Humanities at Hertog

Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek & Henry David Thoreau’s Walden

Reflect on man’s relation to the wilderness & the beauty that can be found in solitude.

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart & No Longer at Ease

Reflect on two great novels from the father of modern African literature.

Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov

Meditate on Dostoevsky’s final – and greatest – novel.

Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment

Study Dostoyevsky’s first great novel, an astonishing prophecy of ideological terror & social insanity.

Dostoevsky’s Demons

Study Dostoevsky's great novel on the nature, logic, and social origins of revolutionary politics.

Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground

Reflect on the human consequence of modern thought with Doestovesky's 1864 novella.

Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence

Compare America and Europe, aristocracy and democracy, in Wharton's classic novel.

Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country

Follow the transatlantic adventures of a social-climbing American in this classic novel.

Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth

Study one of literature's great heroines—Lily Bart—and her quest for love and freedom.

Emily Wilson’s Iliad

Should a poem both beautiful & barbaric be easy to read?

Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises

Read the classic postwar novel that made Hemingway the voice of the "Lost Generation."

The First American: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Reflect on what it means to be an American.

George Eliot’s Middlemarch

Devote your winter to Eliot’s masterpiece—one of the greatest novels in the English language.

Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice

Study Jane Austen's beloved novel of marriage and manners.

John Milton’s Paradise Lost

Read an epic poem of cosmic scope–from the rebellion against heaven to the creation of the world & man’s expulsion from Eden.

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

Revisit the quarrel between "the ancients and the moderns" and reflect on human nature with Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick

Explore the fundamental human question of the nature and existence of God with Melville's great American novel.

Living with Artificial Intelligence

Engage in literary, scientific, and ethical study of Artificial Intelligence.

Nadezhda Mandelstam’s Hope Against Hope

Read the story of a doomed poet & his wife's heroic dedication to the preservation of his verse.

Politics & Policy Writing as Literature

Study classics in political writing & learn how to do what the authors do.

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

Study this monumental work on race, identity, and citizenship in America.

Revolution, Reaction, & Reform: Romantic British Poetry

Explore the political and social turmoil of the Romantic Period with Blake, Wordsworth, Byron, and more.

Saul Bellow’s Ravelstein

Reflect on a novel rich with themes of politics, philosophy, religion, love, friendship, and death.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Consider the age-old conflict between pagan & Christian morality.

Shakespeare’s Henry V

Explore Shakespeare’s insights into the exercise of power.

Shakespeare’s King Lear & The Tempest

Explore the political themes in Shakespeare's The Tempest and King Lear.

Shakespeare’s Prince & Tyrant

Explore the political and religious contexts of Shakespeare's plays.

Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Meditate on the nature of political authority with one of Shakespeare's greatest plays.

Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago

Read Solzhenitsyn's searing & deep indictment of the Communist project for its 50th anniversary.

Sophocles’ Antigone

Consider the conflicting understandings of the familial, the divine, and the political, and their proper relationships through Antigone.

Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear & Trembling

Inquire into the ultimacy of faith, the limits of rationality, & their implications for understanding the good life.

Stefan Zweig’s The World of Yesterday

Read a poignant elegy for a culture destroyed by the two world wars.

Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities

Read Tom Wolfe’s devastating, irresistible satire of urban and racial politics.

Richard A. Florsheim, Sleeping City, 1965, color lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Utopia & Dystopia

Explore visions of utopian & dystopian societies in three short novels.

Vasily Grossman’s Life & Fate

Read the novel known as the Soviet War & Peace, & reflect on the nature of totalitarianism.

Political Studies

Administration & Crisis

Examine case studies in American history to better understand presidential crisis management.

African American Political Thought

Learn how the political tradition of Black Americans has made an indelible impression on American history.

America: Farewell to Greatness?

Examine the broad challenges to American greatness, today and in the future.

The American Character

Explore issues of American identity, character, and citizenship with classic short stories.

American Democratic Capitalism

Consider the intersection of theory and practice in our key economic debates.

American Ideas

Explore the central ideas that have given shape to American democracy.

American Political Thought

Engage key texts that have helped shape the political idea – and political ideals – of America.

Aristotle

Engage in close study of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics.

The Bible & Political Philosophy

Explore the political teaching of the Book of Genesis.

