Tutors Talk (& Read) Books: Alison Chapman
Tutor
In this written and video interview, Santa Fe tutor Alison Chapman discusses and reads from Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice."
Literature
Literature extends the range of human experience, allowing us to apprehend the lives of others with greater empathy and encounter the world with deeper understanding. Students embark on epic journeys with Dante and Virgil, Sancho and Don Quixote, Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam, each pair of travelers challenging readers to fundamentally rethink and reevaluate their own experience of the world. Readings range from novels such as War and Peace and Mrs. Dalloway to the close analysis of tragedies by Sophocles and Shakespeare, and lyric by poets such as Donne and Dickinson.
Reading List
Aristophanes Clouds
Euripides Hippolytus, Bacchae
Homer Iliad, Odyssey
Sappho Poems 1 and 31
Sophocles Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, Philoctetes, Ajax
Virginia Woolf On Not Knowing Greek
Dante Alighieri Divine Comedy
Alphra Behn “The Disappointment”
Anne Bradsheet Poems
Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales
Michel de Montaigne Essays
John Donne Poems
Anne Locke Poems
Andrew Marvell Poems
Sappho Poems
William Shakespeare Richard II, Henry IV, The Tempest, As You Like It, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Sonnets
Virgil Aeneid
Lady Mary Wroth “A Crown of Sonnets Dedicated to Love”
Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice, Emma
Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote
Jean de la Fontaine Fables
François de La Rochefoucauld Maxims
Madame de La Fayette Princess of Clèves
George Eliot Middlemarch
Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter
John Milton Paradise Lost
Molière Le Misanthrope
Jean Racine Phèdre
Jonathan Swift Gulliver’s Travels
Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
James Baldwin Stranger in the Village, The Fire Next Time
Charles Baudelaire Les Fleurs du Mal
Elizabeth Bishop Poems
Gwendolyn Brooks “Children of the Poor”
Emily Dickinson Poems
Fyodor Dostoyevsky Brothers Karamazov
T. S. Eliot Poems
William Faulkner Go Down, Moses
Gustave Flaubert Un Coeur Simple
Herman Melville Benito Cereno
Toni Morrison Song of Solomon
Flannery O’Connor Good Country People, Resurrection, The Displaced Person
Sylvia Plath Poems
Plato Phaedrus
Arthur Rimbaud Poems
Wallace Stevens Poems
Leo Tolstoy War and Peace
Paul Valéry Poems
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Faust
Virginia Woolf Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, A Room of One’s Own
William Butler Yeats Poems
Madame de Sévigné Letters
Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Devils
Gustave Flaubert Madame Bovary
Gabriel García Márquez One Hundred Years of Solitude
James Joyce Finnegans Wake
Henry James The Portrait of a Lady
Halldór Laxness Independent People
Jorge Luis Borges Ficciones
Herman Melville Moby Dick
Toni Morrison Beloved
Flannery O’Connor Wise Blood
Marcel Proust Remembrance of Things Past
William Shakespeare Measure for Measure
Virginia Woolf The Waves
Kate Chopin The Awakening
Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God
V.S. Naipaul A House for Mr. Biswas
William Gaddis The Recognitions
Eudora Welty Short Stories
Alfred Hitchcock Selected Movies
James Joyce Ulysses
Marcel Proust Swann's Way
Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire
Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman
Ralph Ellison Invisible Man
Euripides Alcestis; Medea; Hecuba; The Trojan Women
The information presented is for illustration purposes only and may not reflect the current reading list and preceptorial and study group offerings. Works listed are studied at one or both campuses, although not always in their entirety.
Tutors Talk (& Read) Books: Patricia Locke on Journey to the West
Tutor
In this written and video interview, Annapolis tutor Patricia Locke reads from and comments on Wu Cheng’en’s Journey to the West.
Focus on Fulbrights: How St. John’s and Dante Inspired Fulbright Scholar Anne Schuchman (A91)
Alumni
Anne Schuchman (A91) applied for and ultimately received a Fulbright fellowship allowing her to complete her dissertation research in Italy—after “falling in love with Dante” at St. John’s College.
