“How should we live?” is a question that lies at the core of human identity. Its ever-elusive answer has been pursued, examined and fought over throughout various traditions for millennia. The Great Conversation explores the most serious answers put forward through a weekly reading group covering a rich variety of influential Western texts. This semester, we will explore themes of emancipation and ideology, including works from writers such as Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, John Stuart Mill, Judith Butler, and Solzhenitsyn.
We ask a suggested donation of $95 for non-students. This donation makes it possible for the Great Conversation to remain a diverse community of students and professionals .
Volume IV: Ideology and Emancipation
Meetings will be held online Wednesdays at 8 pm, beginning February 2025.
Reading is recommended, but not required.
Volume IV PDF Coming Soon.
Schedule:
Introduction
WEek one: Hegel
Week Two: Marx
Week Three: kIERKEGAARD
Week Four: DarwiN
Week Five: John Stuart Mill
Week Six: Nietzche
WEek seven: t.s. eLIOT
Week eight: Hannah Arendt
Week nine: Malcolm X & mlk Jr.
Week Ten: Michel Foucault
Week eleven: Judith Butler
Week Twelve: Solzhenitsyn
If you are not a student and able to make the suggested $95 course donation, please visit the link below!
This donation helps to cover the cost of production and printing of this semester’s volume.
Convener of The Great Conversation: Dr. J. David Franks
J. David Franks received his Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston College, and was professor of sacred theology for almost a decade at St. John’s Seminary, where he co-founded the Theological Institute for the New Evangelization.
He speaks monthly at the Thursday Men’s Breakfast, an ecumenical Union Club event, and teaches at Boston Trinity Academy, where he is the director of the Trinity Institute for Leadership and Social Justice. He has led the Great Conversation for four years.