The Bible & Politics

Explore the biblical view of the human condition with readings from Genesis and Exodus.

Bioethics

Understand the biotechnology revolution and what it means for ethics and politics.

Burke & Anglo-American Conservatism

Explore the Anglo-American conservative political tradition through the writings of Edmund Burke.

Can Free Speech Survive the Internet?

Consider the impact of the Internet on our political discourse and associational life.

Can Partisanship Be Fixed?

Investigate the debate over parties by examining their nature and role in American political life.

Charles Krauthammer: A Life in the Arena

Study the writing and life of one of America's most prominent conservative thinkers.

Christianity & Politics

Examine the relationship of religion to politics through the work of canonical authors who wrestle with Biblical religion.

Civility & Public Discourse

Reflect on the responsibility of citizens to cultivate and wield the power of political speech.

Contemporary Political Ideologies

Examine the ideology of “neoliberalism” and its challengers.

Current Issues in American Politics & Public Policy

Study how public policy is made and implemented in the United States.

Democracy, Capitalism, & Regulation

Examine the challenges of regulatory growth for limited government.

Democracy in America

Examine the political, religious, and social character of American democracy.

Foundations of Political Philosophy

Delve into the principles of political rhetoric or explore Shakespeare's lessons for politics.

Foundations of Political Philosophy

Explore the differences between ancient and modern political philosophy, with a focus on texts by Aristotle and Machiavelli.

Free Speech in a Fractured Republic

Situate the classic debate over free speech in both historical and contemporary context.

Health Care Reform

Understand the state of U.S. health care policy and the possibilities for reform.

Health Care & The Welfare State

Examine the theoretical roots and foundations of social welfare policy, particularly as it pertains to health care.

Ideas & Public Policy

Examine the influence of ideas in some of our key policy debates.

Is America Exceptional?

Explore the idea of American Exceptionalism, its meaning and implications for American politics.

John Locke

Study the principal political writings of John Locke, whose views on political liberty helped shape the U.S. Constitution.

Left & Right in America

Study the two great rival partisan interpretations of liberal democracy in America.

Leo Strauss & The Art of Writing

Consider the relationship of politics and philosophy through a close reading Leo Strauss’s Persecution and the Art of Writing.

Liberalism & the Common Good

Reflect on the theory & practice of liberal societies.

Liberty & Order

Reflect on what is required today to sustain (or revive) our free and liberal society. 

The Limits of Politics

Explore the boundaries of politics from the perspective of the household and the divine.

Lincoln with Douglass

Reflect on the writings of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass -- and their crucial role in America’s confrontation with slavery.

Machiavelli’s The Prince

Study the classic treatise that brought Machiavelli fame—and infamy.

Modern Science and Politics

Reexamine the purpose of science, and the relationship between science, technology, and politics.

Partisanship in American Politics

Explore how societal trends and political parties have reshaped the character of America's partisan attachments.

Plato’s Gorgias

Reflect on the ethical dilemmas implied by the pursuit of power.

Plato’s Republic

Study Plato’s Republic, perhaps the greatest work of political philosophy ever written.

Plato’s Republic

Study a pillar of the Western political tradition: Plato's Republic.

Political Heretics

Track the ideological odysseys of five public intellectuals who broke ranks with their fellow partisans.

The Political Thought of Abraham Lincoln

Understand Lincoln, not just as the greatest of presidents, but as a man of great ideas as well.

The Political Thought of Edmund Burke

Study the work of Edmund Burke, the West’s first and arguably greatest conservative thinker.

Principles of Political Rhetoric

Study classic examples of rhetoric and contemporary political speeches.

Reason, Faith, & Politics

Explore the relation between the two highest kinds of knowledge—reason and faith.

Religion & Politics

Consider the proper role of religion in public life.

Slavery & the American Founding

Consider the status of slavery and race in the American Founding.

Statesmanship: Plutarch & Lincoln

Examine the idea of statesmanship, through a classic text and the statecraft of Abraham Lincoln.

Theory and Practice in Government Policy

Study the influence of ideas in four areas of policy contention—taxation, regulation, welfare, and abortion.

Traditions of Freedom

Study the intellectual roots of conservative thought, focusing on the works of Adam Smith and Edmund Burke.

The Transformation of American Government

Examine three fundamental changes in American government and the political roots of these changes.

