Great Books at Colby is our annual week of lively discussion at Colby College. We are a community of people who enjoy reading and discussing good books.
Colby offers an opportunity to collaborate in discovering insights rarely achieved just reading alone.
Located on a beautiful campus, the college has a great library, the admission free Colby Museum of Art, a bookstore, tennis courts and first-class athletic facilities with a swimming pool, as well as waterfront property at a nearby lake open to Great Books participants.
It offers an inexpensive but classy vacation where readers who love to think and talk about the world's great literary works can derive pleasure from spending time with others who share that enthusiasm.
For two hours each day, readers discuss their understanding of thought-provoking classics through the Great Books Foundation's Shared Inquiry Method.
Registration covers books and discussions, as well as lectures, films, group social activities, use of the athletic facilities and tennis courts, and a real Maine lobster bake. On campus registration includes a single or double dormitory room (six nights: Sunday through Friday) and all meals. You can stay over Saturday night either before the week or after the week for an additional charge. Either night allows you to attend the Atlantic Music Festival's outstanding free classical music concert.
To discuss individual arrangements for Junior Great Books older children, please contact John Dalton Email: John Dalton directly at jd5258875@aol.com or Email: Lulah Fort on before February 15th.
Nota Bene: This year we have the opportunity to revive Junior Great Books. Lulah Fort and Donna Crane have
graciously offered to do so, if there is sufficient interest.
They write, “For a dozen or more years before Covid, Great Books at Colby offered a program for young people (ages 5-16)
alongside the one for adults. Parents and grandparents were able to bring along children and grandchildren who enjoyed supervised
structured activities in the morning, while their adults were having book discussions, and then afternoon book groups of their own,
interactively discussing books with their peers.
To restart the program, we need to gauge interest of participants and their age to determine appropriate books.”
If you have any interest in bringing one or more young people to a revived Junior Great Books program,
please contact: Email: John Dalton or
Email: Lulah Fort at before February 15th.
See the full description of Great Books at Colby: Kids Camp.
Commuters participate in all activities, but live on their own, off-campus, and receive lunch each day and the Friday night lobster bake.
The Philadelphia Great Books Council supports Great Books discussion groups throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.
What makes Great Books different from other book discussion groups? We actually discuss the book! Using the Shared Inquiry method,
we explore the readings to gain better understanding of the text, the world and ourselves.
Looking to join a Great Books Discussion group near you?
Send an email to: John Dalton for more information.
Additional information on Philadelphia Great Books can be found at our PhiladelphiaGreatBooks.org website.
For more details, yearly book lists
Book Titles by Year
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