"What's it all about, then, eh?" asks a Monty Python actor at the end of The Meaning of Life. Philosophers have considered this question throughout the ages--from Plato to the present. And that is the question we, too, will address as we study Camus, Beckett, and Sartre. These writers will challenge our traditional assumptions, broaden our understanding of human existence, and invite us to formulate our own answer to "what's it all about?"

NEW Explore the poets not generally included in sweeping British and Irish Poetry classes. These are the voices of the Gaeltacht, the Irish speaking areas of Ireland, mostly on its west coast. Also included are Irish poets from today's CyberGaeltacht-the modern online Irish language community, with participants from around the world.

NEW Robert Louis Stevenson penned a world-famous thriller in which Dr. Jekyll, convinced that all people have two personalities, concocts a drug to separate one person into two personalities and tests it on himself. Enter Mr. Hyde – Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego – who is as depraved and vicious as Dr. Jekyll is virtuous and kindly. Experience the eternal battle between good and evil.

NEW Eavesdrop on Margaret’s achingly intimate letters to her departed soulmate as she leads you through her transformative writing journey from love letters to storytelling, from grief to late-in-life love, from tears to laughter. She offers you her tale of two lovers as a gateway to unvarnished self-disclosure and growth that will serve as a blueprint for any aspiring memoirist who has a story that yearns to be told.

NEW Civil disobedience, explosive grief, defying a tyrant, conflict and betrayal within a family - Sophocles' tragedy Antigone is over two thousand years old, yet it's still incredibly resonant today. Conflicts in Boston, Ferguson, Syria, Argentina, and many other places have been interpreted through allusions to the play. Read and discuss the play together while learning about the history and culture of Athenian drama.

NEW If the Hebrew Bible is a book of law, what place does poetry have? Look at a selection of biblical poems, Genesis 4:23-24, Exodus 15, Psalms 13, 23, and 148, The Song of Songs 8:6-7, and Isaiah 5. Look at the devices that are used in poetry (such as parallelism, assonance and consonance). I once heard poetry described as “deliberate ambiguity." Examine what makes biblical poetry both beautiful and enigmatic.

Meet Dylan Thomas This world-famous Welsh poet expanded our sense of what language can do. Rhythmically forceful, yet subtly musical, his poems remain anthology favorites. He has since been transformed into an icon of pop culture. Explore his life and listen to dramatic readings of his poetical works. Be transported into the ‘still beating heart’ of the Man! the Writer! and the Icon!

NEW Explore the folklore of Christmas in Ireland, including the origin of the Mummers Parade. Read Irish Christmas poems and learn the words to a few carols in the Irish language (Gaeilge). Also in the Irish language, learn how to say 'Happy Christmas' and the several names for Santa Claus.