Alum Explores Literary History and Garners Acclaim with 2019 Book
Alumni
Andrew Hui (A02) received stellar reviews for his 2019 book, A Theory of the Aphorism: From Confucius to Twitter.
Tutors Talk (& Read) Books: Paola Villa
Tutor
In this written and video interview, Santa Fe tutor Paola Villa discusses and reads from the works of Italian author Italo Calvino.
Annapolis Alum Whit Frazier on Canons and Context
Alumni
Whit Frazier (A98) reflects on the Black student experience at St. John’s, his long career as a writer and editor, and the idea of contextualizing the Great Books.
Daryl Locke (A23) Starts Original Poetry Shop
Johnnies
This fall, Daryl Locke (A23) created an online shop, selling self-designed tote bags with his poetry printed on the back.
Annapolis Alum Pens Acclaimed Book on the Semicolon
Alumni
Cecelia Watson (A01) received praise from The New Yorker, the New York Times, and more for her 2019 book, "Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark."
Tutors Talk Books: Cary Stickney on Moby Dick and More
Cary Stickney (A75) has been a tutor on the Santa Fe campus since 1980. He talks with us about Moby Dick and other current favorite books.
Tutors Talk Books: Erika Martinez on James Baldwin
Tutor
Tutor Erika Martinez discusses her experience reading Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" this summer.
Meet the Johnnies: Kea Wilson (A09)
Alumni
Kea Wilson is a novelist and serves as the communications manager at nonprofit Strong Towns.
Alumna Publishes Pakistani Retelling of Austen Classic
Alumni
Soniah Kamal (A96) is the author of “Unmarriageable: Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice in Pakistan,” out January 22, 2019 from Penguin Random House.
Tutors Talk Books: Ron Haflidson on Augustine
Tutor
Tutor Ron Haflidson discusses his new book, “On Solitude, Conscience, Love and Our Inner and Outer Lives,” part of the “Reading Augustine” series.
Santa Fe Senior Essay Prize Winner Talks Huckleberry Finn
Alumni
Silas Blunk (SF19), winner of the senior essay prize on the Santa Fe campus, discusses the portrayal of stories in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Tutors Talk Books: James Carey on Natural Reason and Natural Law
Tutor
Tutor James Carey recently published a book with Resource Publications entitled "Natural Reason and Natural Law: An Assessment of the Straussian Criticisms of Thomas Aquinas."
Author Salvatore Scibona (SF97) on Novel Writing, Newton, and New Mexico
Alumni
In advance of his March 27 reading at St. John’s College, National Book Award-nominated author and alumnus Salvatore Scibona (SF97) shares his reflections on place and the Program.
Tutors Talk Books: Matthew Linck on His New Book “Wakefulness and World”
Tutor
Annapolis campus tutor Matthew Linck recently released the book “Wakefulness and World: An Invitation to Philosophy.”
Tutors Talk Books: Assistant Dean Michael Golluber on “Summer Reading”
Tutor
Assistant Dean Michael Golluber discusses Dante's “La Vita Nuova,” among other summer reads.
Alumna Publishes Debut Novel to Critical Acclaim
Alumni
"Last Ones Left Alive" by Sarah Davis-Goff (SF07) was published in March 2019.
Graduate Institute Alumnus Publishes Book on “Thermodynamic Weirdness”
Alumni
Don Lemons (SFGI90) wrote his most recent book based on a St. John's reading list—for a preceptorial he didn't take.
Tutors Talk Books: Mr. Franks on “Ulysses”
Tutor
Every year, tutor Grant Franks leads a study group on Joyce’s most difficult, intriguing novel.
Alumni Voices: An Unexpected Essay
Alumni
Erin Milnes (A88) recalls how she was compelled to switch her senior essay topic from Phaedrus and Platonic myths to Shakespeare’s Prince of Denmark.
Senior Essay
Decoding the Language of Laughter – An Analysis of Comedy through Cervantes’ Don Quixote
Student Activity Spotlight: Spanish Literature Club
Johnnies
The Spanish Literature Club meets on the Annapolis campus of St. John's College and is currently reading Borges’ “Ficciones.”
