Lectures, offered in Annapolis and Santa Fe, are free and open to the public

Annapolis, MD/Santa Fe, NM [August 26, 2026] — St. John’s College has announced its fall lecture series. On Friday evenings, the college offers lectures and concerts from visiting scholars, artists, poets, or St. John’s College faculty—known as tutors. Each lecture is followed by a question period and an engaging discussion between the lecturer and attendees. Lectures will be held in person on the college’s campuses in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are free and open to the public; seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Most lectures are also recorded and posted on the college’s YouTube channel.

“I encourage all members of the community to join us for the lectures and performances this fall,” says St. John’s College President J. Walter Sterling. “The lecture series is a vital part of academic life at the college, and I am grateful to Deans Sarah Davis and Suzy Paalman for their work in bringing world-class thought leaders and major musicians to both of our campuses.”

The full schedules can be viewed at sjc.edu/annapolis-lectures and sjc.edu/santa-fe-lectures. Please visit these pages for updates and lecture descriptions. To learn about other events at St. John’s College, see the Events Calendar.

The lectures on the Annapolis campus will be held at St. John’s College, Mellon Hall, Francis Scott Key Auditorium, 60 College Avenue, Annapolis, Md., 21401., on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. ET, unless otherwise noted.

• August 28: Annapolis Dean Suzy Paalman — “Marital Flaws and Moral Education in Pride and Prejudice”

• September 4: Tutor David Townsend — “The Spirit of America: Our Apophatic Community of Love”

• September 15: Maryland Carey Law Professor Guha Krishnamurthi — “Affirmative Action and Antidiscrimination Law Under the Roberts Court”

• This special Constitution Day lecture will be held on a Wednesday evening in the McDowell Great Hall.

• September 18: New York Polyphony —20th Anniversary Concert

• September 25: Architect Travis Price (SF71)

• October 2: Baylor University Professor Phillip Donnelly

• October 16: Fordham University Professor Lawrence Kramer

• October 23: Loyola Professor Fritz Bauerschmidt

• October 30: Lecture to be announced.

• November 13: Georgia State University Professor Sebastian Rand

• November 20: Wyoming Catholic College Pavlos Papadopoulos

• November 21 and 22: The King William Players will present a theatrical production.

• December 4: Tutor Stella Zhu

• December 11 and 12: The King William Players will present a theatrical production.

The lectures on the Santa Fe campus will be held at St. John’s College, Great Hall, Pritzker Student Center, 1160 Camino de Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe, NM 87505, on Fridays at 7 p.m. MT, unless otherwise noted.

• August 28: Santa Fe Dean Sarah Davis — “Standing Before the Mysteries”

• September 4: Vassar College Professor Táhirih Motazedian — “The Stories Keys Can Tell: A New Approach to Film Soundtracks”

• September 11: The University of Houston Professor Jillian Conrad — “Three Thresholds: Notes from the Studio”

• September 18: Tutor Grant Franks — “Reflections on the American Constitution”

• September 25: Natasha Stojanovska — “Then & Now: A Piano Recital”

• October 2: University of Toronto Professor Donna Orwin — “Why Tolstoy’s War Writing Does Not Grow Old”

• October 9: Tutor Krishnan Venkatesh — “A Yankee Yogi? Henry David Thoreau and Asian Philosophy”

• October 23: Daniel Lelchuk — cello performance and talk

• October 30: Tutor Richard McCombs — “Kierkegaard and the Riches of Admiration”

• November 6: University of Chicago and Indiana University Professor Joshua Kates (A80) — “Are We Modern?”

• November 13: University of Chicago Professor Irad Kimhi

• November 20: Tutors Michael Golluber, Seth Appelbaum, and Michael Grenke — Panel on Leo Strauss

• December 4: Tutor Nick Gooding — Plato’s Statesman

• December 11: Tutor Ken Wolfe — “Gauss’ Theorema Egregium and the Curvature of Space-Time”

ABOUT ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE

In an age of political division and digital distraction, St. John’s College offers the education America needs. Through close reading of 200 great books across 3,000 years—from Plato to Toni Morrison, Augustine to Charles Darwin, Euclid to Albert Einstein—students wrestle with the deepest questions of law, justice, freedom, and human flourishing. At a time when many institutions chase trends, St. John’s returns to first principles. The third-oldest college in America, with campuses in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, St. John’s is a refuge for civic renewal, civil discourse, and intellectual courage. Learn more about our undergraduate, graduate, and lifelong learning programs at sjc.edu.

“St. John’s is a high-achieving angel hovering over the landscape of American higher education.” —Los Angeles Times

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MEDIA CONTACT: Sara Luell, Senior Director of Communications and Operations, sara.luell(at)sjc.edu