Understanding Populism

Understand the resurgence of populism in America.

Understanding Social Justice

Explore how the idea of social justice is transforming U.S. politics.

Varieties of American Conservatism

Discover the intellectual roots of modern conservatism.

What Is Liberal Education?

Reflect on the enduring value of liberal education and its importance for a free society.

What Is Liberal Modernity?

Reexamine liberal modernity, or that distinctive form of politics based on the natural freedom and equality of all.

What Is Political Philosophy?

Explore the work of Leo Strauss, one of the twentieth century’s most consequential teachers and scholars of political philosophy.

Constitutional Studies

Constitutional Administration

Learn how policy is translated through the administrative state and the courts.

The Constitution, The Courts, and Conservatism

Explore the debates within conservative legal thought on the courts and the Constitution.

The Federalist

Evaluate the Constitutional Convention’s work through a close reading of The Federalist and the writings of the Anti-Federalists.

The Federalist & Contemporary Debates

Consider The Federalist Papers anew through the lens of current events. 

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Study five landmark Supreme Court cases with a view to exploring how politics and law interact.

The Supreme Court & American Politics

Explore how the new conservative supermajority will change the Court.

The Supreme Court & Precedent

Consider landmark decisions that could be overturned & their implications for American politics.

The Supreme Court’s 2017-18 Term

Study two landmark cases from a momentous Supreme Court term.

The Words That Made Us

Revisit key constitutional questions through the lens of history and law.

War & Security Studies

American Grand Strategy

Explore U.S. grand strategy from the Founding to the present day.

America’s Forgotten War & Confronting China Today

Study the Korean War and the lessons it offers for U.S.-China competition.

The Case for Nationalism

Examine the political and moral questions surrounding nationalism and nation-states.

The Challenges of the Middle East

Understand the Arab Spring and how, together with its aftermath, it has changed American priorities and strategies.

China Beyond Beijing

Study the fundamentals of the behavioral & cultural aspects of China’s government & military forces.

China at War: Past, Present, & Future

Examine China’s past and current use of force in the context of its strategic culture and traditions.

Chinese Grand Strategy

Explore the implications of China’s global rise for U.S. primacy and the liberal international order.

Debating U.S.-China Strategic Competition

Explore contemporary views on U.S.-China strategic competition alongside a variety of prominent instructors.

Foundations of Grand Strategy

Assess grand strategic theory and practice in Thucydides and Plutarch.

Grand Strategies

Consider the multiple, competing foreign policy crises America faces today.

Grand Strategy

Examine foundational texts on grand strategy and international order. 

Great Figures: David Ben-Gurion

Assess the visionary leadership of David Ben-Gurion, founding father and first prime minister of Israel.

Great Figures: Margaret Thatcher

Learn how Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady of British politics, set Britain on a new course and helped end the Cold War.

Great Figures: Ronald Reagan

Chart the dramatic rise of the modern conservative movement by studying the political career of Ronald Reagan.

Great Figures: Winston Churchill

Consider the challenges of statesmanship through the words and deeds of Winston S. Churchill.

Great Leaders & Great Biographies

Engage in the rigorous study of great biography to investigate a wider set of questions about geopolitics, leadership, and human character.

How China Confronts Crisis

Examine three major hinge-points in China’s history & how China responds to crisis.

The Ideology & Strategy of al Qaeda & ISIS

Explore major intellectual discussions underpinning the Salafi-jihadist ideology of al Qaeda and ISIS.

The Iranian Challenge

Consider the strategic options for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program.

Is Israel Alone?

Explore the past, present, and future of the America-Israel strategic relationship.

Julian Jackson’s De Gaulle

Study Charles de Gaulle, the mythic general who rallied the Free French during World War II.

Kissinger & the Yom Kippur War

Learn how Henry Kissinger's strategy changed the future of the Middle East.

Lessons of the Iraq War

Examine how the United States grappled with the challenges presented by Iraq.

National Security & Sino-American Technology Competition

Join the next generation of East Asia strategists and study US-China technology competition.

Nixon in China: Did We Get China Wrong?

Study Nixon’s strategic opening to Beijing in 1972 and how it shaped U.S.-China relations today.

The North Korean Crisis

Consider the strategic options for dealing with North Korea.

Nuclear Strategy & World Order

Explore the ways nuclear weapons have transformed the world we inhabit today.

