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Other Councils

Other Great Books Programs

Events Around the Country

This is a rundown of upcoming Great Books events in the United States and Canada. Most of these are organized by Great Books Regional Councils; some are organized by related organizations. Click the links for further details and to register for the events.

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  • February 25: The Art of Discussing Art, Houston, TX

    • Theme: Art and the Ultimate: Turtles or Telos?​

  • April 13-16: New England Great Books Spring Retreat (Zoom) 

    • Theme: The Highs and Lows of a Silver Age: Germany Between the Wars (continued)

    • Readings: Benjamin Carter Hett, The Death of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic; Erich Kastner, Going to the Dogs: The Story of a Moralist; Alfred Doblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz; Berthold Brecht, The Threepenny Opera (book and 1931 film adaptation)

  • April 28-30: Barbara McConnell Weekend at Asilomar, Pacific Grove, CA

    • Readings: Ayn Rand, short essays; Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things; Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Nathan the Wise; selected poetry

  • April 29-30: Philadelphia Great Books Spring Institute (Zoom)

    • Theme: Cultures in Collision​

    • Readings: N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn; James Welch, Winter in the Blood

  • May 20: Gold Country Mini-Retreat, Auburn, CA

    • Reading: The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War, followed by a screening of The Quiet American.​

  • July 8: Northern California Great Books Annual Meeting and Book Discussion (Zoom)

    • Reading: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

  • July 15: Northern California Great Books Leader-Reader Workshop (Zoom)

  • July 16-22: Great Books at Colby College, Waterville, ME

    • Theme: The Journey​

    • Readings: Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces; Gilgamesh; Homer, The Odyssey; Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out; William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying; Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses & Selected Poems

  • October 7-8: Northern California Great Books Long Novel Weekend (Zoom)

    • Reading: Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

  • November 10-12: Philadelphia Great Books Fall Institute (New Brunswick, NJ)

    • Theme: Writers as Characters​

    • Readings: Alice Munro, Meneseteung; Sigrid Nunez, The Friend: A Novel; Thomas Mann, Death in Venice; Michael Chabon, The Wonder Boys

Some Universities and Colleges that Offer a Great Books Curriculum
A sample of the many schools with curriculum incorporating Great Books and Shared Inquiry 

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