January 23, 2010
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying


November 7, 2009
G. K. Chesterton - Orthodoxy


October 17, 2009
Series - The Origin, Significance, and Wisdom of the Constitution - Part II

John Locke - Second Treatise of Government (selections)

The Declaration of Independence
& The Constitution


September 12, 2009
Cervantes - Don Quixote


June 13 & 14, 2009
Ovid's Metamorphoses


June 6, 2009
Nature and Beyond

Pre-Socratic philosophers, Selections
The Portrait, Gogol
A Doll’s House, Ibsen


Saturday, May 9, 2009
Heroic Women

Sigrid Undset, Gunnar's Daughter
Henrik Ibsen,
A Doll's House


March 28 & 29, 2009
Two Dialogues of Plato
Symposium & Phaedrus


February 7, 2009
Seminar Series - The Origin, Significance, and Wisdom of the Constitution

Aristotle, Politics
(selections from books I and III))


January 17, 2009
Milton, Paradise Lost


December 6, 2008
Morality and Human Behavior

Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (selections)
Flannery O’Connor, The Lame Shall Enter First


November 15, 2008
Tragic Rulers
William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar, Macbeth


October 4 & 5, 2008
Human Being and History
Hegel, Introduction to
The Philosophy of History
Heidegger, essays:
The Question Concerning Technology
and The Turning


September 6, 2008
The Qur'an


June 14, 2008
Elie Wiesel, Night
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain


May 24, 2008
Camus
The Myth of Sisyphus


April 26, 2008
Freud

Civilization and Its Discontents


March 15, 2008
Dostoevsky
Notes from Underground


February 16, 2008
Kierkegaard
Fear and Trembling


January 19, 2008
Flannery O'Connor
The Lame Shall Enter First ,
A Good Man is Hard to Find, &
The Life You Save May Be Your Own


Special Event
November 9 & 10, 2007
A Weekend with Eva Brann

Lecture on November 9:
Aeschylus Eumenides : Modernity and Patriotism - held at Thomas Aquinas College

Seminar on Saturday, November 10:
Aeschylus - The Persians
Thucydides - Selection from
History of the Peloponnesian War


October 6, 2007
A Day on T . S. Eliot
Murder in the Cathedral
The Waste Land


September 15, 2007
Continuing Theme on Ethics
Sophocles - Antigone
Shakespeare - Hamlet

Lecture: Two Paradigms of Ethical Reflection by Mike McLean, Ph.D., Dean, Thomas Aquinas College


March 10, 2007
Continuing Theme on Ethics
Machiavelli - The Prince, Entire work


February 9 & 10, 2007
Aristotle -
Nicomachean Ethics, Books I-III


January 13 & 14, 2007
A Weekend on Borges
From Collected Fictions

The Circular Ruins, Ragnarök, The Maker, The Aleph, Borges and I, August 25-1983, The Garden of Forking Paths, The Witness, Everything and Nothing


November 11 & 12, 2006
Approaches to God

St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae,
Part One, Chapter 13 - Articles 1-6, and 12
Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed,
Part One, Chapters 50-60


October 20 & 21, 2006
Russian Short Stories IV

Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Dostoevsky, The Gentle Creature

This seminar weekend will kick off with a dinner gathering on Friday night, beginning at 5:00pm, followed by a performance of the Valamm Ensemble from Russia, held at Thomas Aquinas College.


Fundamental Seminars Program
September 23 & 24, 2006
Human Suffering

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
The Bible, The Book of Job
Epictetus, The Handbook


March 17 & 18, 2006
Liberty II

Ongoing series on Liberty, examining different views of freedom, responsibility, human happiness, and the providential order.

Thomas Aquinas - selections from the Treatise on Law
Session one: Q. 90 articles 1-4; Q. 91 articles 1-4; Q. 92 article 1.
Session two: Q. 94 articles 1-6; Q. 95 articles 1-2.
Session three: Q. 96 articles 1-6; Q. 97 articles 1-4


February 11 & 12, 2006
Phenomenology III

Ongoing series on the underlying philosophical principles and developments of twentieth-century phenomenology.

