Intellectual engagement after graduation
One of the signature experiences of Christ College is meeting with fellow students to discuss important texts and cultural monuments. Christ College alumni reading groups, which have formed in:
- Amherst, Massachusetts – CCAmherst.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Austin, Texas – CCAustin.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Burlington, Iowa – CCBurlington.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Chicago, Illinois – CCLoopchicago.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Chicago, Illinois – CCNorthchicago.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Chicago, Illinois – CCWestchicago.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Cincinnati, Ohio – CCCincinnati.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Columbus, Ohio – CCColumbus.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Denver, Colorado – CCDenver.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Detroit, Michigan – CCDetroit.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Indianapolis, Indiana – CCIndy.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Lincoln, Nebraska – CCLincoln.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Los Angeles, California – CCLosAngeles.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Rockford, Illinois – CCRockford.readgroup@valpo.edu
- South Bend, Indiana – CCSouthbend.readgroup@valpo.edu
- St. Louis, Missouri – CCStlouis.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Twin Cities, Minnesota – CCTwincities.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Valparaiso, Indiana – CCValpo.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Washington, D.C. – CCWashDC.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Digital Reading Group – CCDigital.readgroup@valpo.edu
These groups give alumni a cherished opportunity to continue these life-changing conversations and participate in the life of the College. Each year, Christ College provides the groups with a syllabus, including a reading list and suggested discussion questions, that touches on themes and texts that are discussed in Christ College that year. Check out the 50th Anniversary page for Reading Group syllabi back to 2002!
Syllabus
2018-2019 Alumni Reading Group Syllabus
First Discussion:
Avishai Margalit, “Human Dignity between Kitsch and Deification”
Jeffrey G. Murphy, “The Elusive Nature of Human Dignity”
Second Discussion:
Michael Fishbane, “The Image of God and the Human Ideal”
Krista Trippet’s interview with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference, https://onbeing.org/programs/jonathan-sacks-the-dignity-of-difference
Third Discussion:
Lisa Sowle Cahill, “Embodying God’s Image: Created, Broken, Redeemed”
John Paul II, “Laborem Exercens”, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091981_laborem-exercens.html
Fourth Discussion:
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Standing Before God: Human Responsibilities and Human Rights”
Tariq Ramadan, “Equal Rights and Equal Dignity of Human Beings”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjWnWcAZcTA&t=518s
Qianfan Zhang, “The Idea of Human Dignity in Classical Chinese Philosophy”
Fifth Discussion:
Richard Amesbury and George M. Newlands, “What are Human Rights” & “Human Rights and the Problem of Grounding”
Abdulaziz Sachedina, “The Clash of Universalisms: Religious and Secular in Human Rights”, http://insct.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Sachedina.2007.Clash-of-Universalisms.pdf
Nicholas Wolsterstorff, “Response: The Irony of it All”, http://iasc-culture.org/THR/archives/HumanDignity/9.3GWolterstorff.pdf
Syllabus
2016-2017 Alumni Reading Group Syllabus
Texts, Films, and Websites
Longenecker, Bruce W. The Lost Letters of Pergamum: A Story from the New Testament World. 2nd. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2016.
Saramago, José. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994.
Wright, N. T. Simply Jesus: Who He Was, What He Did, Why It Matters. New York: HarperOne, 2011.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985. [OPTIONAL]
Films:
Son of Man (Mark Dornford-May, 2006)
Jesus of Montreal (Denys Arcand, 1989)
Jesus Christ Superstar (Norman Jewison, 1973) [OPTIONAL]
Son of God (Christopher Spencer, 2014) [OPTIONAL]
Syllabus
What Robots Teach Us About Being Human
Texts, Films, and Websites
Asimov, Isaac. 1950. I, robot. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.
Brooks, Rodney Allen. 2003. Flesh and machines: how robots will change us. New York: Vintage Books.
Dick, Philip K. 1996. Do androids dream of electric sheep? New York: Ballantine Books.
Lin, Patrick, Keith Abney, and George A. Bekey. 2012. Robot ethics: the ethical and social implications of robotics. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Turkle, Sherry. 2011. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic Books. (optional)
I, Robot (2004)
Blade Runner (1982/1994)
Bicentennial Man (1999)
Wall-e (2008)
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Chappie (2015)
Ex Machina (2015)
Syllabus
Texts, Films, and Websites
Roger Scruton, Beauty
Mary Szybist, Incarnadine
Iris Murdoch, The Sea, the Sea
Tom Stoppard, Arcadia
Please listen to Arvo Pärt, Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten (click here for video).
Syllabus
Texts, Films, and Websites
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories
Terrance Malik, The New World
Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
Gabriel Axel, Babette’s Feast
If you are interested in joining a CC Reading Group, click on the reading group name to email the coordinator.
