Category: Conference
We’re excited that you’ve joined the conversation! At HMU, we want to continue the great authors’ conversations in a contemporary context, and this blog will help us do that. We look back to Aristotle and the early philosophers who used reason and discourse to gain wisdom and now we endeavor to do the same every day.
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November 7, 2025
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
In October, I was fortunate enough to join the Great Books Council of San Francisco for a discussion of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. This book depicts an apocalyptic scenario in southern California. It begins in a tightly controlled suburban neighborhood. Stucco walls and metal fences offer a sort of boundary line between the community and the much darker,
October 17, 2025
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
In Macbeth, King Duncan says, “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” To put it bluntly, the King laments the fact that we cannot know what’s below the surface. Below the surface, underneath the skin, humans buzz with thoughts, emotions, and questions. These hidden things act as motivation for our actions. In Macbeth,
September 26, 2025
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Recently, I attended a conversation on one of my favorite topics: happiness. The University of Chicago’s Graham School hosted author and professor Arthur C. Brooks in their Enduring Excellence series. I was fortunate enough to attend.
Interviewed by journalist and professor Tyler Mathisen, Brooks addressed many of the concerns of our age. The conversation began with questions of how Brooks himself stays happy and what happiness means to him.
August 15, 2025
Thanks to Peter Ponzio, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
The forty-fifth annual Dickens Universe ran from July 20 through July 26, 2025. Attendance at the Universe is accomplished virtually or physically at the University of California Santa Cruz campus. For the current year, attendance was down, due in part to the novel selected for this year’s discussion, The Old Curiosity Shop.
The novel is not considered one of Dickens’ best works,
February 28, 2025
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
I presented in the War and Culture group for this year’s Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference. War and Culture is well outside my norm, but a comment during one of last year’s roundtable discussions stuck with me. Last year, the War and Culture group was abnormally small, which seemed odd given the number of ongoing worldwide conflicts.
December 13, 2024
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
A group of researchers recently held a webinar for the Modern Language Association (MLA) on the topic of AI integration into higher education. Part of a joint task force, the speakers came from a diverse background of large and small schools from around the country. They presented data from their progress on “Building a Culture for Generative AI Literacy in College Language,
October 25, 2024
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Since we recently spent five weeks (which was not nearly enough!) on Moby Dick, the next few blogs will circle around some of the enigmas that we discussed.
While I enjoy the characters of Moby Dick, they aren’t the main focus of my interest. I understand that Moby Dick is technically a great adventure story,
» Read more about: Whale with an H: Melville Defines a Whale »
October 11, 2024
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
I recently attended ChronFest 2024, an annual virtual conference hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Similar to last year, the event had a strong focus on AI and technology. Of course, AI has disrupted many practices common to educators. For my purposes, I’m most interested in how we will continue to assess a student’s understanding of subject matter.
September 27, 2024
Thanks to Peter Ponzio, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
The forty-fourth annual Dickens Universe was held at the University of California, Santa Cruz during the week of July 21 through the 27th. Each year, one novel is selected to be read and discussed in depth. This year’s selection was the novel Great Expectations. The novel examines the fortunes of Phillip (Pip) Pirrip,
May 24, 2024
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Recently, I had the great fortune to attend a discussion series on George Eliot’s Adam Bede. Hosted by Classical Pursuits, our leader Nancy Carr guided us through four deep and insightful discussions on Eliot’s novel. I have spent some time ruminating on the ideas that I want to share with you without giving away key parts of the plot.