Join Us Virtually for Winter Classics

A balm for winter’s chill: enliven your intellect, warm your heart, and connect through online seminar discussions. 

Thank you to all who made our two weeks of January 2024 seminars the perfect intellectual winter retreat.

SAVE THE DATE: Winter Classics 2025 seminars will be announced in October 2024.

Seminar Catalog
Pricing & Policies
Resources

What is Winter Classics?

Winter Classics seminars are re-envisioned from the beloved programming of Summer Classics. After 30 years of summer programs for learners of all ages, Winter Classics is here to accompany you through the long winter. Entering a new year is the perfect time to embark on a thoughtful adventure. This winter, read and discuss great books—online and socially distanced.

St. John’s College Winter Classics are not a lecture, nor a book club. At St. John’s, seminars are lively, in-depth, and highly participatory conversations on enduring works of art, literature, philosophy, science, and more. Beyond the learning that takes place through the works and with one another in seminar, attendees describe their experience as “transformational” and “restorative.”

Discussions begin with an opening question presented by St. John’s College faculty, whom The Princeton Review has deemed the second-finest in the nation. Our renowned tutors guide the seminar, but the selected text is the root of instruction. Therefore, specialized knowledge on any given topic is not required, but a passion for learning is crucial. For a personalized, in-depth experience, online seminars are limited to 14 participants. Devote a wintry week, Monday through Friday, two hours a day, to delve into the topic of your choice.

From the ancient to the modern, the theatric to the philosophical—the choices of seminars are as varied as the human intellect.

Interview with Classics participant Tim Whalen (SFGI09, EC16)

Hear why Whalen says that “almost every class in some way expands an understanding of my life and myself.”

Recent attendees describe St. John’s Classics programs as a “mind-expanding, unique experiment in civil discourse, deepening the connections to what is essential and vital in humanity,” and contend that “St. John’s has faith in the life of the mind and will restore your faith as well.”

If you are looking for a community of learning who engages with great minds to better know themselves and our world, you have come to the right place.

Seminar Catalog 2024

Winter Classics

Quotes From Past Winter Classics Participants

What pertains to both [the in-person and online versions] is that you get the rare opportunity to discuss ideas with a small group of people deeply interested in discussion. The environment is amenable to anyone willing to read carefully, listen, and participate. This is not for the intellectual, it is for everyone.”

You will never have read a book with such concentrated attention (even when you were in college). You will discuss the text with a small group of serious readers in a format that values and builds on everyone's contributions.”

A wonderful winter retreat: conversations with thoughtful people about the human experience.”

One of the most exciting intellectual activities done for my own enjoyment all year.”

The format is very conducive to substantive discussion. There is nothing as wonderful as reading something substantial and the discovery that comes from discussing it with thoughtful people, with the group pushed and challenged by our tutors to go deep.”

Refreshing and intellectually stimulating. A great break from winter routines.”