Deep Questions through Structured Inquiry
The Lyceum Institute’s philosophy seminars, provided four times per year—Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall—offer small groups (8-20 people) the opportunity to engage with a topic, written work, or individual thinker from the history or topics of philosophy under the guidance of a PhD. Seminars are offered to both enrolled and outside participants in a modular format: that is, Lyceum Institute members choose their own course of study, selecting each seminar individually when offered, with advice from the Executive Director. These seminars range from introductory to advanced studies across a wide range of philosophical topics.
All seminars will be conducted through the Lyceum Institute, utilizing Microsoft Teams, where participants are encouraged to engage in regular discussion about the topic, and through which all files (provided readings, lecture recordings, discussion session recordings, notes, etc.) will be distributed. One may sign up for a seminar without having enrolled in the Lyceum Institute, though enrollment is encouraged: each new enrollment strengthens our community!
A full list of past seminars—lectures of which are available to all enrolled in the Lyceum Institute—can be found in the Archives or downloaded in this Master Catalog.
A unique Approach
Seminar Structure
Our seminars—ordinarily 8 weeks in length—are offered quarterly (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall) with the catalog varying year to year, covering a wide range of topics, issues, and thinkers from the Western tradition. Each seminar is taught by a well-qualified instructor, extremely knowledgeable in the field, and highly capable of communicating the issues.
Curated Readings
Instructors curate a detailed schedule of readings for all eight weeks, around which the seminar is based. Usually, these curations center on primary texts, though secondary readings may be provided as well.
Asynchronous Forum
Using Microsoft Teams allows for a persistent conversation to unfold between class sessions, where students may ask questions of instructor and one another alike, or offer their own insights..
Insightful Lecture
Each week, the instructor provides an audio lecture—teaching us to hear and think rather than see and be entertained—which illuminates difficult issues in the texts and the questions arising from them.
Live Discussion
To coalesce reading, lecture, and conversation alike into a whole, each week features a live & recorded discussion session (scheduled for an hour but often going longer) wherein we seek resolutions of thinking.
Lecture recordings are archived and accessible by all Lyceum Institute members one-month after the conclusion of the seminar. Non-members will receive a link to download all the lectures after the conclusion of the seminar. All participants, member and non-member alike, will also receive a course PDF (essentially, a short book) containing revised, expanded, annotated, and polished lecture notes.
There are no assignments due for seminars, but participants are strongly urged to provide contributions, whether in the form of written essays, recorded audio or video presentations, or some alternative discussed with the instructor, which is presented to the group as a whole and considered for public presentation.
Pricing
Lyceum Institute seminar costs are structured on a principle of financial subsidiarity. There are three payment levels. The Benefactor tier is recommended for those with fulltime employment in well-paying professions and sufficient resources to provide a little more. The Patron tier is recommended for those in professions that do not pay as well as they ought and for whom continued education is especially important (including professors and clergy). The Participant tier is recommended for those who are currently students or with part-time employment. The idea is: pay what you can. Those who can pay more, should, so that those who cannot pay as much, need not.
| Standard price | Basic Member | Advanced Member | Premium Member | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefactor | $200 per seminar | $90 | 3 seminars included $90 after | 8 seminars included $90 after |
| Patron | $135 per seminar | $65 | 3 seminars included $65 after | 8 seminars included $65 after |
| Participant | $65 per seminar | $40 | 3 seminars included $40 after | 8 seminars included $40 after |
