Virtual Reading Groups
Would you like to join interesting people and have interesting conversations based on readings from the history of liberty?
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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 via the Zoom online platform.
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.
Participants who successfully complete all sessions will receive an e-gift certificate from Amazon.com!
Upcoming
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: The Winter's Tale
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Pre-registration is required.
4:00-5:30 pm EST
with Sarah Skwire
Like Much Ado About Nothing and Othello, the plot of The Winter’s Tale turns on false accusations against a faithful woman. Why return so often to the question of fidelity and broken trust? Why…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: The Taming of the Shrew
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Pre-registration is required.
12:00-1:30 pm EST
with Sarah Skwire
The Taming of the Shrew and its story of an overbearing husband taming a shrewish wife may not have aged particularly well, but critics have long debated how seriously it is meant to be taken,…
A Timeless Reading Group: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol - Society, Responsibility, and Happiness
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Pre-registration is required.
with Renee Wilmeth
December 2-8, 2024
What defines charity and human kindness in today’s busy world? How does a love of money complicate the issue? For this Timeless reading group discussion, we explore Charles Dickens’ famous…
A Timeless Reading Group: The Constitution and the First Amendment: The Debate on Free Speech
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Pre-registration is required.
with Brandon Paradise
November 21-26, 2024
The First Amendment right to freedom of expression is one of our nation’s most cherished and celebrated ideals, yet it is also one of the most contested. Since the nation’s founding, the…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: As You Like It
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Pre-registration is required.
2:00-3:30 pm EST
with Sarah Skwire
The physical action of As You LIke It, where Rosalind and Celia are exiled from their home into the forest mirrors the psychological action, as characters find their way through confusion and…
Dive Deep into Hayek's "The Use of Knowledge in Society"
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Pre-registration is required.
Join us for a 90-minute virtual discussion about F.A. Hayek’s thoughts on decentralized decision-making versus centralized expert control. It promises to be a lively event. Join us as we explore the Hayekian perspective on the…
Living in a World of “True Believers”. Why Eric Hoffer Still Matters
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Pre-registration is required.
12:00-1:00 pm EST
with Alberto Mingardi
Eric Hoffer is perhaps the most unlikely protagonist of the 20th century political philosophy. Completely self-taught, Hoffer worked as a longshoreman in San Francisco, after being rebuffed…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Titus Andronicus
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Pre-registration is required.
12:00-1:30 pm EDT
with Sarah Skwire
Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is famously the bloodiest and most violent of Shakespeare’s often bloody and violent tragedies. Its horrors reflect the collapse and decay of the Roman empire and…
The Constitution and the First Amendment: The Debate on Free Speech
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Pre-registration is required.
Thursday, October 31, 2024, 12:00-1:30 pm EDT
with Brandon Paradise
The First Amendment right to freedom of expression is one of our nation’s most cherished and celebrated ideals, yet it is also one of the most contested. Since…
On Cruelty Well-Used: Machiavelli and Realism
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Pre-registration is required.
Wednesdays October 30, November 6, 13, and 20, 2024, 4:00-5:00 pm EDT
with Dan Kapust
Realism has emerged as an important field of inquiry within political theory and philosophy in recent years. While much political and ethical…
A Timeless Reading Group: Dive Deep into Hayek's "The Use of Knowledge in Society"
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Pre-registration is required.
Join our Timeless online reading group to commemorate Friedrich Hayek’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences Award and dive into his essay “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” Explore with us the complexities of economic…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays
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Our new series of Shakespeare Virtual Reading Groups will explore all of Shakespeare’s plays over the course of about 3 years. We’ll look at one play a month, with Liberty Fund’s Sarah Skwire leading one 90 minute discussion for…
Past Sessions
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 pursuit of…
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…
The Presidents: Jefferson and Understanding the Declaration of Independence
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Thomas Jefferson wrote that in drafting the Declaration of Independence he meant to give expression to “the American mind.” What does this mean? What does the Declaration tell us about the American mind as it relates to the…
Stefan Zweig’s Chess novella
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Chess story (Schachnovelle) is Stefan Zweig’s last completed work & his most famous. It has been translated into 60 languages. It has sold many millions of copies. It is taught in schools & in colleges. It has been…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Richard II
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Richard II begins Shakespeare’s second tetralogy, which comprises his most famous English history plays. We will consider the play not just as a way of teeing up the Henriad, but on it’s own merits and for its own mission. What…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Cymbeline
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Cymbeline has been classified as a tragedy, a romance, and even a comedy, so our first order of business will be to try to understand what kind of a play this is. Lytton Strachey thought the play was evidence that playwriting had…
An Economy of Words: Adam Smith and the Political Philosophy of Language
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Linguistic diversity, from the Tower of Babel to the present, has drawn many thinkers to speculate over language and its potential impact on political theory and approach to economic principles. Smith is no exception. Adam Smith’…