Presidential Command & National Security Leadership

Analyze case studies to better understand presidential control over foreign policy and the meaning of executive power.

A Return to Rivalry: U.S.-Russia Relations

Study the trajectory of U.S. policy towards Russia from the Soviet collapse to the invasion of Ukraine.

Rising China & U.S. Foreign Policy

Explore the future of rising China and alternative U.S. policy approaches for coping with it.

Ronald Reagan: The Peacemaker

Examine how Ronald Reagan confronted the Soviet Union and won the Cold War.

Russian Hybrid Warfare

Study Russian hybrid warfare strategy and how the U.S. should counter Putin's expansionism.

Russia: A Return to Rivalry

Examine U.S.-Russia relations since the end of the Cold War.

Thinking Strategically

Study American strategic culture, and the factors that influence when and how the United States uses military power.

Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War

Study the Peloponnesian War with renowned classicist and historian Donald Kagan.

Thucydides and Today’s Challenges

Read Thucydides as a series of case studies, setting up a discussion of contemporary strategic problems.

U.S.-China Strategic Competition

Take an in-depth look at the new era of strategic competition between the United States and China.

U.S. Defense Strategy & the China Challenge

Assess U.S. defense strategy to counter China’s rise.

U.S. Grand Strategy

Assess the role of the U.S. in a rapidly changing international system.

U.S.-Iran Strategic Competition

Explore the challenges Iran presents to the United States, from its nuclear program to its regional ambitions.

U.S.-Russia Strategic Competition

Consider the nature of the Russian challenge to the United States.

Utopia vs. Reality in American Grand Strategy

Apply the insights of classical geopolitical analysis to America's actions today.

The War in Iraq: A Study in Decision-Making

Examine key strategic decisions during one of the most dynamic confrontations of the late 20th and early 21st centuries: the U.S. and Iraq.

War Studies Program

Learn the theory, practice, organization, and control of war and military forces.

World Order & American Foreign Policy

Explore the nature of the world order and America’s role in shaping it.

The Yom Kippur War: A Case Study in Strategy, Power, & Character

Explore the Yom Kippur War, one of the great understudied hinge points of history.

2010

Current Issues in American Politics & Public Policy

Study how public policy is made and implemented in the United States.

The Limits of Politics

Explore the boundaries of politics from the perspective of the household and the divine.

Thinking Strategically

Study American strategic culture, and the factors that influence when and how the United States uses military power.

2011

The American Character

Explore issues of American identity, character, and citizenship with classic short stories.

Health Care & The Welfare State

Examine the theoretical roots and foundations of social welfare policy, particularly as it pertains to health care.

2012

Bioethics

Understand the biotechnology revolution and what it means for ethics and politics.

The Challenges of the Middle East

Understand the Arab Spring and how, together with its aftermath, it has changed American priorities and strategies.

Democracy, Capitalism, & Regulation

Examine the challenges of regulatory growth for limited government.

Leo Strauss & The Art of Writing

Consider the relationship of politics and philosophy through a close reading Leo Strauss’s Persecution and the Art of Writing.

World Order & American Foreign Policy

Explore the nature of the world order and America’s role in shaping it.

2013

America: Farewell to Greatness?

Examine the broad challenges to American greatness, today and in the future.

The Federalist

Evaluate the Constitutional Convention’s work through a close reading of The Federalist and the writings of the Anti-Federalists.

Is America Exceptional?

Explore the idea of American Exceptionalism, its meaning and implications for American politics.

Modern Science and Politics

Reexamine the purpose of science, and the relationship between science, technology, and politics.

Theory and Practice in Government Policy

Study the influence of ideas in four areas of policy contention—taxation, regulation, welfare, and abortion.

The Transformation of American Government

Examine three fundamental changes in American government and the political roots of these changes.

2014

American Ideas

Explore the central ideas that have given shape to American democracy.

The Case for Nationalism

Examine the political and moral questions surrounding nationalism and nation-states.

Health Care Reform

Understand the state of U.S. health care policy and the possibilities for reform.

Reason, Faith, & Politics

Explore the relation between the two highest kinds of knowledge—reason and faith.

Rising China & U.S. Foreign Policy

Explore the future of rising China and alternative U.S. policy approaches for coping with it.

