Academy in the Liberal Arts and Sciences

What is the ideal society? How might we achieve it? What happens when society breaks down, pitting humans against one another, often in a ruined landscape, or when a totalitarian government terrorizes its citizens? Great writers have been contemplating these questions for centuries, great filmmakers for decades, building fictional worlds that explore their hopes and fears for their own communities and nations. We invite you to join us to experience the power of their words, images, and ideas in this academy.

At this academy, you will read and discuss classic and contemporary texts from British and American authors. In addition to examining the written word, you will learn to interpret the sights and sounds of important films in cinematic history. Starting with Thomas More’s Utopia, the sixteenth-century work that coined the term, and ending with the science fiction of Octavia Butler, we will study the films Metropolis, Blade Runner, and Brazil along the way.