Be Fearless
in your reading and learning.
We can do it. Together.
What IS Symposium Great Books Institute?
Symposium is dedicated to building communities of adult learners engaged in a lifelong Socratic, liberal education through the unhurried conversational reading of the great books, whether literature, philosophy, history, mathematics and natural science, or great works of fine art.
Small groups of avid learners meet weekly to work together through challenging material we take to be the finest occasions for ongoing, lifelong liberal education. These groups are peer assemblies, a meeting of equals, actively engaged in their own learning rather than passive consumers of ‘edutainment’. Seminar leaders are experienced guides that help the conversation stay on track. There are no academic prerequisites to join a seminar.
Symposium is right for you if you value:
- Lifelong learning: you believe learning should not end when schooling ends and degrees are attained.
- Serious Conversation: you are drawn to a conversational approach to learning.
- Direct experience: you’d like to develop your own opinions about the great books based on your own direct experience.
- Reading: you read not only for entertainment, but also, or even especially, for betterment and knowledge.
- Structure and accountability: you benefit from having a standing weekly meeting that sets the pace for reading, listening and study.
- Taking your time: you’re not in school anymore. What’s the rush?
- Primary sources: you want the real story about ‘man’s search for meaning’…not the pre-digested textbook version (nor the AI generated summary).
- Hard, fresh thinking: you’re just not satisfied with pat formulas and easy answers.
- Friendship and collegiality: Friendship is a necessary ingredient in learning. You don’t have to go it alone.
Our unhurried, conversational reading program is open to all who have a will to learn. To join, become a quarterly or annual subscriber. Each subscription gives readers access to all groups, monthly one-on-one liberal arts consultations and more. We also offer free seminars as well. If have you have questions, and would like to talk to someone directly, email david.saussy@symposiumsa.com.
View our Quarterly Seminar Prospectus for 2024 below – and click on links provided to find out more about each offering.
Seminar Prospectus
2024
Year-long online learning opportunities:
January – December 2024
A Year of the Dumb Ox – Beginning the Summa Theologica
January – December 2024
How the ancients speak to us: a slow reading of Dante’s Inferno
January – September 2024 (34 Sessions)
On Seeing Whole: An Introduction to the Great Books (FREE SERIES)
~ Read one great book every two months ~ Starts January 2024
CONTINUING Groups:
Learning Latin through reading Vergil (Monday evenings)
Intermediate Homeric Greek (Sunday evenings)
January – March 2024
First Quarter Slow Reading Pathways, Online Weekly Seminars
Rousseau, Second Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (Sun)
Jacob Klein’s Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra (Mondays)
Bach Listening Studio: WTC and Keyboard Music (Tuesdays)
Jose Ortega y Gasset’s Revolt of the Masses (Tues Afternoons)
Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Wednesdays)
The Plays of Shakespeare: Cymbeline (Wednesdays)
Human Happiness: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (Thursdays)
Euclid’s Elements (Greek Mathematics)(Thursdays)
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (Fridays)
April – June 2024
Second Quarter Slow Reading Pathways, Online Weekly Seminars
New! Back to Beginnings: Spinoza, Theological-Political Treatise (Sun)
Klein’s Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra (Mondays)
New!Crosscurrents: Great Art, Music and Literature
New!Great Books of Iberia: Santayana, “The Last Puritan”; George Orwell, “Homage to Catalonia” (Tuesdays)
New! Homer’s Iliad (Tuesday evenings, through September)
Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Wednesdays)
New! The Plays of Shakespeare: As You Like It(Wednesdays)
Human Happiness: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (Thursdays)
Euclid’s Elements (Mathematics and Natural Science) (Thursdays)
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (Fridays)
July – September 2024
Third Quarter Slow Reading Pathways, Online Weekly Seminars
New! Back to Beginnings: Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed (Sun evening)
New!Arc of Modernity with the Great Books of Iberia (Tues Afternoons)
Homer’s Iliad (Continuing Tuesday evenings)
Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Wednesdays)
New! The Plays of Shakespeare: King Lear(Wednesdays, through December)
Human Happiness: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (Thursdays)
New! Greek Tragedy: Aeschylus, The Oresteia Trilogy (Thursdays)
Euclid’s Elements (Mathematics and Natural Science)(Thursdays)
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (Fridays)
October – December 2024
Fourth Quarter Slow Reading Pathways, Online Weekly Seminars (updates coming soon)
New! Back to Beginnings: Genesis and Exodus (Sun 8 EST)
New! Democracy in America, Tocqueville, Vol 1 (Mon 12 EST)
New! Crosscurrents: Great Art, Music and Literature (Mon 2 EST)
New! Plato’s Republic (Tues 2 EST)
New!Bach Listeners’ Studio: The Brandenburg Concertos (Tues 12 EST)
Arc of Modernity with the Great Books of Iberia (Tues 3 EST)
Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Wed 12 EST)
The Plays of Shakespeare: King Lear (Wed afternoon + evening)
Human Happiness: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (Thurs 12 EST)
Euclid (Thurs 9pm EST)
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason(Fri 2 EST)
New! How to read the U.S. Constitution…thoughtfully (Evening, TBD)
January – March 2025
First Quarter Slow Reading Pathways, Online Weekly Seminars (updates coming soon)
New! Back to Beginnings: Sophocles, Antigone (Sun 8 pm EST)
Democracy in America, Tocqueville, Vol 2 (Mon 12pm EST)
Plato’s Republic (Tues 2pm EST)
New! Bach Listeners’ Studio: St. Matthew’s Passion (Tues 12pm EST)
New!Arc of Modernity with the Great Books of Iberia (Tues 8pm EST)
New! On the Shoulders of Giants Mon/Thurs daytime 12pm EST)
New! The Federalists and Anti-Federalists— in Dialogue (Evening, tbd)
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is a great book anyway? Is this a fixed canon?
Don’t take our word for it, but see for yourself. There are so many misunderstandings surrounding so many of these books – and because their reputation precedes them – so often we think we know them before we’ve even started reading them. One thing we will say is this: the greatest books are such that they warrant many rereading over life – there’s always a freshness and richness that can’t be grasped finally in a single reading. The best we can do is to try to listen to them as fully and deeply as we can, and this is what conversation is for.
You have free seminars, but your regular pathways are a paid subscription. Why would I ‘pay’ to read a book? I could just read these on my own.
Do you offer any free courses?
We offer free seminars each quarter, for folks to meet leaders, and for those who want to see if what we do is the right fit for them. We have free year long reading program called Introduction to the Great Books.
How are you different from other Great Books groups?
We practice what we call slow or unhurried reading. Most – if not all – great books groups that we know about do not practice slow or unhurried reading. Our readings tend to be shorter per session, and we spend more time concentrating on the text. Many of our groups – especially those reading philosophical texts – engage in close reading. following closely the arguments as they unfold over a work. Taking friendship seriously in the life of learning, we also like to bring a personal touch to what we do, and cultivate a sense of friendship in our community. Friendship springs up naturally wherever we find adults conversing together about questions of greatest importance.
What are your regular single book slow reading subscription rates?
$250 per Quarter (every three months), $750 annual (1 Quarter free) (Subscriptions are nonrefundable.) Sign up for one pathway, and you get access to as many other pathways as you wish.
Why do you have daytime seminars? I have to work during the day.
We try to offer a variety days and times for our members, who come from all walks of life – and even different continents. Some folks can join in the daytime while others find the evening hours better suited. Our aim is to offer something meaningful that can fit with your life.
Who is Symposium right for?
Symposium is the right fit for all serious life-long learners, who are committed to the conversational reading of the best that is thought and said.
When can I Subscribe?
A short window of opportunity opens every three months – quarterly – to onboard new readers.
Can I join after a slow reading pathway has already started?
Yes. A benefit of slow reading is that it allows for new participants to join and catch up.
Do Reading Pathways ever end?
