The Great Books Mini-Lecture Series is designed to introduce you to watershed texts that have changed their readers’ views of the world. It’s a series of short talks on great books. Watch for these scheduled events in the CoLab.
Discover six fascinating reads, from the historical to the futuristic. RSVP to as many presentations as you like or meet us in the CoLab. You will receive a link to a Zoom session for each one you choose.
These events will be recorded for later viewing.
Sep. 4 | Noon – 1 p.m.
“Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not)”
Nathan Jones, Professor of English takes you through a tale of love and resistance in a dangerously repressed political environment in “Noli Me Tángere” by José Rizal.
Explore what is widely known as the great novel of the Philippines.
Oct. 2 | Noon – 1 p.m.
“The Walking Drum”
Susan Johnson, Professor of Engineering, sets out on an epic quest filled with danger, revenge, and challenges in Louis L'Amour’s “The Walking Drum.”
Examine the prolific author’s departure from frontier fiction to the Middle Ages.
RSVP to receive a Zoom link for "The Walking Drum"
Nov. 13 | Noon – 1 p.m.
“What It Is Like to Go to War”
Jim Lane, Dean of Arts, Design, Humanities, and Social Sciences, drops you into the jungles of Vietnam, where an inexperienced teenager’s actions determine the fate of his men in “What It Is Like to Go to War” by Karl Marlantes.
Get a candid look at the realities of war from an author who survived them.
RSVP to receive a Zoom link for "What It Is Like To Go to War"
Feb. 5 | Noon – 1 p.m.
“Reading Lolita in Tehran”
Jodie Dietz, CoLab Coordinator, invites you to a secret gathering where women discuss now-banned literature far from the prying eyes of a post-revolution Iran in Azar Nafisi’s “Reading Lolita in Tehran.”
Watch as classics like “The Great Gatsby” go on trial with only one defender.
RSVP to receive a Zoom link for "Reading Lolita in Tehran"
Mar. 5 | Noon – 1 p.m.
“Ready Player One”
Barry Herron, Professor of Chemistry, ventures through a post-apocalyptic Earth where anyone’s only hope of survival is solving a series of mysterious gaming clues left behind by an eccentric billionaire in “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline.
Press “Start” to begin playing the game.
RSVP to receive a Zoom link for "Ready Player One"
Apr. 2 | Noon – 1 p.m.
“The Mahabharata”
Sayanti Ganguly-Puckett, Professor of English, explores the narrative of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas, in “The Mahabharata” by Ved Vyasa.
Dive into one of Hinduism’s most revered epics.
RSVP to receive a Zoom link for "The Mahabharata"
Sponsored by JCCC English/Journalism Department