Registration Now Open for St. John’s College “Year of Classics” Seminar Series
Discussions focusing on the theme of “Freedom and Bondage,” held monthly from September through May, are offered in person in Annapolis, Maryland, or Washington, D.C., and online.
Annapolis, MD/Santa Fe, NM [June 6, 2023]—St. John’s College today announced that registration is open for the Year of Classics seminar series. Year of Classics is a nine-month journey with fellow lovers of intellectual inquiry who examine together great works inspired by the ideals and curriculum of the St. John’s College program, based on the premise that the “books are the most important teachers.” The seminars, led by faculty, begin with an opening question and move into a respectful, cooperative dialogue among participants. Participants invariably find that discussion with others offers surprising new insights and deepens the reading they did on their own.
“Year of Classics is an opportunity for anyone to explore the fundamental and perennial questions we ponder daily at St. John’s,” says St. John’s College faculty member Michael Dink, who will be leading the sessions in Washington, D.C. “In times where it can feel hard to have a real conversation, these seminars offer a space for us to come together and explore the meaning, cost, limits, and possibilities of human freedom.”
Seminars will explore the theme of “Freedom and Bondage,” and include readings from authors Homer, Aristotle, Epictetus, William Shakespeare, Martin Luther, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Herman Melville, Frederick Douglass, and Rita Dove.
Year of Classics seminars meet monthly from September through May online, at times convenient for those across various time zones, or in person on the St. John’s College Annapolis campus or at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. Tuition ranges from $820 to $1,400 for nine seminars, and generous tuition discounts are available for educators. For more information and to register, visit sjc.edu/year-classics.
In addition to Year of Classics, St. John’s offers a slate of non-degreed seminars that are open to the public. Each July, participants come together online or in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for weeklong seminars at Summer Classics. To learn more or to register for one of the remaining spaces, visit sjc.edu/summer-classics. Later in the year, Winter Classics provides an opportunity for weeklong seminars online. Registration for Winter Classics will open in November 2023.
ABOUT ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
St. John’s College is one of the most distinctive colleges in the country due to its all-required Great Books curriculum. At St. John’s, undergraduate and graduate students read more than 200 of the most important books across dozens of subjects and discuss those books with faculty in small, seminar-style classes. Located on two campuses in two historic state capitals—Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico—St. John’s is the third oldest college in the United States and has been hailed as the “most contrarian college in America” by The New York Times, the “most rigorous college in America” by Forbes, and the “most forward-thinking, future-proof college in America” by Quartz. Learn more at sjc.edu.
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