Symposium Institute 20th Anniversary Year

Read On

2026 Great Books Seminars

The depth and beauty of the great books reveal themselves when we slow down to give them the time they deserve.

NEW SEMINARS BEGIN in JULY and OCTOBER 2026

(Descriptions will be added presently)

July-September 2026

Enlightenment Thinkers (12 sessions)

Sundays, 11a-12:30p ET | July

Leader: John Samples

Beginning Ancient Greek (12 sessions)

Sundays, 7:30-9:30p ET | July

Leader: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga

Math Focus: Plato, Timaeus (12 sessions, Mon & Thurs)

Mondays, 2:30-4p ET | July

Leaders: Eric Stull & Esa Palosaari

Catullus in Latin

Mondays, 7-9p ET | July

Leader: Eric Stull

Bach, St. John Passion (6 sessions)

Tuesdays, 12-1:30p ET | July

Leader: Jeff Johnston

Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams (12 sessions)

Tuesdays, 5:30-7p ET | July

Leaders: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga

Great Books, Great Readers:

Plato, Symposium w/ commentaries

Tuesdays, 8-9:30p ET | July

Leaders: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga and Jason Happel

Shakespeare, Henry VI-2 (12 sessions)

Wednesdays, 2-3:30 pm ET | July

Leader: Eric Stull

Aristotle, Politics, Books 7-8 "On Education"

Wednesdays, 4-5:30p ET | June*

Leader: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga

Joyce, Ulysses

Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 pm ET | (cont.)

Leader: Randy Wootton

Dante, Paradiso

Wednesdays, 8-9:30p ET | (cont.)

Leader: Jeff Johnston

Knox, Englishing the Bible (12 sessions)

Thursdays, 8:00-9:30 pm ET | July

Leaders: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga and Clare McGrath

Tolstoy, War and Peace (12 sessions)

Fridays, 3:00-4:30 pm ET | (cont.)

Leaders: Eric Stull and Linda McConnell

The Poetry of Jessica Powers (12 sessions)

Fridays, 5:30-7p ET | July

Leader: Clare McGrath

Coming in 2027

A Year with Greek Tragedies

Saturdays

Leader: Eric Stull

Xenophon, Anabasis

Leader: Jason Happel

October-December 2026

Kierkegaard, The Present Age & Nietzsche, Uses and Abuses of History

Sundays, 11:00a-12:30p | October

Leader: Jess Joseph

Hobbes, Leviathan (12 sessions)

Sundays, 11a-12:30p ET | October

Leader: John Samples

Beginning Ancient Greek (12 sessions)

Sundays, 7:30-9:30p ET | October

Leaders: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga & Eric Stull

Euclid, Elements Bk 2-3 (12 sessions)

Mondays, 1-3p ET | October

Leaders: Eric Stull & Esa Palosaari

Zola, Germinal (12 sessions)

Monday, 5-6:30p ET | October

Leader: Thomas Riordan

Vergil in Latin

Mondays, 7-9p ET | (cont.)

Leader: Eric Stull

Homer, Iliad (24 sessions)

Mondays, 8-9:30p ET | October

Leader: Christian Blood

Music: Early Jazz (6 sessions)

Tuesdays, 12-1:30p ET | October

Leader: Jeff Johnston

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz & Benito Feijoo

Tuesdays, 3-4:30p ET | October

Leader: Miryam Bujanda

Economics Revisited (12 sessions)

Tuesdays, 6-7:30p ET | October

Leader: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga

Introductory Seminar: Aurelius, Meditations (8 sessions - FREE)

Tuesdays, 8-9:30p ET | October

Leader: Jason Happel & Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga

Shakespeare, Henry VI-3 (12 sessions)

Wednesdays, 2-3:30 pm ET | October

Leader: Eric Stull

Aristotle, Politics (cont.)

Wednesdays, 4-5:30p ET | October

Leader: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga

Joyce, Dubliners (12 sessions)

Wednesdays, 7-8:30p ET | October

Leader: Randy Wootton

Great Books, Great Readers:

Job w/ Sacks commentary (12 sessions)

Thursdays, 8-9:30p ET | October

Leaders: Reynaldo Miranda-Zúñiga and Jason Happel

Tolstoy, War and Peace (12 sessions)

Fridays, 3:00-4:30 pm ET | (Cont. through December)

Leaders: Eric Stull and Linda McConnell

Early Irish Poetry (6 sessions)

Fridays, 5-6:30p ET | October

Leaders: Patricia Hagen & Tom Zelman

Symposium Institute is supported by tuition and donations, which allows us to offer occasional free programs and keep the ship sailing.

Enrollment: Registrants will receive notice before the starting date to let them know whether there is a chance the seminar will be cancelled due to low enrollment.

PRICING

A. Short Seminars - 5-6 session seminar, $125

B. Regular Seminar - one 10-12 session seminar, $200/quarter

C. "All-Access" - $250/quarter (includes two or more seminars) With All-Access you may join as many programs as you wish that quarter. We recommend not overextending yourself and allowing time to delve and savor.

D. Bring a Roommate: if yours is a second registration from the same dwelling as another registrant, indicate that upon registration for a 50% discount. (Not applicable to yearly subscriptions).

⭐Yearly Subscription

A yearly membership is a great way to invest in your own learning and support Symposium Institute.

$750/year (which is a 25% discount!)

Donations in any amount are accepted year-round.

Click the button to be taken to our Registration Form

REGISTRATION BEGINS JUNE 1!

Payment is not required at this time.

Confirmation or cancellation (of the seminar) will be sent to you by email.

What do we do at Symposium Institute?

We read and discuss compelling books -- including musical and artistic works -- in the spirit of collaborative inquiry.

Close Reading Seminars (books, mathematics, music)

(Ten to twenty-four weeks.) Close reading seminars are the heart and soul of Symposium. We call them "reading pathways" because a particular book (or collection of poems, essays, or musical pieces) can be a lighted pathway through a dark wood or out of a cave. It can be a sea journey back home (Homer's Odyssey) or a fantastic adventure out of the library into the world (Cervantes, Don Quixote). Books like Euclid's Elements, no less than Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Ethics, Thucydides's Peloponnesian War, Maimonides's Guide, Rousseau's Emile, Montesquieu's Laws, or Hegel's Phenomenology (to drop a few names) are curricular, or courses in themselves, and they take more than a few weeks to understand.

Shorter Seminars

(Six session seminars for a lower cost) Short seminars are our lures, designed (a) to introduce a short work or poem, (b) to compare two works or authors, or (c) to touch on connections between a source-text and the branches that extend outward; for example, Shakespeare drawing on Plutarch.

Page updated

Report abuse