ACADEMIC YEAR SEMINARS
FALL 2025
Since 2016, the Witherspoon Institute has sponsored non-credit seminars for Princeton students during the academic year. Any Princeton student—undergraduate, graduate, PTS—is warmly invited to attend.
We read important texts about important questions—classic and contemporary—in the attempt to find wisdom, to know how best to live and think and act so as to live well and flourish. And we try to seek for wisdom collegially, with friends willing to engage good questions seriously, with any point of view considered. And, we almost always provide a meal!
Prospering in a Digital Age
Led by R. J. Snell
Fridays, 1:00-2:20 pm.
Oct 31; Nov 7, 21; Dec 5.
A society of total work and achievement lacks a point, prompting many to turn to digital distractions, loneliness, and what Byung-Chul Han terms a “bare existence.” Against this, we have the opportunity to draw on ritual, leisure, and community to become existentially rich and temperate in digital lives.
Open to all students of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary. Lunch is provided.
For more information about this seminar, email R. J. at rsnell@winst.org.
Lonergan and the Intellectual Vocation
Led by R. J. Snell
Tuesdays, 8:15-9:15 am.*
Every week that classes are in-session.
* The first session will be held on Thursday, September 11 at 8:15 AM, and all subsequent sessions will be on Tuesdays.
Although somewhat forgotten now, Bernard Lonergan’s exploration of what it means to understand provides a sophisticated account of human knowing as well as a normative vision of the intellectual vocation in a complete life.
Open to all students of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary.
For more information about this seminar, email R. J. at rsnell@winst.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you study at Princeton University or Princeton Theological Seminary, you’re invited to join us. It’s a good place to meet new people, share a meal, and converse together. Your political commitments, religious beliefs (or absence of belief), college, and eating club don’t matter to us—in fact, we like when participants approach a text or question in different ways and with varying concerns. The search for truth is hardly a solitary activity.
We meet around a dining room table, share a meal and some conversation for about 30 minutes or so, and then read and think together for an hour. It’s informal—some people come in late, others leave early. It’s a seminar, so be prepared to ask questions, make arguments or interventions, and be prepared to have others ask questions of you. We’re seeking wisdom together, and that means we have to inquire with and of each other—and to listen to and learn from each other. We value collegiality and friendship, and seminars are generally pretty relaxed.
Seminars meet at Whelan Hall, that yellow house at 16 Stockton Street in Princeton. It’s a two-minute walk from Rocky College.
Check out this page for current offerings at the Witherspoon Institute.
We meet around a dining room table, share a meal and some conversation for about 30 minutes or so, and then read and think together for an hour. It’s informal—some people come in late, others leave early. It’s a seminar, so be prepared to ask questions, make arguments or interventions, and be prepared to have others ask questions of you. We’re seeking wisdom together, and that means we have to inquire with and of each other—and to listen to and learn from each other. We value collegiality and friendship, and seminars are generally pretty relaxed.
No. We don’t charge anything. We value hospitality, so if you have special dietary needs, or keep kosher, or need other accommodation, we’ll do our best to provide what you need and to make you feel at home.
We also host occasional dinners with faculty members, cultural trips to NYC or Philly for the museum or a concert, and we cover all the costs for those events as well (train, tickets, food), although we have to limit the number of participants for those events to keep costs manageable.
We love liberal education, books, inquiry, collegiality, and intellectual friendship. We’re committed to the idea that human flourishing is possible, and that the pursuit of truth with fellow-travelers is an aspect of that flourishing.
Of course. To learn more, please read the seminar descriptions here, or feel free to email R. J. Snell at rsnell@winst.org.