2015

Christianity & Politics

Examine the relationship of religion to politics through the work of canonical authors who wrestle with Biblical religion.

Is Israel Alone?

Explore the past, present, and future of the America-Israel strategic relationship.

Lessons of the Iraq War

Examine how the United States grappled with the challenges presented by Iraq.

The Political Thought of Abraham Lincoln

Understand Lincoln, not just as the greatest of presidents, but as a man of great ideas as well.

2016

Great Figures: David Ben-Gurion

Assess the visionary leadership of David Ben-Gurion, founding father and first prime minister of Israel.

Great Figures: Margaret Thatcher

Learn how Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady of British politics, set Britain on a new course and helped end the Cold War.

Great Figures: Ronald Reagan

Chart the dramatic rise of the modern conservative movement by studying the political career of Ronald Reagan.

Great Figures: Winston Churchill

Consider the challenges of statesmanship through the words and deeds of Winston S. Churchill.

The Iranian Challenge

Consider the strategic options for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program.

Left & Right in America

Study the two great rival partisan interpretations of liberal democracy in America.

What Is Liberal Modernity?

Reexamine liberal modernity, or that distinctive form of politics based on the natural freedom and equality of all.

2017

The Ideology & Strategy of al Qaeda & ISIS

Explore major intellectual discussions underpinning the Salafi-jihadist ideology of al Qaeda and ISIS.

John Locke

Study the principal political writings of John Locke, whose views on political liberty helped shape the U.S. Constitution.

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Study five landmark Supreme Court cases with a view to exploring how politics and law interact.

Plato’s Republic

Study Plato’s Republic, perhaps the greatest work of political philosophy ever written.

The Political Thought of Edmund Burke

Study the work of Edmund Burke, the West’s first and arguably greatest conservative thinker.

What Is Political Philosophy?

Explore the work of Leo Strauss, one of the twentieth century’s most consequential teachers and scholars of political philosophy.

2018

Burke & Anglo-American Conservatism

Explore the Anglo-American conservative political tradition through the writings of Edmund Burke.

Grand Strategy

Examine foundational texts on grand strategy and international order. 

The North Korean Crisis

Consider the strategic options for dealing with North Korea.

Statesmanship: Plutarch & Lincoln

Examine the idea of statesmanship, through a classic text and the statecraft of Abraham Lincoln.

The Supreme Court’s 2017-18 Term

Study two landmark cases from a momentous Supreme Court term.

Understanding Populism

Understand the resurgence of populism in America.

The War in Iraq: A Study in Decision-Making

Examine key strategic decisions during one of the most dynamic confrontations of the late 20th and early 21st centuries: the U.S. and Iraq.

What Is Liberal Education?

Reflect on the enduring value of liberal education and its importance for a free society.

2019

The Bible & Political Philosophy

Explore the political teaching of the Book of Genesis.

Can Free Speech Survive the Internet?

Consider the impact of the Internet on our political discourse and associational life.

Charles Krauthammer: A Life in the Arena

Study the writing and life of one of America's most prominent conservative thinkers.

Civility & Public Discourse

Reflect on the responsibility of citizens to cultivate and wield the power of political speech.

Foundations of Political Philosophy

Explore the differences between ancient and modern political philosophy, with a focus on texts by Aristotle and Machiavelli.

Nuclear Strategy & World Order

Explore the ways nuclear weapons have transformed the world we inhabit today.

Russian Hybrid Warfare

Study Russian hybrid warfare strategy and how the U.S. should counter Putin's expansionism.

U.S.-China Strategic Competition

Take an in-depth look at the new era of strategic competition between the United States and China.

Varieties of American Conservatism

Discover the intellectual roots of modern conservatism.

2020

Administration & Crisis

Examine case studies in American history to better understand presidential crisis management.

American Democratic Capitalism

Explore the intersection of theory and practice in our national politics, and particularly in our key economic debates.

American Grand Strategy

Explore U.S. grand strategy from the Founding to the present day.

Can Partisanship Be Fixed?

Investigate the debate over parties by examining their nature and role in American political life.

Chinese Grand Strategy

Explore the implications of China’s global rise for U.S. primacy and the liberal international order.

Lincoln’s Statesmanship

Understand Lincoln’s statecraft in conjunction with his literary craft.

Nixon in China: Did We Get China Wrong?

