The Examined Life

Greek Trip The Examined Life is an educational program that aims to bring the Socratic call to Know Thyself (gnothi s’auton) to the nation’s schools. Its goal is to capture the life and ideals of ancient Greece and integrate them into the curricular goals of classroom teaching.

Note: This page contains information about the Examined Life program from previous years. While we hope to offer the Examined Life in the future, the program is currently on hiatus.

For additional inquiries involving this or other ICHS programs, please contact us at ichs@stockton.edu.

Seminars

Fellows attended 10 seminar sessions which provided the intellectual foundation for the Examined Life. Each seminar examined important Greek historical and cultural content with the goal of understanding what it means to be human, both for the ancients and for people living today. Fellows were not only enriched by the content, but also explored ways in which to translate the ideas and themes of each seminar to their own students.

This program was based on the successful initiative started at Brandeis University. Much of the text derived from the work of Barbara Harrison for that program. All seminar sessions were held at Stockton Univeristy unless otherwise noted.

Past Seminars:

Welcome. Origins, Beliefs and Moral Ethics of the Ancient Greeks

January 9th, 2013

Examine the moral ethics as they are presented in the Iliad, comparing our modern world view to that of the pagan world, and discuss cultural and religious diversity in our own society. Look at friendship and anger and how they are reflected in the lives of the children we teach.

Did the Greeks Invent History?

February 6th, 2013

Through selected passages of Herodotus consider what is worthy of the historical record. How can we judge historical accuracy? Who are history makers then and now?

Education and the Art of Teaching: Plato’s Socrates and the Moral Fables of Aesop

February 20th, 2013

See how Plato’s Socrates can turn his interlocutors into examining and examined beings. What are the apparent and at times hidden structures that allow for an understanding of Plato’s vision of the Socratic art of teaching? See how to use Aesop’s fables for class exercises.

Greek Art & Archeology: Schliemann at Troy & Mycenae; Evans at Knossos; Classical Tradition in Art & Architecture

March 6th, 2013

Look at the early pioneers in Greek archeology, what they found, why they found it, and what impact it had on their times and later archeologists. Also, major Greek artworks—types and uses and the influence of classical art and architecture on later centuries.