The Great Conversation is a reading group dedicated to reading the great works of Western civilization. The name and original inspiration of the group is Britannica Great Books of the Western World, edited by Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins of the University of Chicago. Adler and Hutchins believed the great books could be viewed as a dialog, a conversation. The goal of our group is is begin reading and discussing those great books in order to listen in on that conversation and even to begin to participate in it.

For more information, please review the group web page: http://www.greatconversation.com/

Our readings are taken from among the set of the authors in Britannica's Great Books anthology following a modified version Adler's ten year plan for reading. We use Britannica's ten year reading plan created by Adler and Hutchins as a guide for the selection of our readings. The goal is to read and discuss as many of the original texts of these authors directly and unfiltered.

In addition to reading one book per month from the ten-year reading plan of the Britannica Great Books, we also offer optional secondary book of the month to read and discuss. For me, part of the fun of reading the great books is connecting what I am reading with other books in the canon of greats, as well as making connections to other events in history and current events, the sciences and the arts.

Anyone is free to join and read. Having a copy of the Britannica Great Books is *not* required, as these books are also available in other formats by other publishers, such as Penguin and Oxford World's Classics.

The painting is a portrait of Jean Calvin.

NEXT READINGS:
January-February 2012
(1) JEAN CALVIN: "INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION"
(2) Sean Carroll: "Endless Forms Most Beautiful"

March 2012
(1) FRAZER: "THE GOLDEN BOUGH"
(2) Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,

April 2012
(1) HEISENBERG: "PHYSICS AND PHILOSOPHY"
(2) Simon Schama: "Citizens"