Study Nixon’s strategic opening to Beijing in 1972 and how it shaped U.S.-China relations today.

Partisanship in American Politics

Explore how societal trends and political parties have reshaped the character of America's partisan attachments.

Presidential Command & National Security Leadership

Analyze case studies to better understand presidential control over foreign policy and the meaning of executive power.

Shakespeare’s Prince & Tyrant

Explore the political and religious contexts of Shakespeare's plays.

Sophocles’ Antigone

Consider the conflicting understandings of the familial, the divine, and the political, and their proper relationships through Antigone.

U.S.-China Strategic Competition

Take an in-depth look at the new era of strategic competition between the United States and China.

U.S.-Iran Strategic Competition

Explore the challenges Iran presents to the United States, from its nuclear program to its regional ambitions.

U.S.-Russia Strategic Competition

Consider the nature of the Russian challenge to the United States.

The Yom Kippur War: A Case Study in Strategy, Power, & Character

Explore the Yom Kippur War, one of the great understudied hinge points of history.

2021

American Political Thought

Engage key texts that have helped shape the political idea – and political ideals – of America.

Aristotle

Engage in close study of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics.

The Bible & Politics

Explore the biblical view of the human condition with readings from Genesis and Exodus.

Constitutional Administration

Learn how policy is translated through the administrative state and the courts.

Debating U.S.-China Strategic Competition

Explore contemporary views on U.S.-China strategic competition alongside a variety of prominent instructors.

Dostoevsky’s Demons

Study Dostoevsky's great novel on the nature, logic, and social origins of revolutionary politics.

The Federalist & Contemporary Debates

Consider The Federalist Papers anew through the lens of current events. 

Free Speech in a Fractured Republic

Situate the classic debate over free speech in both historical and contemporary context.

Grand Strategies

Consider the multiple, competing foreign policy crises America faces today.

Ideas & Public Policy

Examine the influence of ideas in some of our key policy debates.

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

Revisit the quarrel between "the ancients and the moderns" and reflect on human nature with Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Lincoln with Douglass

Reflect on the writings of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass -- and their crucial role in America’s confrontation with slavery.

Machiavelli’s The Prince

Study the classic treatise that brought Machiavelli fame—and infamy.

Political Heretics

Track the ideological odysseys of five public intellectuals who broke ranks with their fellow partisans.

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

Study this monumental work on race, identity, and citizenship in America.

Religion & Politics

Consider the proper role of religion in public life.

Saul Bellow’s Ravelstein

Reflect on a novel rich with themes of politics, philosophy, religion, love, friendship, and death.

Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Meditate on the nature of political authority with one of Shakespeare's greatest plays.

Thucydides and Today’s Challenges

Read Thucydides as a series of case studies, setting up a discussion of contemporary strategic problems.

U.S.-China Strategic Competition

Take an in-depth look at the new era of strategic competition between the United States and China.

U.S.-Iran Strategic Competition

Explore the challenges Iran presents to the United States, from its nuclear program to its regional ambitions.

U.S.-Russia Strategic Competition

Consider the nature of the Russian challenge to the United States.

Vasily Grossman’s Life & Fate

Read the novel known as the Soviet War & Peace, & reflect on the nature of totalitarianism.

2022

African American Political Thought

Learn how the political tradition of Black Americans has made an indelible impression on American history.

American Democratic Capitalism

Consider the intersection of theory and practice in our key economic debates.

American Political Thought

Study the American ethos through examination of The Federalist Papers and Democracy in America.

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart & No Longer at Ease

Reflect on two great novels from the father of modern African literature.

Contemporary Political Ideologies

Examine the ideology of “neoliberalism” and its challengers.

Democracy in America

Examine the political, religious, and social character of American democracy.

Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov

Meditate on Dostoevsky’s final – and greatest – novel.

Julian Jackson’s De Gaulle

Study Charles de Gaulle, the mythic general who rallied the Free French during World War II.

Living with Artificial Intelligence

Engage in literary, scientific, and ethical study of Artificial Intelligence.

Plato’s Gorgias

Reflect on the ethical dilemmas implied by the pursuit of power.

Plato’s Republic

Study a pillar of the Western political tradition: Plato's Republic.

Principles of Political Rhetoric

Study classic examples of rhetoric and contemporary political speeches.

