The Chase Center invites all students to participate in faculty-led reading groups devoted to core texts and enduring ideas that have shaped American and Western civilization. These groups give participants the opportunity to build community as well as engage in thoughtful discussion about civic life, culture, and human flourishing. They are open to students from across the university who are interested in intellectual inquiry and conversation beyond the traditional classroom.
Students who wish to receive one academic credit may enroll in a pass/fail directed reading course linked to the reading group, allowing for a more structured and sustained engagement with the material.
Daniel Mendelsohn, An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and An Epic
Faculty contact: Minn Thant
Description: Daniel Mendelsohn’s An Odyssey is a memoir that interweaves a father–son relationship with a close reading of Homer’s Odyssey, as Mendelsohn recounts teaching the epic to his aging father and later retracing Odysseus’s journey together. The book explores homecoming, authority, interpretation, and love, showing how an ancient epic becomes a means of understanding a difficult but profound familial bond.
Time: Wednesday, 5 -6 p.m.
Location: Smith Labs 5097
Arlie Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land
Faculty contacts: Jesse Smith and Frank Ngo
Description: Arlie Hochschild’s Strangers in Their Own Landis an ethnographic study of conservative working-class communities in Louisiana, exploring why many feel alienated from government despite economic and environmental harm. Through immersive fieldwork, Hochschild introduces the idea of a “deep story” to explain how emotions, identity, and moral narratives shape political allegiance more powerfully than material interests alone.
Time: Wednesday, 1-2 p.m.
Location: Smith Labs 5097
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Faculty contacts: Jacob Hall and John Thrasher
Description: Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations argues that economic prosperity arises from the division of labor and the free exchange of goods in competitive markets, guided by individuals pursuing their own interests. This classical text is a must read as it lays the foundations for modern political economy.
Time: Thursday, 4 - 5 PM
Location: Smith Labs 5097
C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock
Faculty contact: James Hooks
Description: C. S. Lewis, one of the most influential religious and cultural critics of the twentieth century, reflects on the place of religion, morality, and belief within modern culture in this collection of essays. God in the Dock ranges widely across questions of education, science, politics, and faith, offering reflections on how modern ways of thinking have altered the moral and cultural landscape.
Time: Thursday, 5 - 6 PM
Location: Smith Labs 5097