Outreach

Annapolis, Executive Seminars

St. John's College Executive Seminars aim to address fundamental questions of the human condition through a close reading and discussion of timeless great works of literature, philosophy, and political discourse.Faculty members, called tutors, meet with about 20 participants once a month for 90 minutes to discuss one of these enduring texts. The seminar discussion is exploratory; no previous knowledge of the author, text, or subject is required and participants refer only to books the group has read together. The tutors do not set an agenda of topics to be covered.

At the college, we believe that real learning happens when seminar participants take responsibility for understanding these beautiful but difficult works through discussion with others. In such discussion participants come to a deeper understanding of the reading and of the issues it raises. One of the tutors begins each session with a question that has no simple answer.

The character and course of the conversation are determined by the demands of the text and by the willingness of all members of the seminar to state their opinions clearly and reasonably. Such a discussion is not a debate: challenging the ideas of others or offering alternative thinking is encouraged, with insight as the goal.

For eighteen years the college has offered seminars for professionals and executives in a number of cities. These seminars are specially structured to suit the needs of busy people who, immersed in careers and families, value serious conversation with their peers about ideas that have challenged humankind through the ages.

Registration
Each Executive Seminar will be limited to 20 participants. Tuition covers all expenses for a ten-session seminar, including copies of the readings. The books read in the seminar, are shipped to participants once they enroll.

THEME - DOUBT AND TRUST

DOUBT is a powerful state of mind. In his Meditations, René Descartes discards every truth he has ever held to start fresh—he claims to believe in nothing, even his own existence. For Shakespeare's Othello, doubt opens the door to deceit and self-destruction: "I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove," he tells Iago. Montaigne was a great skeptic, approaching everything with careful scrutiny before accepting a purported fact as truth. Let experience show us the way to truth, he suggested.

As for TRUST, how can human beings live in a world with others if they are unwilling to trust? Can one trust in a person's word or good faith, or is something more required? Are doubt and trust two fundamentally different viewpoints, or are they gradations of a single human desire—the desire for knowledge of the truth? In the Bible, Job is asked to trust in the will of God even as he endures great trials and suffering for no apparent reason. Philoctetes places his trust in a stranger and risks losing everything. In Benito Cereno, Herman Melville portrays what appears to be a trusting relationship between a Spanish sea captain and his faithful servant—while a helpful American captain fails to trust his own worthy instincts.

This year's Executive Seminar readings examine doubt and trust in timeless works of literature, theology, and philosophy, from Ancient Greece and Babylon to the 19th century. These works raise fundamental and intriguing questions about human nature and the bonds we forge as members of the community. They show that in failing to question our most strongly held beliefs, we may miss the chance to gain knowledge and insight.

For more information, contact:
Alice Chambers
Executive Seminars
Phone: 410-295-5544     Fax: 410-295-6935
e-mail: alice.chambers@sjca.edu

Mail address:
St. John's College
P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, MD 21404

Location:
60 College Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401