Heidegger - further selections from Being and Time.


January 7 & 8, 2006
A Weekend on James Joyce

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man


December 17 & 18, 2005
Russian Short Stories III

Tolstoy, Father Sergius
Gogol, The Portrait
Chekhov, The Bet


November 12, 2005
Liberty I

The first in an ongoing series on Liberty. This series will examine different views of freedom, responsibility, human happiness, and the providential order.

Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy


October 1 & 2, 2005
Phenomenology II

Ongoing series on the underlying philosophical principles and developments of twentieth-century phenomenology.

Heidegger - selections from Being and Time


August 27 & 28, 2005
The Nature of Greek Tragedy

Aristotle, Poetics (chapters 1-18)
Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
(chapters 1-15)
Euripides, Hippolytus (entire play)


One-Day Seminar
The Divine Comedy III

Dante, Paradise


April 23 & 24, 2005
Beginning Series on Phenomenology

The Essential Husserl

Session One: pages 60-72
Session Two: pages 72-91
Session Three: 135-152 & 158-160


March 19, 2005
The Passion of Christ

Film: The Passion of the Christ
The Gospel of Luke - entire work
The Gospel of John - Chapter 2, versus 1-11, and Chapters 13-19
The Gospel of Mathew - Chapters 26-27


January 15, 2005
Toni Morrison, Beloved
entire work


One-Day Seminar
The Divine Comedy

Dante, Purgatory


October 16, 2004
The Divine Comedy

Dante, Inferno - Held at Thomas Aquinas College


September 25, 2004
Tolstoy, War and Peace
entire work


June 12 & 13, 2004
Special Event
A Weekend on Music

Man the Musician (selections)
by Victor Zuckerkandl &
Thinking About Music (selections)
by Lewis Rowell

Music selections include:
Josquin Desprez · Kyrie
Wolfgang Mozart · Menuetto, K. 355,
Elliott Carter · Poems by Frost, Bishop, etc. set to music

 

 

June 12 & 13, 2004
May 1 & 2, 2004
Faust

Christopher Marlowe:
Dr. Faustus - (A-Text version only)
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe:
Faust I - (complete)
Faust II - (acts IV and V)


March 19 & 20, 2004
The American Novel

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Herman Melville, Billy Budd
Willa Cather, My Antonia


February 20 & 21, 2004
The Book of Job


January 17, 2004
James Joyce, Dubliners


November 22 & 23, 2003
Transgression, Punishment, and Mercy · William Shakespeare

The Merchant of Venice
Measure for Measure
The Winter's Tale


October 11 & 12, 2003
Russian Short Stories II

Tolstoy , The Devil
Chekov , The Black Monk
Dostoevsky, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man


September 6 & 7, 2003
The Gospel According to John


May 23 & 24, 2003
When is War Justified

Aquinas, On War, and On Murder
Wendell Berry, The Failure of War
James Sterba, Reconciling Pacifists and Just War Theorists


April 25 & 26, 2003
Is Lying Justifiable

Twain, Was it Heaven? Or Hell?
Aquinas, On Lying
Kant, On the Supposed Right to Lie


March 1 & 2, 2003
Satire and the Human Condition
Swift, Gulliver's Travels


January 17 & 18, 2003
Is Religious Belief Reasonable

Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian
Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 1
Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 2


December 13 & 14, 2002
Justice and the Political Order Continued · Plato, The Republic VI-X


One-Day Intensive
October 12, 2002
The Nature of Sensation

Aristotle, On the Soul, Book Two
(sections 5, 6, 7, & 12 only)

Lecture: "Are Sensible Qualities Real?" - by Dr. Christopher Decaen

Dinner and Reception follow


November 23 & 24, 2002
Justice and the Political Order
Plato, The Republic I-V


September 6 & 7, 2002
Vengeance and Justice

Aeschylus, The Oresteia


June 28 & 29, 2002
The Nature of Comedy

Shakespeare, As You Like It
Chaucer, The Miller's Tale & The Reeve's Tale
Essays from Bergson, Goldsmith, & Hazlitt


