin, Sam has worked with severl great Dublin institutions including the James Joyce Centre and International Literature Festival Dublin. He has performed at the Abbey, the Peacock, the Samuel Beckett, and several other prominent Irish theaters.
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Everything is better when shared. Please spread the word to your friends, colleagues, and fellow booklovers, and register today!
