Virtual Reading Groups
Would you like to join interesting people and have interesting conversations based on readings from the history of liberty?
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Our Virtual Reading Groups will each focus on a particular topic, and a common set of readings will form the basis for our discussions. Each group is facilitated by a professional moderator and is conducted online powered by Zoom.
Our Timeless Reading Groups are asynchronous and open to all in the Portal platform. Liberty Fund solicits a scholar to lead a discussion of a short story and/or essays that each participant will read and discuss. This format doesn’t require participants to use Zoom or “schedule” a specific time to participate.
Participation is offered at no-cost, and there is no need to be an expert on the topic for discussion! The only requirement is that participants be eager to read and engage in conversation.
Upcoming
Individual and Collective Responsibility in James Buchanan’s The Limits of Liberty
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At the heart of Buchanan’s work is a deep inquiry into fundamental questions of liberty and order in society. In this respect, Buchanan is a 20th century successor to 18th century Enlightenment thinkers. Yet he is a more modern…
A Timeless Reading Group: Labor, Social Justice, and Political Reform in Harriet Martineau
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Pre-registration is required.
with Nicholas Snow
This is the third in our series of Timeless reading groups about Harriet Martineau’s Illustrations of Political Economy. This time, we will read and discuss the next two novellas in the series, from volumes 3…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Richard III
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Pre-registration is required.
Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday with one of his great villains! Shakespeare’s Richard III is a compelling portrait of the lengths to which ambition can drive a man. But is the play–despite its popularity–merely Tudor propaganda?…
The Power of "I": Exploring Ayn Rand's Anthem
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Pre-registration is required.
Does this bring back a high school reading assignment memory? Why not find a used copy, one that has surely been read by many, and sneak a couple-hour break from the world… and into a dystopian future?
Originally published in the…
A Timeless Reading Group: A Conservative Revolution? Friedrich von Gentz on the American Revolution
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Pre-registration is required.
The Austrian Statesman Friedrich von Gentz (1764-1832) was one of the first Europeans to publish a comparison of the American and French Revolutions. In it, Gentz argued that the American Revolution was superior to the French…
A Timeless Reading Group: Artificial Intelligence: Doom or Bloom?
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Pre-registration is required.
How will humans succeed (or survive) in the Age of AI?
Russ Roberts brought the world’s leading thinkers about artificial intelligence to the EconTalk audience and was early to the trend. He hosted Nick Bostrom on…
Lincoln’s Protégé: Ulysses S. Grant and the New Birth of Freedom
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Pre-registration is required.
Next to Abraham Lincoln, no citizen at the end of the Civil War stood in higher regard among the loyal American public than Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln’s sudden death in April 1865 opened an enormous cavity that beckoned someone—…
A Timeless Reading Group: Artificial Intelligence: Doom or Bloom?
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Pre-registration is required.
How will humans succeed (or survive) in the Age of AI?
Russ Roberts brought the world’s leading thinkers about artificial intelligence to the EconTalk audience and was early to the trend. He hosted Nick Bostrom on…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Much Ado About Nothing
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Pre-registration is required.
Charles I famously crossed the title Much Ado About Nothing off his copy of the play and replaced it with “Beatrice and Benedick.” But entertaining and moving as these two bantering lovers are, it is the dangerous, near-tragic…
Liberty and the American Statesman: Samuel Johnson...Taxation no Tyranny
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Pre-registration is required.
This VRG considers two documents which present opposing views of the foundations of the British colonies in North America. Samuel Johnson was commissioned by the government of Prime Minister North to defend Parliamentary…
Artificial Intelligence: Doom or Bloom?
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Pre-registration is required.
How will humans succeed (or survive) in the Age of AI?
Russ Roberts brought the world’s leading thinkers about artificial intelligence to the EconTalk audience and was early to the trend. He hosted Nick Bostrom on…
Human Freedom and Responsibility in the Book of Genesis
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Pre-registration is required.
The Book of Genesis, which has as strong a claim as any to be the source text of Western civilization, devotes considerable attention to the themes of freedom and responsibility. For example, in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve…
God, Religion, and Hume's Skepticism
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Pre-registration is required.
David Hume wrote extensively on religious and theological matters in his many philosophical, literary, and political essays. He was condemned in his time as an atheist and a deist by church authorities and celebrated as a…
Fathers and Sons: Generations in Conflict
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Pre-registration is required.
Families and the Rhythm of Life. The Generational Divide. Conflict and the Ties that Bind Us. Could these also be titles for Turgenev’s 1862 family drama that shook the Russian literary world? Turgenev challenged and angered some…
A Timeless Reading Group: Harriet Martineau's Illustrations of Political Economy: Wine and Politics
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Pre-registration is required.
This is the fourth in our series of Timeless reading groups about Harriet Martineau’s Illustrations of Political Economy. For this discussion, we will read and discuss the novella “French Wines and Politics.” This piece explores…
Past Sessions
Civil Society and Political Economy
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Debates surrounding public policy often bifurcate the world into private markets and government. When social and/or economic problems arise, pundits are quick to propose government solutions to so-called failures of private…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Henry VI, Part I
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The early death of the celebrated king Henry V has left the throne of England in the hands of his son, an infant of only 9 months. Shakespeare calls him:
Henry the Sixth in infant bands crowned King
Whose state so many had the…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - A Midsummer Night's Dream
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a perfect play to use for a VRG at the beginning of summer. The woods where the events of the play take place are filled with endlessly fickle pairs of human lovers, a set of amateur actors trying to…
The Challenges of Democracy in a Diverse Society
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One of the most dearly cherished assumptions in American life is the promise of democracy. We believe in multi-racial democracy–and aspire to be one. Other parts of the world, however, have had a very difficult time building a…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Coriolanus
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Coriolanus is a famously thorny play. How do you manage a drama about a main character who insists on his right to refuse to engage in the kind of dramatic performance necessary to succeed in Roman politics…and on the Elizabethan…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Romeo and Juliet
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We’ll begin the series with Romeo and Juliet, one of the most frequently read of Shakespeare’s plays. A perennial assignment for high school students, the play has also been filmed in endless iterations, from the 1970s Zefferelli…
Understanding Reconstruction - the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
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The era of Reconstruction is among the most consequential—but also misunderstood—periods of all American history. Using exclusively primary source documents, this seminar introduces participants to the purpose, implications, and…
Foundations of Modern Environmentalism
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Environmental activism, despite its omnipresent placement in our news feeds, is really nothing new. Thinkers back to (at least) John Locke and John Stuart Mill have expressed concern for the natural environment.
Join us for three…
