Humanities Day 2010

This volume contains the essays collected from Ridgeview Classical Schools' first Humanities Day. The event, inspired by Humanities Day at the University of Chicago, was created to invite parents, alumni, students, and friends to take advantage of an opportunity to interact with the teachers for a day of lectures, readings, performances, and discussions about the humanities. We intended the day to be our intellectual homecoming, an opportunity to showcase the kinds of discussions we have every day in class and for our community to engage with our faculty as public intellectuals. The first year was a banner success. Seventeen teachers volunteered to present papers and lead discussions on a wide variety of topics in such disciplines as Philosophy, Literature, History, the Classics, Music, Art History, Theology, Psychology, History of Science, and Philosophy of Education. Some two hundred parents, students and alumni attended. Although there is no substitution for the face-to-face interaction and exchange possible in the sessions of Humanities Day, herein the interested reader will find the original essays produced by Ridgeview faculty for the event. I am certain that all the presenters would be willing to continue the conversation if any readers are interested in taking up the thread.