How Does A Great Books Discussion Group Work?
WHO: People from diverse lifestyles make valuable contributions to good discussions. Our objective is to have careful, thorough readers and articulate discussion members. All are welcome. Participation is not required.
WHAT: A Great Books Discussion usually consists of between 5 and 15 people who have read the same book and participate in the discussion as equals. There is a discussion leader, who was trained to facilitate a high quality discussion, but who does not participate as a discussant.
The group explores significance, meanings, and preferences within the reading, and may evaluate the work in terms of their life experiences. Although persons with special knowledge are welcome, there are no experts at Great Books discussions.
The readings are self-selected by the group and the leader. They can range from classic literature and philosophy to contemporary works on any topic.
The only requirement is that the work be suitable for group discussion purposes. This requirement usually implies a modest length, and sufficient idea content to sustain discussion.
WHEN: Usually, meetings will be held once a month on a regularly scheduled basis. Meetings last for two hours and will be held on a day and time which are acceptable to the majority of group members and to the leader. For example, the second Wednesday night of every month from 7:30 - 9:30 pm.
WHY: In its simplest explanation, a Great Books Discussion is for people who like to read and want to talk with other people about the books they have read. That description also fits many book discussion groups and so it doesn't completely define a Great Books Discussion, which has also been described with the names Text Centered Discussion or Shared Inquiry Discussion
This process can produce extraordinary results of new personal insights and a shared, almost communal, sense of achievement. The discussions do not seek consensus. Rather, they stimulate thought and fresh personal insights.
Participation in a Great Books Discussion Group goes a long way toward supporting lifetime learning goals within a busy society. A sense of camaraderie and mutual respect often develops among long-term group members.
COST: There is no fee to participate. There may be an annual cost to cover room rentals in situations where no-cost venues are unavailable.
It is recommended you purchase your own copy of each reading so you can make notes inside your book. However, one can participate without spending any money by obtaining the readings from a local library or by downloading from the intent.
All participants read the same edition of a book to facilitate discussion.
*From the Long Island Great Books Council
Why go to Great Books at Colby this Summer?
To mix learning with laughter. To mix minds with emotion. To mix discovery with wonder. To mix seeing with understanding. To mix great books with fun.
That's simple. It's about people, places, things and money.
People - You will enjoy talking and laughing with most everyone who will be there. They are genuinely interested in what others think and say.
Place - If you've wanted to see Maine for ages or if you imagine a place that's Norman Rockwell perfect, it exists at Colby College and it's surroundings.
Things - It's about the books. How can you possibly go wrong with Shakespeare? And if you're curious whether the Dane was mad or not, wait till you read Foucault's book about madness.
Money - Great Books at Colby is one of the wonders of the world as to the ratio of vacation pleasures and expense. Take your pick of travel to enjoy every moment getting there.
... and these are just a few of the extra-curricular sights worth enjoying around the campus that make your Great Books at Colby experience as vast as your imagination.
About Great Books at Colby
Great Books at Colby is our annual week of lively discussion at Colby College. We are a community of people who enjoy reading and discussing good books.
Have you ever closed a book after reading the last page and wished you could share your thoughts with someone? Colby offers an opportunity to collaborate in discovering insights rarely achieved just reading alone. Located on a beautiful campus, the college has a great library, the admission free Colby Museum of Art, a bookstore, tennis courts and first-class athletic facilities with a swimming pool, as well as waterfront property at a nearby lake open to Great Books participants. It offers an inexpensive but classy vacation where readers who love to think and talk about the world’s great literary works can derive pleasure from spending time with others who share that enthusiasm. For two hours each day, readers discuss their understanding of thought-provoking classics through the Great Books Foundation’s Shared Inquiry Method. Join us in examining how these great writers view this process.
Registration covers books and discussions, as well as lectures, films, group social activities, use of the athletic facilities and tennis courts, and a real Maine lobster bake. On campus registration includes a single or double dormitory room (six nights: Sunday through Friday) and all meals. You can stay over Saturday night either before the week or after the week for an additional charge. Either night allows you to attend the Atlantic Music Festival’s outstanding free classical music concert. Commuters participate in all activities, but live on their own, off-campus, and receive lunch each day and the Friday night lobster bake.
