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 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: Henry IV, Part I
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Pre-registration is required.
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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Pre-registration is required.
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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Pre-registration is required.
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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Pre-registration is required.
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’…
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
Timeless: Reading Together - Utopia or Dystopia?
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Please join us in February/March 2024 for a Timeless Virtual Reading Group with Janet Bufton.
Timeless is our new series of asynchronous reading groups.
Each group will be “open” for a defined time period, with scheduled assigned…
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War: the Emancipation Proclamation
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Many of Lincoln’s speeches and letters articulate the concept of American freedom, and Lincoln’s vision continues to penetrate our culture today. Although it lacks the soaring rhetoric, the legalistic writing of the Emancipation…
Classic Texts of Confucianism and Daoism
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Pre-registration is required, and we ask you to register only if you can be present for ALL sessions. All readings are available online. Participants who successfully complete ALL sessions will be eligible to receive an Amazon…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Twelfth-Night: or, What You Will
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Twelfth Night is a comedy that was written to help celebrate the end of the Christmas season. Like many of Shakespeare’s comedies it is preoccupied with questions of love and of identity, and with the tricks and machinations…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Venus and Adonis
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With the winter holidays upon us it seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore one of Shakespeare’s narrative poems for a briefer reading experience this month. A crucial piece of writing for establishing his importance as a…
H.G. Wells, Technocracy and Liberty
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Novelist H.G. Wells (1866-1946) is still beloved for some of the most brilliant stories of the early 20th century: from The Time Machine to the Invisible Man, quite a lot of his prose survived the test of time, has been…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - The Comedy of Errors
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As we move into the festive holiday season this early slapstick comedy by Shakespeare brings us merriment and family drama–which seems like good preparation for family feasts and fights! Join us as we consider questions about…
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War: the Gettysburg Address
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Many of Lincoln’s speeches (and letters) articulate the concept of American freedom, and Lincoln’s vision continues to penetrate our culture today. Among his most celebrated speeches is his Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.…