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The depth and beauty of the great books reveal themselves when you slow down to give them the time they deserve
The depth and beauty of the great books reveal themselves when you slow down to give them the time they deserve
Mondays
Mondays
Homer, Iliad (continues in 2026)
Mondays, Oct 6-Dec 29 8:00-9:30 pm ET
Seminar Leader: Christian Blood
(Seminar is currently fully enrolled, join waiting list)
Apollonius of Perga, Conic Sections
Mondays and Thursdays, Oct 6 1:00-2:15 pm ET
Seminar Leaders: Eric Stull & Esa Palosaari
Tuesdays
Tuesdays
Borges, Essays (13 sessions)
Tuesdays, Oct 7-Dec 30 3:00-4:30 pm ET
Seminar Leaders: Reynaldo Miranda & Miryam Bujanda
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (10 sessions)
Tuesdays, Oct 7-Dec 9 7:30-9:00 pm ET
Seminar Leaders: Denise Alquist and JJ Patton
Herodotus, Histories (continues in 2026)
Tuesdays, Oct 7-Dec 30 8:00-9:30 pm ET
Seminar Leader: Eric Stull
Newman, The Idea of the University (12 sessions)
Tuesdays, Oct 7-Dec 23 9:00-10:30 pm ET
Seminar Leader: Reynaldo Miranda
Crosscurrents: Medieval Islamic Art & Poetry (10 sessions)
Tuesdays, Oct 7-Dec 9 8:00-9:30 pm ET
Seminar Leaders: Jeff Johnston & Justine Andrews
Listener's Studio: Bach, St. Matthew Passion (12 sessions)
Tuesdays, Oct 7-Dec 30 12:00-1:15 pm ET
Seminar Leader: Jeff Johnston
Wednesdays
Wednesdays
Plato, Republic (continues in 2026)
Wednesdays, Oct 8-Dec 17 8:00-9:30 pm ET
Seminar Leaders: Eric Stull & Reynaldo Miranda
Shakespeare, Sonnets "Read Aloud" (postponed to January)
Seminar Leaders: Reynaldo Miranda & Tim Pabon
Shakespeare, Henry IV Part II (11 sessions)
Wednesdays, Oct 8-Dec 17 2:00-3:30 pm ET
Seminar Leader: Eric Stull
Listener's Studio: Louis Armstrong's Hot Five (10 sessions)
Wednesdays, Nov 12-Jan 28 12:00-1:30 pm ET (extends into Jan 2026 as part of Q4)
Seminar Leader: Jeff Johnston
Thursdays
Thursdays
Aristotle, Politics Book IV (continues in 2026)
Thursdays 2pm EST
Seminar Leader: Reynaldo Miranda
Exodus (continues in 2026)
Thursdays, Oct 9-Dec 18 8:00-9:30 pm ET
Seminar Leaders: Reynaldo Miranda & Jason Happel
Rumi, Poems (6 sessions)
Thursdays, Oct 16-Nov 20 7:00-8:30 pm ET
Seminar Leaders: Randy Wootton & Sue Wootton
Fridays (new)
Fridays (new)
Modern American Poets Series (6 sessions)
Fridays, Oct 17-Nov 21 4:30-6:00 pm ET
Seminar Leader: Jason Happel
Sundays
Sundays
Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed
Sundays, Oct 5-Dec 28 10:30-12:00 am/pm ET
Seminar Leader: Jess Joseph
Aristophanes, Clouds (6 sessions)
Sundays, Nov 9-Dec 14 9:00-10:20 am ET
Seminar Leader: Jason Happel
You may register for a program until the day before it begins (if it is not fully enrolled.) All-Access registration includes all Symposium seminars each quarter.
We read and discuss compelling books -- and musical and artistic works -- in the spirit of collaborative inquiry.
Deep Reading Seminars (books, mathematics, music)
Deep Reading Seminars (books, mathematics, music)
(Twelve to twenty-four weeks.) Reading Pathways are the heart and soul of Symposium. We call them 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.
Short Seminars and Free Previews
Short Seminars and Free Previews
(Three to six session seminars for a lower cost) Short seminars are our lures, designed (a) to dig into 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: from Homer to Vergil, or Plutarch to Shakespeare.
(FREE) Free Previews introduce a text, usually by way of the opening lines. Typically, we read a passage aloud, make observations, pose a guiding question, and discuss.
Capable seminar leaders gently guide our discussions; thoughtful participants share in the inquiry.
Symposium Institute is supported by tuition and donations, which allows us to offer free programs regularly and keep the ship sailing.
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"It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.”
William Carlos Williams
1883-1963, American Poet
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