Shakespeare's Kings

THREE WEDNESDAYS, JANUARY 18 AND 25, AND FEBRUARY 1, 6:00–7:30 P.M.

William Shakespeare wrote in an era that wrestled over core questions about politics—the workings of government, the parameters of international law, the nature of political rule, and the ideal qualities for leaders. Kingship and political statecraft were thought of in...

New Paradigms in Therapy: The Psychedelic Renaissance

TWO TUESDAYS, JANUARY 31, AND FEBRUARY 7, 6:00–7:30 P.M.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, many in the psychiatric community regarded LSD and psilocybin as “wonder drugs” for treating addiction, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other ailments. But the war on drugs initiative in the United States...

How to Read a Poem

THREE WEDNESDAYS, FEBRUARY 8, 15 AND 22, 6:30–8:00 P.M.

This course begins with the assertion that great poems are not written in code, nor are they devised as puzzles for students to solve. Rather, great poems exist to communicate, often urgently, about the issues, beliefs, and feelings that are...

Masala: A Culinary Exploration

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1:30–3:00 P.M.

The cuisine of India is a sensory experience—the smell of aromatic spices, the sight of colorful ingredients, the sound of satisfaction after every bite. Each region of India offers distinct flavors and textures that result in food which is not...

Paradise is a Garden: Islamic Gardens and their Reach

THREE TUESDAYS, MARCH 21, 28, AND APRIL 4, 6:00–7:30 P.M.

From Eden to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the Taj Mahal, gardens have captivated visitors and armchair travelers for eons. Garden history can be understood in many cases as political and imperial history. Designed for exclusivity, pleasure, sanctuary, and...

The Art, Architecture and Ambition of Dallas

THURSDAY, MARCH 23-SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2023

For our Texas tour this spring, we go north to experience the visionary urban planning and public art in Dallas. This all-star trip will feature visits to some of the city’s most significant public spaces, private homes, and collections. From...

The U.S. Supreme Court: Update 2023

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 11:00 A.M.–12:30 P.M.

In its last term, the Supreme Court’s new conservative majority flexed its muscle and handed down a series of controversial decisions that ap- pear to have shaken public belief in the Court’s impartiality. Noted legal scholar and commentator Stephen Vladeck...

Clean and Green: Getting the Trash out of Buffalo Bayou

SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 10:00–11:30 A.M.

If you have ever walked through Buffalo Bayou Park or visited Allen’s Landing, you have probably seen plastic bottles floating downstream or plastic bags waving from trees as the bayou meanders toward Galveston Bay. These items roll out of cars...

Jane Austen’s Persuasion: A Soaring Novel of Second Chances

THREE WEDNESDAYS, APRIL 5, 12 AND 19, 6:00–7:30 P.M.

Less well known than her iconic Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s final novel, Persuasion, shows her at the height of her powers. A second-chance narrative, Persuasion engages with ideas of loss and memory while featuring Austen’s most thoughtful and indeed...

The MFAH: Two Collections Reimagined

TWO THURSDAYS, APRIL 6 AND 13, 10:00–11:30 A.M.

Explore the newly reinstalled galleries of European art and the recent installation of the design collection with the experts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH). The MFAH’s major reinstallation of its European collections displays the works in fuller...

April in Washington, D.C.: A Study in Contrasts

THURSDAY, APRIL 20-SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 2023

Spend three days with the Houston Seminar viewing stellar art in unique settings and exploring the Washington, D.C. area. We plan to visit Glenstone, the very modern private museum created by collectors Emily and Mitch Rales, located on nearly 300...