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
Understanding Empire on the Eve of Independence: Granville Sharp's Critique of Parliamentary Omnipotence
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BY INVITATION ONLY
Obtaining a proper historical understanding of imperial Britain’s relationship to its colonies on the eve of the Revolution has proven a major challenge because of the sheer complexity of the Empire in both…
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…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Bonus Round on Selected Sonnets
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Pre-registration is required.
Because Summer’s lease hath all too short a date, we will end our One Fell Swoop group with a session on some of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. They’re love poems, of course, but what else do they contain? What are their non-romantic…
The Debate Over the Colonies and the Declaration of Independence
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BY INVITATION ONLY
The readings for this VRG present the argument between England and its North American colonies as the colonies move toward declaring independence, Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration, and letters from…
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…
Past Sessions
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: The Tempest
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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…
Religion and the Founding Fathers
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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…
Franz Kafka's Short Stories
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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…
Wealth of Nations: A Six-Part Series - Book Four
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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…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: All's Well That Ends Well
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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…
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
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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…
Wealth of Nations: A Six-Part Series - Book Three
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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: Roger Sherman
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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…