One-Day Intensive
May 11, 2002
Aristotle, On the Soul

Book One Chapters 1-5,
Book Two Chapters 1-2

Lecture: "Thomistic Biology as an Antidote to the Reductionism of Modern Science" - by Dr. William Carroll of
Cornell College, Iowa

Dinner and Reception follow
One-Day Intensive


One-Day Intensive
March 23, 2002
Aristotle, On Nature and Causality

Book Two, Chapters 1, 3
Book Two, Chapters 4-6, 8

Lecture: "Natures Act for an End"
by Dr. Robert Augros of
St. Anselm College, New Hampshire

Dinner and Reception follow


February 23 & 24, 2002
Aristotle, On the Principles of Nature

Book One, Chapters 1, 5-6
Book One, Chapter 7
Book One, Chapters 8-9


January 19 & 20, 2002
Human Suffering

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
The Bible, The Book of Job
Epictetus, The Handbook


December 14 &15, 2001
Existentialism

Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism
Sartre, No Exit and The Flies
Camus, The Stranger


November 17 & 18, 2001
Russian Short Stories

Gogol, The Nose, The Overcoat, The Calash
Chekhov, The Kiss, Gooseberries, The Bishop
Tolstoy, Master and Man


September 22 & 23, 2001
Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil


July 6 & 7, 2001
Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment


June 2 & 3, 2001
Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals


March 16 & 17, 2001
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (On Friendship)

Bk. VIII, Chapters 1-8
Bk. VIII, Chapter 9 – Bk. IX, Chapter 3
Bk. IX, Chapters 4-12


January 20 & 21, 2001
Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding


December 15 & 16, 2000
Plato and Aristophanes

Plato, Protagoras
Aristophanes, The Clouds


November 17 & 18, 2000
Descartes, Meditations Concerning First Philosophy


September 22 & 23, 2000
The Nature of Poetry

Aristotle, Poetics, Chapters 1-6
Aristotle, Poetics, Chapters 7-15
Euripides, Hippolytus


July 8 & 9, 2000
Aristotle, Ethics I-III


June 16 & 17, 2000
Tyranny and Justice

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Thomas Aquinas, On Kingship and Summa Theologiae (selections)
Machiavelli, The Prince


March 17 & 18, 2000
The Short Story

Flaubert, A Simple Heart and
St. Jullian Hospitalier
Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych
Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find and The Enduring Chill


January 28 & 29, 2000
Augustine, The Confessions


November 13 & 14, 1999
Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov


September 24 & 25, 1999
The Political Order

Aristotle, Politics (selections)
Rousseau, The Social Contract
Declaration of Independence and
The Federalist Papers (1, 10, 51)


June 18 & 19, 1999
Faith and Reason

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles
Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
St. Paul, Letter to the Galatians
Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians


April 23 & 24, 1999
The Origin of Knowledge

Plato, Meno
Aristotle, Posterior Analytics
Descartes, Discourse on Method


March 12 & 13, 1999
Law and Conscience

Sophocles, Antigone
Plato, Apology and Crito
Lincoln, selections


January 29 & 30, 1999
Human Action

The Holy Bible, Genesis, Chapters 1-25 v.11
Pre-Socratics and Epicurus
Freud, An Outline of Psychoanalysis


December 4 & 5, 1998
Love

Plato, Symposium
C. S. Lewis, Four Loves
Shakespeare, Othello


November 13 & 14, 1998
Does God Exist?

Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion
Blaise Pascal, Pensees
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Ques. 2


September 25 & 26, 1998
Morality and Human Action

Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
St. Thomas Aquinas, On Homicide

Introduction
Current Seminars
High School Initiative
Debates Now Great Books Seminars Series
October 9 Santa Fe Condo Auction

Seminar Registration and Contribution
Past Seminar Offerings
Contact The Agora Foundation

 

Introduction | Current Seminars | Training for Teachers | Contemporary Issues | Auction | Registration | Past Offerings | Contact
Seminar Method | Sample Curricula | Tutors | Board Members | Great Books Links

Formerly The Great Books Seminars in Ojai.
©2007 The Agora Foundation. All rights reserved.