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
Buchanan's Essays: What Should Economists Do?
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Pre-registration is required.
James Buchanan’s goal in his 1964 essay ’What Should Economists Do?’ was to persuade economists to “concentrate their attention on a particular form of human activity, and upon the various institutional arrangements that arise as…
Liberty and the American Statesman: Roger Sherman
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Pre-registration is required.
This virtual reading group explores the life, ideas, and legacy of Roger Sherman, one of the most influential—yet often overlooked—Founding Fathers of the United States. A key figure in the American founding, Sherman was the…
Wealth of Nations: A Six-Part Series - Book Three
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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…
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
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Pre-registration is required.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 were a defining moment in American political history, bringing the issue of slavery’s expansion to the forefront of national debate. As Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas clashed over moral…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: All's Well That Ends Well
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Pre-registration is required.
All’s Well that Ends Well has defied categorization for centuries. The winning of a reluctant husband by an over-eager bride, and the subsequent bed-trick that secures their continued marriage are morally complicated in ways that…
Wealth of Nations: A Six-Part Series - Book Four
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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…
Franz Kafka's Short Stories
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Pre-registration is required.
Except for “The Metamorphosis,” Franz Kafka’s short stories are often overshadowed by his two major novels, The Trial and The Castle, which tend to dominate discussions of his work. Yet this emphasis can obscure the remarkable…
Religion and the Founding Fathers
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Pre-registration is required.
This three-session VRG examines the complex and evolving relationship between religion and politics in the American founding era, tracing how theological ideas shaped debates over authority, liberty, and governance. The selected…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: The Tempest
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Pre-registration is required.
Thought to be one of Shakespeare’s latest plays, The Tempest is haunted by magic and by images of humans at their best and their worst. Many critics read Prospero’s farewell to his books at the play’s end as conveying, in some…
Wealth of Nations: A Six-Part Series - Book Five Part One
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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…
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…
Past Sessions
Liberty and the American Statesman: Helvidius-Pacificus Debates
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Few figures shaped the Constitution more than Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Once united as Publius in defense of ratification, they later clashed over the scope of executive power—Hamilton (as Pacificus) arguing for…
The American Founders' Roman Villains
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Explore the American founders’ lifelong study of Roman history to assess what their study of Roman villains taught them about the need for vigilance and methods of preventing tyranny. Each of the sessions will focus on a…
Economics Through Literature: the 19th vs. 20th Century: Martineau
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In her series Illustrations of Political Economy, including the story For Each and For All, Martineau sought to make complex ideas of political economy accessible to general readers by embedding them within narratives featuring…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Pericles
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Pericles, Prince of Tyre is unique among Shakespeare’s plays, as it imports a famous medieval poet, John Gower, to serve as the narrator and interpreter of the play’s events. Neither a tragedy nor a comedy, but combining elements…
Liberty and Tech: Can Machines be Doctors?
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We will read a chapter from Joseph Schumpeter’s 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy about how technology brings waves of annihilation and then creation, as well as an article from Nature about how this disruption is…
Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables: Revolution, Moral Transformation, and the Human Condition
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Considered one of the first modern novels, Les Misérables examines society’s role in criminal behavior, charity, and compassion in the face of misery, poverty, and injustice. Along the way, Hugo shares his trademark social…
A Timeless Reading Group: Douglass North on Trade, Honesty, and Institutions
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Today, the role of institutions in facilitating trade worldwide remains as crucial as it was during the medieval period. For example, historical institutions like the Law Merchant and private judges helped revive trade by…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Love's Labour's Lost
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What is love? (Baby, don’t hurt me.) Shakespeare’s play is an extended, linguistically pyrotechnical exploration of the nature of love and its pleasure, dangers, and distractions. How does the play suggest we balance love and…
