The Great Books can be profoundly beneficial if one knows how to mine their riches. In this session of the Great Books Symposium, Gutenberg tutor Dr. Eliot Grasso will offer a seminar on how to lead a discussion on George Orwell's Animal Farm. The seminar will discuss the book while developing discussion-leading tools to help [...]
In Medieval Scandinavia, where monsters and dragons roamed the wilds, we find the great Beowulf. Through acts of cunning, bravery, and brute strength, Beowulf responds to many difficult circumstances. What is it that makes a hero? Is it what one accomplishes? What one becomes? What one intends? In this webinar, we will raise this [...]
Achilles storms off in a huff: Agamemnon has deprived him of his war prize. The ensuing tensions and conflicts of Homer's Iliad are wrapped up in the question of how conflict impacts the way we think about what is ultimately valuable. How did the Greeks think about what was valuable and what does the Iliad have [...]
Once Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and took the city of Rome, he was on top of the world--for a time. But his monarchical approach to leadership made the Senate increasingly uncomfortable and led ultimately to his bloody demise on the Senate floor. In this Great Books Symposium, we will discuss Shakespeare's history play [...]
CANCELLED Dutch watchmaker Corrie Ten Boom and her family are enjoying a century of business in Haarlem in the 1930s. Yet, every fiber of her faith and character will be tested as the Nazis invade Holland and begin to round up the Jews for deportation. Before long, she finds herself at the center of [...]
Socrates is in prison waiting for his death sentence to be carried out. His friend, Crito, hatches a plan to help him escape, but Socrates hesitates. The question we will investigate in the Great Book Symposium is this: Why? A webinar for K-12 teachers in the private school, the public school, and the [...]
C. S. Lewis endeavored to explain the essence of Christianity to a general audience through a series of radio broadcasts, an endeavor which resulted in Mere Christianity. Though Lewis discusses questions and issues familiar to most Christians, he appeals frequently to every person’s common experience–rather than theological proofs–to explain the faith. Together, we will [...]
