This course proposes to read together two texts perhaps not likely to find cause for pairing on the basis of a glancing or cursory consideration: Dorothy Sayers’ The Lost Tools of Learning and Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. And yet, upon further deliberation, the case for reading the texts together becomes pressing. Though the literary genre varies Sayers writing in essay form in 1947, while Bradbury expresses his concerns dramatically through fiction in 1953, both authors express their alarm at the decline in true learning under the regime of “modern education.”
Sayers’ Lost Tools treatise seeks to remind us of what we have lost in the throes of what she calls “modern educational methods,” and what we might gain through a recovery of the education children were more likely to receive in the Middle Ages, the education revived today as “classical education.” Ray Bradbury’s novel – a parable for our times – prophetically describes what occurs when a society ceases to read of its own volition. The powers of society, both social and political, seize control of the chronicles of human knowledge and history when the people relinquish the willingness and ability to think through the ideas and arguments for themselves.
This course consists of a series of readings along with regularly scheduled seminars held on Zoom. All materials and important links can be found on this course homepage. While Brightspace is the hub where all course materials can be found, learners will also receive an Outlook invitation to the live Zoom seminars. The seminars can be accessed via the Outlook invitation or by clicking the corresponding link in Brightspace.
Texts:
- Sayers, Dorothy L. The Lost Tools of Learning and the Mind of the Maker. Must Have Books, 2021 (Purchase it on Amazon or use the free online PDF linked in the course)
- Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon & Schuster, 2012
Schedule: 6/1, 6/3, 6/8, and 6/10 from 10:00-11:00 AM (AZ time)
Facilitator: Dr. Carol McNamara
GH Employees: use voucher code ghemployee (case sensitive) and your school email address at checkout.
GH Partner Schools: use voucher code ghpartner (case sensitive) and the email address associated with your Brightspace account at checkout.
