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Home Event An Evening with Great Books

An Evening with Great Books

Date & Time: Thursday, October 16, 2025
6:00pm
Location: The Alta Club, downtown Salt Lake City
On/Off Campus: Off Campus

Advance tickets are required for this event.

At the University of Utah, the Great Books in the Humanities course introduces students to paradigm-shifting works across literature, philosophy, history, and more—spanning the ancient world to today. Each book is taught by a different faculty member, who illuminates each book’s enduring fascination and importance. Chosen for their lasting relevance and intellectual spark, these works invite fresh conversation every year.

Join us for dinner, discussion, and a “tasting menu” of Great Books, as faculty offer short presentations on this year’s selections, including Homer’s Odyssey, Shakespeare’s Richard III, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. We invite you to sample ideas that continue to shape the humanities today.

Program of books and speakers:

Homer, The Odyssey 
— Jordan Johansen, World Languages and Cultures

William Shakespeare, Richard III 
— Richard Preiss, English

Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Pure Reason 
— Chapman Waters, Philosophy

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray 
— Robert Carson, Tanner Humanities Center

Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms
— Nadja Durbach, History

Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
— Scott Black, English


Your $50 ticket helps defray the cost of this event, and for an additional $25, attendees can reserve a Tanner Humanities Center tote-bag and surprise Great Book, to help support the Center’s extensive series of free public humanities programming. 

The Alta Club warmly welcomes non-members to this event. 


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