Community Seminar

Join members of our community in asking the Great Questions of humankind through discussions of transformative texts. Participants complete a reading assignment and consider how it helps them ask the Great Questions before attending the event and participating in a conversation with others who have done the same. Students, Faculty and Staff are all welcome to attend. Food and refreshments provided. 

Many thanks to The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center and The Great Questions Foundation for their support of this series.

Please join us on October 9 as we read and discuss Antigone, a play that was first written and performed about 2,400 years ago. While this play was written long ago, it remains a vitally important and timely story for us in 2025. It’s a story about the legitimacy of political power and the conflict between personal and political obligations. What should we do when asked to follow an unjust law? What is worth risking one’s life for? When should we stay-the-course or change our minds? How do we judge the motivations of those who give us advice? What are the tensions between faith commitments and social obligations, and what is the meaning of our lives as mortal beings that will someday die? It’s a play that speaks directly to us as human beings, and if we read it carefully and consider its profound insights, we may come to know ourselves more deeply, which is the goal of higher learning.

Please remember to complete the reading assignment before attending the event.

RSVP required to attend. Location at the Highland Campus will be sent to those who RSVP here.

On Wednesday, September 17, please join members of our community for this special Great Questions Community Seminar where we’ll ask this timely and important question. Guided by the text of the Declaration of Independence and the perspective of individuals like Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Barbara Jordan and Gloria Anzaldúa, we’ll be joined by state and local elected officials in exploring the unique nature of American identity in our unfolding political experiment. This event is in partnership with Student Life and ACC’s Government Affairs Division, and is in recognition of Constitution Day.

After small group discussions moderated by ACC students and faculty members, we’ll hear what elected officials from the State, County and City governments took away from their experience as participants. Expect to engage with lawmakers, judges and county officials. Please join us for this special event at HLC on Wednesday, September 17. Those who RSVP here will be emailed the exact location.

Here is the general schedule:

• 6pm – 6:45pm: Pizza served, participants eat, gather, hangout and check out tables from SGA, PTK, and other student organizations.
• 6:45pm – 7pm: Great Questions Community Seminar Introduction and Goals <– We Get Started Here
• 7pm – 8pmish: Small group discussions
• 8pm – 8:45pm: Panel of students and elected officials from State, County and City governments
• 8:45pm – ?: Participant engagement with panel.

Please remember to complete the reading assignment before attending the event.

All are welcome, but RSVP is required to attend. The exact location of the event at HLC will be emailed to those who RSVP.

RSVP HERE 

Guiding Questions:
1. What is the Good Life? How do I live it and with whom do I need to associate in order to live it well?
2. What is Justice? What are my obligations to others and what are their obligations towards me?

Reading and Discussion Questions Here

RSVP required to attend. Location at the Highland Campus will be sent to those who RSVP here.

Guiding Questions:
1. What is the Good Life? How do I live it and with whom do I need to associate in order to live it well?
2. What is Justice? What are my obligations to others and what are their obligations towards me?

Reading and Discussion Questions Here

RSVP required to attend. Location at San Gabriel Campus will be sent to those who RSVP here.

Guiding Questions:
1. What is the best form of government? What is the proper relationship between the individual and the state?
2. What is Justice? What are my obligations to others and what are their obligations towards me?

Reading and Discussion Questions Here

RSVP required to attend. Location at HLC will be sent to those who RSVP here.

4:00-4:30 pm Registration and Refreshments

4:30-4:45 pm Welcome by Monique Umphrey, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs, Austin Community College

4:45-5:00 pm Greetings from Andrew Delbanco, President, The Teagle Foundation

5:00-6:00 pm On Teaching Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: Joshua Bennett in Conversation with Roosevelt Montás

Joshua Bennett, Distinguished Chair of the Humanities and Professor of Literature, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Roosevelt Montás, Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English, Columbia University

6:00-7:30 pm Welcome Dinner and Community Seminar discussion

Attendees will have an opportunity to reflect on and discuss Douglass’s Narrative in small groups with visiting faculty leaders in the Cornerstone initiative

All are welcome, but RSVP is required to attend. The exact location of the event will be emailed to those who RSVP. RSVP HERE

Click here for reading selections and discussion questions.

Who am I?
Is There a Supreme Being or Beings?

ACC Highland Campus

1. Who am I?
2. Is There a Supreme Being or Beings?

ACC Highland Campus

1. Who am I?
2. Is There a Supreme Being or Beings?

ACC Highland Campus

1. What is Justice?
2. Is There a Supreme Being or Beings?

ACC Highland Campus

1. What is the Good Life and how do I live it?
2. What is Justice? What are my obligations towards others and what are their obligations towards me?

ACC Highland Campus