In the Great Books Great Discussions Seminar Program, you’ll follow the conversation of great ideas from their origins onward. Our program guides you through a multi-year, curated reading list of primary source texts, allowing you to engage with the Great Books in a sequential, chronological progression. We pay careful attention to selecting the best translations, the quantity of reading for each discussion, and the balance of topics and authors you read each year. We provide you tailored reading guides that introduce you to each author and text, frame the topic in the book, set weekly reading goals, and offer carefully crafted questions to prompt your thinking as you read.

You’ll meet with your seminar group twice-monthly for seminar discussions led by our professional, experienced facilitators. Our seminar leaders will challenge you to deepen your understanding, sharpen your thinking, and clarify your judgements about these great texts and the ideas in them.

In addition to your regular seminars, your membership in the GBGD Seminar Program and the GBGD Slack community includes: free supplemental seminars that explore works that complement the readings on your core seminar list; a 50% discount on deep-dive specialty seminars; free community seminars and webinar events; and member-led side study groups.

Year 1 in the GBGD Program is titled Ancient Foundations. You’ll read such great works as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Book of Genesis, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and plays by Aeschylus and Sophocles. See the full Year 1 reading list below.

Your GBGD Seminar Program subscription includes:

• Curated, sequential reading list with recommended translations

• Carefully-prepared reading guides for each text

• Twice-monthly group seminar discussions, 12-13 person maximum/group

• Expertly led discussions

• Quarterly Supplemental seminars

• Drop-in access to other seminar group discussions

• Dedicated GBGD group Slack channel

• Membership in the wider Slack community

• Free community events and discussions

• 50% discount on GBGD specialty courses and seminars

The cost of the GBGD Twice-Monthly Seminar Program is $80/month.

TO REGISTER: Registration is now open for the twice-monthly Year 1 GBGD Seminar Program.  Please follow the link below to find the reading lists, schedule options, and payment instructions for each year group.

1          Intro: How to Get More from Your Reading/Gilgamesh Close Read
2         The Epic of Gilgamesh
3         The Epic of Gilgamesh
4          Enuma Elish
5          Hesiod, Theogony
6          Hesiod, Works and Days
7          Old Testament, Genesis
8          Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
9          Homer, Iliad
10         Homer, Iliad
11          Homer, Iliad
12         Homer, Iliad
13         Homeric Hymns to Apollo and Hermes
14         Homeric Hymns to Demeter and Aphrodite
15         Sappho, Poems and fragments
16         Homer, Odyssey
17         Homer, Odyssey
18         Homer, Odyssey
19         Homer, Odyssey
20        Confucius, Analects
21         Aeschylus, Agamemnon
22        Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, Eumenides
23        Sophocles, Oedipus the King
24        Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
25        Sophocles, Antigone