St. John’s College alumni continue their learning through St. John’s many programs. Here are some of their testimonials.
- “After graduating from the Graduate Institute, I really missed St. John’s—learning through discussion was amazing. To relive this experience, I enrolled in the Year of Classics. These seminars—just an hour and a half a month—were wonderfully enriching, with intellectual classmates and insightful tutors who enhanced my learning experience. For anyone seeking to expand their intellectual horizons, I would strongly recommend the Year of Classics as the best way to learn and to exercise your mind.”
—CATHY FOGEL (AGI11)
- “A week of seminar tends to frame the events in my life. It happened all through the Graduate Institute, and it happened again at Winter Classics. We used the Emily Wilson translation of the Odyssey, and I was so taken with it that I told everyone, including an old friend from the Peace Corps. I said: ‘Dennis, I had a week seminar on the Odyssey. An old guy, after decades of sleeping with goddesses, wants to go home to see his dog, his wife, and his son, and to kill everyone who ever crossed him. His dog wagged his tail before anyone else recognized him.’ Dennis replied that he really likes to get home to see his dog too. Then in April my son’s obituary was published. Homer came again: ‘His spirit left his body. Still alive, still seeing the sunlight.’ You have to suffer, but you can get home. Consolation. Whether light-hearted or deadly serious, Winter Classics sticks with you. Come be a part of it again.”
—W. PETER BALLEAU (AGI17)
- “St. John’s has remained my diamond test for intellectual engagement, so when I recently became a Johns Hopkins professor, I chose to live in Annapolis, drawn partly by the prospect of Friday night lectures. Anxious that memory’s lens would be distorted by the gauze of nostalgia, I attended my first lecture primed for disillusion. But experience exceeded expectation. I arrived at eight and had to stand, while the students had come early, jamming the Great Hall, content to wait and to listen, and then to stay late, eager to ask questions. Whether you’re waxing nostalgic or wanting intellectual inspiration, come to a Friday night lecture. But come early. Otherwise, you’ll have to stand.”
—DANIEL H. FOSTER (SF90)
- “It was August 2020, and I was sitting in the comfort of my own home, after sanitizing groceries in our self-imposed lockdown. I pulled up my email and there was a notice from St. John’s College announcing the Eastern Classics Program would be available online. I stared at it, dumbstruck. Finally, after 20 years of wanting to study these texts, a pandemic gave me the chance. We would not sit around a physical table, but we have been participating with each other in tiles across the computer screen from homes and offices all over the world. It worked beautifully! Even Sanskrit, which I am continuing with a special study group … yes, online. Now you too can study practice realization with Dogen, trek through the north with Basho, and translate the Gīta. Enjoy!”
—PAM CARTER (SFGI08)
- “The Summer Classics in beautiful Santa Fe is a return to the memories, conversations, and friendships of your St. John’s experience. I loved my Johnnie experience and Summer Classics allows me to be a Johnnie all over again. Day to day it is very hard to have conversations on the beautiful and true with the nicest of people—Summer Classics is a return to the good life and is the highlight of my summer (perhaps even my year). I am so happy I made the decision to get back to Santa Fe and St. John’s. If you loved your St. John’s experience, I implore you to get back to the high desert come July. It will be like you never left. You will be instantly hooked all over again! LONG LIVE ST. JOHNS!”
—BILLY GERRISH (AGI11)