Senior Essay
We Are In The Soup Together - Albert Camus’ House of Mirrors
Senior Essay
Taking on the Dimension of Immortality – In Pursuit of a Lasting Beauty in Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal
Tutors Talk Books: Christopher Nelson (SF70)
Tutor
Former Annapolis campus president Christopher Nelson (SF70) discusses his annual study groups and Japanese novel “The Tale of Genji.”
Senior Essay
Elizabeth Laughs: Unexpected Union in Pride and Prejudice
Rediet Worku (A21) Paints Self-Portrait Through Poetry
Johnnies
Sophomore Rediet Worku (A21) recently released her debut poetry collection, “A Series of Bad Self-Portraits.”
GI Alum Shares Life Story with the World
Alumni
Simba Sana (AGI13) is the author of the memoir “Never Stop.”
Senior Essay
Myopia and Justice in Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Senior Essay
What is a Karamazov soul? Exploration of the Karamazovian nature through suffering and redemption in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov
Senior Essay
On Letting Others Down: Embodiment and Responsibility across Inferno 1, Purgatorio 17/18, and Paradiso 33
Senior Essay
Self Revelation in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God
Senior Essay
Locked Out of the Ivory Tower: An Exploration of Interruption in Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own
Senior Essay
Criticize the Critic: How Molière Satirizes Self-Superiority in The Misanthrope
Senior Essay
A Barrel Full of Ingredients: Understanding the Episodic Life of Huckleberry Finn
Senior Essay
The Man of Stone: How to Live According to Tolstoy
Senior Essay
The Hollow Silence of Modernity: In Search of Transcendence in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain
Senior Essay
Why is Gulliver So Restless?
Senior Essay
Sacrifice and Love in Othello and Much Ado About Nothing
Senior Essay
Boundless the Deep – Why Evil is Possible, and Permitted, in Perfect Beings – John Milton’s Paradise Lost
Senior Essay
Fade-In – The Cinematography of Marcel Proust in Swann’s Way
Senior Essay
Cheating Fancy: The Role of Imagination in Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale
Senior Essay
The Legacy of the Barricade – Finding Light in the Darkness in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables
Senior Essay
Through the Eyes of Others: Shame and its Predicates in Homer’s Iliad
Senior Essay
The Search for Love Amidst Mortality in William Wordsworth’s “Ode (‘There was a time’)”
A Love of the Written Word
Alumni
Jessica Alexander (A03) is the author of a new book of short stories titled Dear Enemy.
Exploring Ethics and Empathy in Gaming
Alumni
Burkey Koontz (SF17) completed an Ariel Internship at Los Angeles-based Boss Fight Books.
Life on Page
Alumni
Bill Kowalski (SF94) is an award-winning author, teacher, website and software designer, and pickler.
St. John’s: The Next Chapter
News
Panayiotis (Peter) Kanelos is gearing up for his first year as president of St. John’s College in Annapolis.
From Plato to Dickinson
Johnnies
Roughly 100 students participated this summer in All-College Seminars at St. John’s College in Annapolis and Santa Fe.
Still and Attentive
Alumni
Natalie Goldberg (SFGI74) is a best-selling author whose life was affected profoundly by her time in the Graduate Institute.
A Great Books Summer
Johnnies
Francisco Contreras (A20) spent part of his summer teaching students in the Great Books Summer program at University of Oxford in England.
Publishing a Life’s Work
Alumni
Mary Jean Bell (SFGI73) recently published her first book of poetry, Tangerine: Poems at 94.
Tutors Prepare for ‘Shakespeare Bootcamp’
Tutor
St. John’s College is teaming up with Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC for a pair of seminars dubbed “Shakespeare Bootcamp.”
Bringing Shakespeare to Life
Johnnies
The Shakespeare Reading Group has re-formed in Annapolis this semester after a two-year hiatus.
The Science of Poetry
Tutor
St. John’s College tutor Jim Beall has won the 2018 William Meredith Award for Poetry.
Senior Essay
Too Good a Man: The Terror and Timidity of Starbuck in Melville’s Moby Dick
Longing for a Career in Literature
Alumni
Author and alumnus Andrew Krivák (A86) returned to campus to give students advice on how to successfully land a literary career.