Yes. While we are committed to a much slower, workmanlike approach than others, we still want to complete are work in a reasonable time frame. have Each group has different estimated times to completion, so make sure you check the offerings individual page. On the whole, however, the estimated time for a single work is from 12 to 24 weeks or 1 to 2 quarters.
Can I subscribe to more than one pathway?
The price of one subscription includes an “All Pathway Access”, so you can enjoy participation in one or more pathways.
Are there opportunities to connect with members of the seminars?
Yes. Collegiality and friendship are central to our learning community. Subscription to each Pathway includes membership in an excellent private, Facebook-free forum to support fellowship and learning in particular reading pathway.
What do I get with a subscription?
What is slow reading?
Slow reading means: shorter readings, but deeper diving into the greats. Every week for a little over an hour, you meet with fellow lovers of learning to face a challenging text, and work at it, slowly. Each group differs in the amount of material covered. But all are committed to slowing down and taking our time. These books are built for life, not for a few conversations, but for as much leisure and time that we can bring to them.
What is a “pathway”?
A “pathway” is a “course”: The word “course” in its root sense means “pathway.” In this way, a reading and learning “pathway” not only distinguishes the sort of learning undertaken at the table from a typical “course”, but the term also gets at what we take to be the core of reading and learning, a pursuit, moving along pathways of meaningful human discourse. While we proceed from quarter to quarter, most slow reading pathways offer a “big picture”, a longer range scope of reading that make their way through a series of books and fundamental questions.
One of the subscription benefits is a one-on-one “liberal learning consultation session” What is that and how can I make use of it?
Are ancient language pathways (Latin and Greek) included in the slow reading subscription?
No. Ancient language pathways require a different level of technical preparation on the leader’s part, and is consequently priced separately. Each language pathway is a single payment for the whole course (unless you opt to split it into 2 monthly payments or work out another arrangement with us). If you are interested in signing up for one of our Language pathways, simply sign up on the form provided at each pathway’s page. Current subscribers get a discounted price on language programs.
“Excellent discussions, careful thinking.”
-Michael S.
“I am grateful to all the serious people reading thoughtfully in both of my reading pathways. And being politely considerate of each other’s opinion though not afraid to voice even acutely divergent interpretations. I’ve also enjoyed how the Sappho reading pathway (Greek and Roman Lyric poetry) sometimes probe and speculate beyond the immediate confines of the text, which help make sense of the fragmentary nature of the poetry.”
– APJ
“I have most enjoyed the observations of the group members about this text, and the challenge of integrating all the ideas expressed from the sessions. My Odyssey pathway is a wonderful group with participants who have so many varied and interesting viewpoints. A wonderful service you provide.”
– Denise V.
Subscribe to Slow Reading Pathways
Single Book Pathways, Thematic Reading, and Ancient Language Courses
Crosscurrents: Art, Music and Literature in Conversation
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- 0 Lessons
Homer’s Iliad
- 1 Students
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Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra
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How the ancients speak to us: Dante’s “Inferno”
- 0 Students
- 0 Lessons
A Year of Thomas: Beginning the Summa Theologica
- 0 Students
- 0 Lessons
Introduction to the Great Books: On Seeing Whole
- 0 Students
- 0 Lessons
History and Political Philosophy
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Mathematics and Natural Sciences
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“Excellent discussions, careful thinking.”
-Michael S.
“I am grateful to all the serious people reading thoughtfully in both of my reading pathways. And being politely considerate of each other’s opinion though not afraid to voice even acutely divergent interpretations. I’ve also enjoyed how the Sappho reading pathway (Greek and Roman Lyric poetry) sometimes probe and speculate beyond the immediate confines of the text, which help make sense of the fragmentary nature of the poetry.”
– APJ
“I have most enjoyed the observations of the group members about this text, and the challenge of integrating all the ideas expressed from the sessions. My Odyssey pathway is a wonderful group with participants who have so many varied and interesting viewpoints. A wonderful service you provide.”
– Denise V.