Every serious learner knows the daunting moment of opening a difficult book or entering a new field where nothing yet connects. This course takes as its starting point that climb: the struggle from initial perplexity, through flashes of insight, toward genuine mastery and the higher perspective that comes with understanding.
Alongside this journey of comprehension, we will also practice the arts of retention and recall. Students will explore practical methods for strengthening memory and organizing their thoughts, from Augustine’s memory palaces to Adler’s techniques for reading, from Plato’s use of diagrams to Descartes’ rules for clear thinking.
This is not a survey course but a workshop. Readings are short and the work will be putting learning techniques into personal practice. Students are welcome to bring their own subjects, texts, and problems into the seminar, applying the techniques to their own work, and reflecting on the process.
By the end of the course, students will not only know about study methods, they will have practiced and adapted them, building habits of thought and memory that support the life of serious learning.
- Teacher: Thomas Cothran