Lecture
The Anger of Achilles, and Its Source: A Reading of Book One of the Iliad
Adam Schulman
Senior Essay
A Stew of Truths and Mirages: Cycles of Time, Solitude, and Learning in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude
Great Works by Women Writers
Student Group
Students meet regularly to discuss great books written by women. Some of the past works read were Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Teresa of Avila’s “The Ecstasy of St. Theresa” and Virginia Woolf’s Essays.
Senior Essay
Tightrope Walking the Dual Abyss: Vulgarity and Lyricism, Sex and Romance, as Expressed by Woman in Flaubert’s Madame Bovary
Tutors Talk Books: Natalie Elliot
Tutor
Tutors Talk Books is a series of interviews with St. John’s College tutors. In this installment, we catch up with Santa Fe tutor Natalie Elliot.
Lecture
Why Should I Read James Joyce’s Ulysses If It’s Only Going to Make My Head Hurt?
Grant Franks
Senior Essay
The American Veil: An Exploration of American Identity and Double-consciousness in James Baldwin’s essays and W.E.B. Dubois’s The Souls of Black Folk
Four Weeks and a Plethora of Pages
Johnnies
Senior essays, seen by some as the culmination of nearly four years of studies, are underway at St. John’s College in Annapolis and Santa Fe.
Pear Press
Internships
The Hodson and Ariel Internship Programs support Johnnies who want to pursue internships that would otherwise be unpaid.
The Secret Life of the Santa Fe Johnnie
Johnnies
Ken Baumann is a writer, a publisher and a student at St. John’s College in Santa Fe. He’s also a former actor who appeared regularly on TV screens across the country.
Lecture
Classics and History: Historical and Literary Contexts in the Reading of Sanskrit Texts
Patrick Olivelle
Senior Essay
Suffering and Gotama the Buddha: A Case Study of Enlightenment and the Elements of Its Attainment from the Bodhirajakumara Sutta
Renmin University of China, Department of Language & Literature
Internships
The Hodson and Ariel Internship Programs support Johnnies who want to pursue internships that would otherwise be unpaid.
Energeia
Student Group
Energeia is a nonprofit, student magazine, which is published once a year and distributed among students, faculty, alumni, and staff.
A Novel Approach To Education
Johnnies
St. John’s College Graduate Institute student Bryan Canter is a retired Army veteran doing research for work on historical fiction novels.
Lecture
Nighttime Walks with Proust: “Le Pays obscur” par le clair de lune
Patricia Locke
St. John’s Prepares Student to Teach Literature
Johnnies
Graduating senior Will Brown (A16) shares how the St. John’s Program prepared him to teach literature at a Great Hearts Academy in Phoenix, Arizona.
Hemingway Letters Project at Pennsylvania State University
Internships
The Hodson and Ariel Internship Programs support Johnnies who want to pursue internships that would otherwise be unpaid.
Lecture
Gratitude, Nature, and Piety in King Lear
Laurence Berns
The Grout
Student Group
The Grout is a student-run publication showcasing literary pieces, visual art and musical compositions.
New York University Press, Sales and Marketing Department
Internships
The Hodson and Ariel Internship Programs support Johnnies who want to pursue internships that would otherwise be unpaid.
Swashbuckling Tales of Pirate Women
Alumni
St. John’s College alumna Laura Sook Duncombe (SF08) is the author of a critically acclaimed new book on the history of female pirates.
Senior Essay
Understanding Through Perception: An Exploration of How Literature Shapes Readers’ Perception of Truth in Both Fiction and Reality in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter
Lecture
The Winnowing Oar: Odysseus’ Final Journey
Claudia Hauer
Princeton University Press
Internships
The Hodson and Ariel Internship Programs support Johnnies who want to pursue internships that would otherwise be unpaid.
Open to Inquiry
Johnnies
Nathan Dignazio (A18) and Emily Krause (A18) formed a study group on modern writers and issues surrounding traditionally marginalized communities.
Lecture
Poetry Reading from “Train Dance”
Jonathan Wells
David R. Godine, Inc.
Internships
The Hodson and Ariel Internship Programs support Johnnies who want to pursue internships that would otherwise be unpaid.