2021 March Pod & Specialty Courses
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Great Books Online is offering a truly unique array of special programs for every interest. These enrichment programs are live and fun!
- Pod classes are limited to 6 students for a deeply enriching academic experience.
- Specialty courses explore areas of individual interest, development, and growth with a community of inspired learners.
To learn more about classes that will spark your child’s interest, contact us via email info@greatbookssummer.com, or call/text 203-612-9470.
2021 March Pod & Specialty Classes:
For Middle School Students
Philosophy: Enlightment
Writing two centuries apart, David Hume and Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret, G.E.M., Anscombe, grappled with many of the same ideas and aspects of human existence. Hume, a leading philosopher of the rational Enlightenment, sought to empirically explain nature and human perception without relying on the intervention of the divine. His work took philosophy in an entirely new direction and inspired the likes of Adam Smith, Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, and even Charles Darwin. Writing in the twentieth century, Anscombe, a close student and friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein, responded to the devastation of the Second World War by expanding and re-evaluating many Enlightenment ideas, including those put forth by Hume, in the context of a nuanced, ever-more-modern world. In this course, we will closely examine the ways in which Hume and Anscombe conceptualize the nature of reality, the means by which we sense the world around us, the ways in which we can say we “know” something, and the ethical code by which we act and are judged. Beyond that, we will examine these topics ourselves, deciding if the ideas of Hume and Anscombe hold their own to this day or if, like Anscombe, we must revise them to fit our own time.
- Thursdays at 7:00pm Eastern for 60 Minutes
- 4 Weeks - Starting March 11: $400
- Limited to 6 students
Intro to Debate
There's never been a more important time to make sure you are able to make your voice be heard. This course will use a blended teaching method of skills-based exercises, in-class debates and examination of historical and contemporary speeches to help you approach debate and reasoning in a more confident, structured, and analytical way. The course instructor is a graduate of Cambridge University & the University of Glasgow with degrees in law and philosophy and a World Universities Debating Championship finalist. Learn more.
- Saturdays at 1:00pm Eastern for 60 minutes
- 6 Weeks - Starting March 13: $500
- Limited to 12 students, No Class Easter Week
Debate II
There's never been a more important time to make sure you are able to make your voice be heard. This course will use a blended teaching method of skills-based exercises, in-class debates and examination of historical and contemporary speeches to help you approach debate and reasoning in a more confident, structured, and analytical way. The course instructor is a graduate of Cambridge University & the University of Glasgow with degrees in law and philosophy and a World Universities Debating Championship finalist. Learn more.
- Saturdays at 3:00pm Eastern for 90 minutes
- 6 Weeks - Starting March 13: $650
- Limited to 12 students, No Class Easter Week.
Fantasy World Building
Students will create and dive into a fantastical universe! We will begin with a character generation workshop, where students create an adventuring party of thieves, sorcerers, barbarians, and heroic (or evil!) others. After developing unique backstories for characters, students will embark on a grand collaborative storytelling and roleplaying adventure, filled with dungeons, monsters, magic, and treasure. This class will cover the fundamentals of collaborative adventure storytelling and table-top gaming roleplay gameplay. We will use our new writing skills to build a world and then enter it - practicing improvisational skills and techniques by inhabiting our characters, and working with other players to plunder the most diabolical dungeons.
- Saturdays at 3:00pm Eastern for 90 Minutes
- 7 Weeks - Starting March 13: $450
- Limited to 6 students, No Class Easter Week.
For High School Students
Fantasy World Building
Students will create and dive into a fantastical universe! We will begin with a character generation workshop, where students create an adventuring party of thieves, sorcerers, barbarians, and heroic (or evil!) others. After developing unique backstories for characters, students will embark on a grand collaborative storytelling and roleplaying adventure, filled with dungeons, monsters, magic, and treasure. This class will cover the fundamentals of collaborative adventure storytelling and table-top gaming roleplay gameplay. We will use our new writing skills to build a world and then enter it - practicing improvisational skills and techniques by inhabiting our characters, and working with other players to plunder the most diabolical dungeons.
- Saturdays at 3:00pm Eastern for 90 Minutes
- 7 Weeks - Starting March 13: $450
- Limited to 6 students, No Class Easter Week.
Contact us with any questions about our Pod & Specialty Courses.
Don't forget our March Writing Programs!