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The Books
Adult Selections
July 21 - July 27, 2023
Great Books at Colby:
Love & Passion
July 21 - July 27, 2023
Great Books at Colby: Love & Passion
Note: shipped selections may not match images.
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Monday: Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is both a light and serious comedy about two romantic couples.
The romance between one couple is nearly ruined by false accusations of a villain while the second courtship proceeds with much wit and banter.
By means of a misunderstanding over a crucial word one couple confesses their love for each other while the other, tricked into believing a damning denouncement.
The title's play on words references the secrets and trickery that form the backbone of the play's comedy, intrigue, and action. Though a comedy, this popular play is a cautionary tale as well.
Tuesday: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen in which the repercussions of hasty judgments
and the difference between superficial and actual goodness are examined. Austen’s sparkling dialogue, romantic denouement and lively heroine make this novel a perennially popular one.
The love story highlights the search for happiness and self-knowledge in a world of strict social rules where a woman must marry well to survive.
Wednesday: Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë concerns two families of the landed gentry and their turbulent relationships with a foster son.
The novel was influenced by Romanticism and Gothic fiction. Brontë’s depiction of impossible desires, betrayal, vengeance, violence, and transgression is a masterpiece of intense,
unsettling power.
Thursday: The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton
The Age of Innocence (1920) by Edith Wharton is set in upper-class Gilded Age New York City.
A classic love triangle develops, and the three parties find themselves drawn into a poignant and bitter conflict between love and duty.
Wharton beautifully captures the complexities of passion, independence, and fulfillment, and how painfully hard it can be for individuals to truly see one another and their place in the world.
Friday: The Feast of Love, Charles Baxter
The Feast of Love, a modern novel published in 2000 by Charles Baxter, is a sumptuous work of fiction about that which most distracts and delights us.
Through vignettes in the spirit of A Midsummer Night's Dream, men and women speak of and desire their ideal mates;
parents seek out their lost children; adult children try to come to terms with their own parents and, in some cases, find new ones.
Crafted with subtlety, grace, and power, The Feast of Love is a masterful novel.
Saturday: Bonjour Tristess, Françoise Sagan
Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan is a 1954 novella centered on an endearing but self-absorbed seventeen-year-old daughter who exhibits untroubled amorality.
She cherishes the free-spirited moments she and her wealthy philandering single father share, while plotting her own sexual adventures.
But the arrival of her late mother's best friend intrudes upon her carefree pleasures which sets in motion her plan to stave off adult responsibility.
This internationally beloved story is beautifully composed and a wonderfully ambiguous celebration of sexual liberation.
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Shared Inquiry—Discussion Guidelines
In shared inquiry, participants discuss fundamental questions raised by the text and help one another assess answers. Participants come to a discussion with their own unique ways of viewing the selection, then build on that by sharing their ideas.
Discussion leaders provide direction and guidance by asking questions for which they genuinely do not know the answer. Questions are based on the text but the leader is not an expert. The group should not look to him or her for answers.
Four Principles of a Shared Inquiry Discussion:
- Only those who have read the selection may take part in discussion because participants who have not read the selection cannot support their opinions with evidence from the text, nor can they bring knowledge of the text to bear on the opinions of others.
- Discussion is restricted to the selection that everyone has read. This rule gives everyone an equal chance to contribute because it limits discussion to a selection familiar to all participants.
When the selection is the sole focus of discussion, everyone can determine whether facts are accurately recalled and opinions adequately supported. - Support for opinions should be found within the selection. Participants may introduce outside opinions only if they can restate the opinions in their own words and support the ideas with evidence from the selection.
This rule encourages participants to read carefully and think for themselves. - Leaders only ask questions—they do not answer them. Leaders help themselves and participants understand a selection by asking questions that prompt thoughtful inquiry.
The leader assists the group by asking follow-up questions—questions that encourage participants to clarify comments, support ideas with evidence from the reading, and comment on proposed interpretations.
Discussions will be richer and more productive if you remember to:
- Temper the urge to speak with the discipline to listen
- Substitute the impulse to teach with a passion to learn
- Hear what is said and listen for what is meant
- Marry your certainties with others’ possibilities
- Reserve judgment until you can claim understanding
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