ONLINE Read Homer's Odyssey in English translation. The epic poem explores many themes, including the psychological difficulties of returning home from war, the importance of trust in human relationships and the role of storytelling in human life. While many of the stories are familiar, find some of the less well-known parts quite interesting and surprising. The Robert Fitzgerald translation is recommended.

IN PERSON Read Homer's Odyssey in English translation. The epic poem explores many themes, including the psychological difficulties of returning home from war, the importance of trust in human relationships and the role of storytelling in human life. While many of the stories are familiar, find some of the less well-known parts quite interesting and surprising. The Robert Fitzgerald translation is recommended.

NEW From the meditative writings of Thoreau, to the Gothic and Romantic genre explorations of Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville, to the poetic experimentation of Whitman and Dickinson, the mid-nineteenth century saw a group of authors forge an exciting new American literary identity. Through readings and lively discussions, investigate this pioneering movement that ended up shaping our national literature for generations.

NEW This Penguin book collection is edited by Daniel Halpern. You will be guided by a list of dates and stories to be read. Receive a brief bio and interesting meaningful facts on the story. Discuss each one.

NEW A Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a photographer, Welty’s texts offer insightful, clever, and realistic portrayals of life in the American south. Her work is often characterized by its modernist techniques, sharp wit, and profound understanding of human relationships. Read, view, and discuss a collection of Welty’s short stories and depression-era photographs, along with her philosophy that the act of writing is a "continuous thread of revelation" and “a process of becoming.”

NEW Using their combined backgrounds in folklore, folk art, and the fine arts, the Blyn sisters will re-examine the work of Henri Rousseau for those who may have missed the phenomenal exhibit at Philadelphia's Barnes Foundation. Is this art "true naïve," "faux-naïve" or "academic?" For those who did attend, we can share our recollections.

NEW Explore three of Shakespeare’s greatest and most influential tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. Examine how Shakespeare dramatizes ambition and revenge, madness and moral collapse, family conflict and political struggle. Pay close attention to the language of these plays as well as their historical context and the circumstances of their publication. Also consider their continued impact on theater and popular culture more than four centuries after Shakespeare’s death.

NEW The stories of Samson, one of the favorite characters in the Hebrew Bible, appear in the Book of Judges, chapters 13-16. Take a look at various topics in the stories, such as historicity, style and genre, and humor. Is the saga of Samson a parody on demigods, an idea that was current in the ancient world (Gilgamesh, a Sumerian king, was 2/3 divine and 1/3 human, a mathematical combination I cannot figure out)?