Virtual Reading Groups
Would you like to join interesting people and have interesting conversations based on readings from the history of liberty?
Free Participation! | Powered by Zoom
Our Virtual Reading Groups will each focus on a particular topic, and a common set of readings will form the basis for our discussions. Each group is facilitated by a professional moderator and is conducted online powered by Zoom.
Our Timeless Reading Groups are asynchronous and open to all in the Portal platform. Liberty Fund solicits a scholar to lead a discussion of a short story and/or essays that each participant will read and discuss. This format doesn’t require participants to use Zoom or “schedule” a specific time to participate.
Participation is offered at no-cost, and there is no need to be an expert on the topic for discussion! The only requirement is that participants be eager to read and engage in conversation.
Upcoming
George Eliot's Middlemarch
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Pre-registration is required.
George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1872) is widely regarded as one of the greatest English novels, shaped by her remarkable life and intellectual background. The novel explores the tension between individual freedom, social…
Liberty and the American Statesman: Thomas Jefferson vs. John Adams
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Pre-registration is required.
This session explores the evolving relationship and ideological divide between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who went from collaborators on the Declaration of Independence to political rivals with sharply different views on…
Wealth of Nations: A Six-Part Series - Book Five Part Two
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Pre-registration is required.
Join us for a six-part monthly virtual reading group series that celebrates the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations!
Each month, Sarah Skwire and Janet Bufton (creators…
Liberty and the American Statesman: Daniel Webster vs. John Calhoun...the Slavery Debate
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Pre-registration is required.
In this Liberty and the American Statesman VRG, we will examine the contrasting responses to the sectional crisis presented in John C. Calhoun’s “Speech on the Slavery Question” (March 4, 1850) and Daniel Webster’s “The…
Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: A Twelve-Part Series - Part One
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Pre-registration is required.
Join us for a twelve-part monthly virtual reading group series that celebrates the 250th anniversary of Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire!
Each month, Peter Mentzel will lead a 90-minute…
Brave New World and We: Dystopian Visions and the Nature of Tyranny
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Pre-registration is required.
Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, first published in English in 1924, is often considered the grandfather of dystopian science fiction and influenced classics such as Orwell’s 1984, Vonnegut’s Player Piano, and Rand’s Anthem. In this…
The Rise and Fall of a Self-Made Man: Freedom and Falsehood in The Great Gatsby
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Pre-registration is required.
The Great Gatsby is one of America’s most-read novels, in large part because of its use in countless high school and college English classes. It offers the story of Jay Gatsby as told by Nick Carraway, his new neighbor. It…
Niall Ferguson's The Square and the Tower
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Pre-registration is required.
Join Aeon Skoble for a three-session VRG exploring Niall Ferguson’s The Square and the Tower, an ambitious examination of the dynamic relationship between hierarchies and networks throughout history. As participants work through…
Liberty and the American Statesman: Before The Federalist: Alexander Hamilton as Revolutionary
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Pre-registration is required.
How did Hamilton become Hamilton? His earliest writing in favor of the American colonial cause evinced all the marks of a limited government Whig seeking redress for imperial overreach and violation of rights. By the end of the…
Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: A Twelve-Part Series: Part Two
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Pre-registration is required.
Join us for a twelve-part monthly virtual reading group series that celebrates the 250th anniversary of Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire!
Each month, Peter Mentzel will lead a 90-minute…
Past Sessions
Buchanan's Natural and Artifactual Man
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12:00-1:30 pm EDT
with Paul Lewis
In this essay, which was first published by Liberty Fund in 1979, Nobel Laureate James Buchanan examines the significance of what he describes as man’s ‘artifactual’ nature. As understood by…
A Timeless Reading Group: Michael Oakeshott on Education and Community
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with Bradley Birzer
Along with Russell Kirk, C.S. Lewis, Robert Nisbet, Leo Strauss, and Friedrich Hayek, Michael Oakeshott (1901-1990) was one of the most interesting and thoughtful conservatives of the twentieth century.…
Personal Freedoms and the Nature of Man in Graphic Novels
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Tuesdays September 10, 17, and 24, 2024, 1:00-2:00 pm EDT
with Renee Wilmeth
One of the benefits of literature is that we as readers can explore new philosophies and theories through the eyes of characters and their actions. Add…
Michael Oakeshott on the Human Condition
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In this virtual reading group, we will reflect on the achievement of Michael Oakeshott, using Timothy Fuller’s book of essays, Michael Oakeshott on the Human Condition, as our primary text. Fuller and Oakeshott were close…
Reconstruction: What if Lincoln Lived?
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When considering the scope and ultimate shortcomings of Reconstruction, Americans typically resort to asking an inescapable yet unanswerable question: “what if Abraham Lincoln had lived?” Indeed, what if the author of the United…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Henry IV, Part II
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Henry IV, Part two lacks some of the flash and fireworks of the previous play. But it gives us a chance to know Falstaff much better, and to deepen our understanding of this wildly popular character. It also gives Hal’s brothers…
Insights on Joy: “Anna Karenina”
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Often considered one of the greatest works in world literature, Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” presents a deep exploration of the true sources of joy in human life. On the novel’s terms, efforts to find joy through the…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Henry IV, Part I
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Shakespeare’s three plays featuring Prince Hal’s development into the famed king, Henry V, are some of his most popular in the modern era. We’ll look into Hal’s intellectual and moral growth, and try to decide how to feel about…
