Using Cassandra Good’s new book First Family, this course will follow the saga of George Washington’s celebrity stepgrandchildren from the Revolution to the Civil War. We’ll be going behind the scenes to learn about the research for the book and examine original documents and objects, including some in the Rosenbach’s collection.
This seminar will explore the presidency, first as it was set out in Article II and described in the Federalist Papers, and then as it has evolved over time. We will consider the puzzles that have been solved, and those that haven’t, and the broader lessons they hold about the Constitution and America.
Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon’s masterpiece, turns 50 this year. The book divided readers from the get-go: the Pulitzer Prize jury recommended it unanimously but the Pulitzer board vetoed the recommendation, awarding no fiction prize for 1973 and calling the novel “turgid,” “unreadable,” and “obscene.” Now’s the time to read or revisit Pynchon’s ludic tome, with its pratfalls and pig costumes, its tales of love and rockets, its scatological sado-masochistic set pieces, and its passages of transcendent lyricism. Over the course of 5 fortnightly meetings, we’ll make our way through the whole enchilada.
You’ve read James Joyce’s Ulysses. Now take the adventure of a reading lifetime with Joyce’s final masterpiece, Finnegans Wake, with renowned Joyce scholar Vicki Mahaffey. Meeting once per month at the Rosenbach, home of one of the great Joyce collections in the world, you will explore this most unique creation with a group of readers in an person course over nine months, ending just in time for Bloomsday. This is your opportunity to conquer one of the most challenging novels of the English language in a friendly, accessible setting, alongside other readers who will take this most joy(ce)ful journey with you.
In this four-week online class, we will read about ten chapters of Uncle Tom’s Cabin for every session, along with short selections of poetry, journalism, and speeches by African American abolitionists.
This special one-night course includes a lecture, discussion of selected Wheatley poems, and a Collections presentation of our first edition of Poems on various subjects, religious and moral by Phillis Wheatley (1773).
Join us over five sessions as we dissect Tristram Shandy and explore its creation, its reception, and the reasons behind its shifting reputation since publication. Let’s also simply revel in the story (often overshadowed by the literary fireworks), the characters (ditto), and the glittering wit of this Eighteenth Century classic. We might even discuss whether the novel actually ends or not with the ninth volume. You’ll come for the marbled page; you’ll stay for the characters.
Every time we meet, we will practice a variety of reading techniques that will enable participants to begin experiencing Hamlet (and eventually all of Shakespeare’s plays) more deeply and effectively on their own, recognizing the playtext not only as a narrative story but also as a poetic script that was meant to be performed out loud.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula has become the ur-text of vampire fiction and lore. Stoker researched and wrote the novel over seven years, synthesizing vampire folklore and fiction to create a work that has continued to inspire fiction and film for over a hundred years.
This immersive weekly course will help readers explore (and enjoy) the intricacies, enigmas and hilarities of Ulysses. First time readers of the novel will find many resources for understanding this challenging work. For those returning to the novel, this will be a great way to delve even deeper into a book whose depths never seem to end.