Shakespeare’s Henry V

Explore Shakespeare’s insights into the exercise of power.

Shakespeare’s King Lear & The Tempest

Explore the political themes in Shakespeare's The Tempest and King Lear.

Slavery & the American Founding

Consider the status of slavery and race in the American Founding.

The Supreme Court & American Politics

Explore how the new conservative supermajority will change the Court.

Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities

Read Tom Wolfe’s devastating, irresistible satire of urban and racial politics.

Understanding Social Justice

Explore how the idea of social justice is transforming U.S. politics.

U.S. Defense Strategy & the China Challenge

Assess U.S. defense strategy to counter China’s rise.

U.S. Grand Strategy

Assess the role of the U.S. in a rapidly changing international system.

The Words That Made Us

Revisit key constitutional questions through the lens of history and law.

2023

America’s Forgotten War & Confronting China Today

Study the Korean War and the lessons it offers for U.S.-China competition.

China at War: Past, Present, & Future

Examine China’s past and current use of force in the context of its strategic culture and traditions.

Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground

Reflect on the human consequence of modern thought with Doestovesky's 1864 novella.

Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence

Compare America and Europe, aristocracy and democracy, in Wharton's classic novel.

Grand Strategy

Study the permanent strategic lessons offered by Thucydides and the American strategic tradition.

Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice

Study Jane Austen's beloved novel of marriage and manners.

Liberalism & the Common Good

Reflect on the theory & practice of liberal societies.

Liberty & Order

Reflect on what is required today to sustain (or revive) our free and liberal society. 

A Return to Rivalry: U.S.-Russia Relations

Study the trajectory of U.S. policy towards Russia from the Soviet collapse to the invasion of Ukraine.

The Supreme Court & Precedent

Consider landmark decisions that could be overturned & their implications for American politics.

Richard A. Florsheim, Sleeping City, 1965, color lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Utopia & Dystopia

Explore visions of utopian & dystopian societies in three short novels.

2024

Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek & Henry David Thoreau’s Walden

Reflect on man’s relation to the wilderness & the beauty that can be found in solitude.

China Beyond Beijing

Study the fundamentals of the behavioral & cultural aspects of China’s government & military forces.

Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment

Study Dostoyevsky’s first great novel, an astonishing prophecy of ideological terror & social insanity.

Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country

Follow the transatlantic adventures of a social-climbing American in this classic novel.

Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth

Study one of literature's great heroines—Lily Bart—and her quest for love and freedom.

Emily Wilson’s Iliad

Should a poem both beautiful & barbaric be easy to read?

The First American: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Reflect on what it means to be an American.

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick

Explore the fundamental human question of the nature and existence of God with Melville's great American novel.

How China Confronts Crisis

Examine three major hinge-points in China’s history & how China responds to crisis.

John Milton’s Paradise Lost

Read an epic poem of cosmic scope–from the rebellion against heaven to the creation of the world & man’s expulsion from Eden.

Kissinger & the Yom Kippur War

Learn how Henry Kissinger's strategy changed the future of the Middle East.

Politics & Policy Writing as Literature

Study classics in political writing & learn how to do what the authors do.

A Return to Rivalry: U.S.-Russia Relations

Study the trajectory of U.S. policy towards Russia from the Soviet collapse to the invasion of Ukraine.

Revolution, Reaction, & Reform: Romantic British Poetry

Explore the political and social turmoil of the Romantic Period with Blake, Wordsworth, Byron, and more.

Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear & Trembling

Inquire into the ultimacy of faith, the limits of rationality, & their implications for understanding the good life.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Consider the age-old conflict between pagan & Christian morality.

Stefan Zweig’s The World of Yesterday

Read a poignant elegy for a culture destroyed by the two world wars.

Statesmanship

Consider the statesman’s role in democracy & whether political greatness is still possible today.

Utopia vs. Reality in American Grand Strategy

Apply the insights of classical geopolitical analysis to America's actions today.

2025

Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises

Read the classic postwar novel that made Hemingway the voice of the "Lost Generation."

George Eliot’s Middlemarch

Devote your winter to Eliot’s masterpiece—one of the greatest novels in the English language.

Nadezhda Mandelstam’s Hope Against Hope

Read the story of a doomed poet & his wife's heroic dedication to the preservation of his verse.