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Issue #17

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June 2026

Once a quarter, we offer an in-depth Online Class exploring a topic, filmmaker, or genre. Classes are taught by leading experts and professors from around the world. Join us for these multi-week sessions to dive deeper into movies you love or learn something new. For the first five years of this program, these classes were underwritten by a grant from the Vesta Fund. This grant has expired and we have had to raise prices a little to cover the costs of the program. Support education programs like these or to underwrite future classes and Make a Gift Today »

Summer Course: Homer's Odyssey
With Christopher Nolan’s anticipated adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey headed to theaters this summer, our Online Classes program will be embarking on an exploration of the influence of this epic adventure across the history of cinema, in forms both obvious and surprising. Our cinematic odyssey will be captained by renowned Homeric scholar and Princeton University professor Barbara Graziosi. Sessions will begin August 25.

Register

Course Details
Instructor:
Barbara Graziosi is the Ewing Professor of Greek at Princeton University. A leading authority on ancient Greek literature and its cultural reception, she has published widely on a diverse range of topics for both general and specialized audiences, authoring "Homer: A Very Short Introduction,"" among numerous other titles.

Course Details:
Over an eight-week period, participants will attend four Zoom sessions, each of which will focus on text(s) that are either direct adaptations of or inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. Since this is an online course, participants are expected to watch the films on their own, though there will be information on our website that suggests where to find them. Please note that the registration fee for this class will not include a ticket to any in-theater screenings. We are also asking participants to procure a copy of the Emily Wilson translation of the original poem to read, which we will expect participants to obtain from a library or bookseller. Participants will also be given access to contextualizing readings as a part of the course. Below is a schedule of the main texts and films that will be discussed at each virtual course meeting:

Meeting 1: Tuesday, August 25th, 7:30pm to 9pm — The Odyssey (Nolan)
Meeting 2: Tuesday, September 8th, 7:30pm to 9pm — "The Odyssey," translated by Emily Wilson
Meeting 3: Tuesday, September 22nd , 7:30pm to 9pm — O Brother, Where Art Thou (Coen Brothers) and Naked (Mike Leigh)
Meeting 4:Tuesday, October 6th, 7:30pm to 9pm — Cold Mountain (Minghella) and The Return (Uberto Pasolini)