COMMUNITY SEMINAR
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.
What Are My Responsibilities to My Community?
Tuesday, September 15 from 6-9pm
at ACC Highland Campus
RSVP for details.
Please click here for reading and discussion questions.
In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville observed that the strength of American democracy was in the communities and associations that tied individuals together and enabled them to act effectively towards a common good. Individuals are weak, communities are strong. However, communities are only as powerful as their members are individually engaged. Our communities cannot sustain our collective democratic life if we are just passively identified with them; we need to live up to our individual responsibilities as members; we need civic virtue. Join us today was we explore the question in small group discussion:
What Are My Responsibilities to My Community?
We’ll explore this question together guided by the perspectives of thinkers and doers like Cicero, James Madison, Booker T. Washington, Barbara Jordan and others. Joining us for this special evening discussion will be elected officials and other community leaders and builders in Central Texas, along with opportunities to help you explore ways to live up to your responsibilities as members of your communities.
Intelligence and Humanity
October 22 from 6-9pm
at ACC Highland Campus
Details TBD
Past Seminars
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Spring 2026: Dostoevsky’s, The Grand Inquisitor
Spring 2026
Dostoevsky’s, The Grand Inquisitor
Thursday, April 30 from 6-9pm
at ACC Highland Campus
RSVP for details.
Please click here for reading and discussion questions.
Join your peers, professors and community members in a discussion of The Grand Inquisitor section of Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov, one of the great works of Russian literature. The story raises profound questions about human existence, the relationship between faith and the examined life, and the problems of freedom and evil. It’s sure to be an excellent conversation, and I hope you can be a part of it.
RSVP for details.Please click here for reading and discussion questions.
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Spring 2026: The Privilege of the Grave, by Mark Twain
Spring 2026
The Privilege of the Grave, by Mark Twain
Thursday, March 12 from 6-9pm
Downtown Austin Location, RSVP for details.
Please click here for reading and discussion questions.
In the summer of 1905, Mark Twain wrote a short essay, titled “The Privilege of the Grave,” in which he charged that “out of fear, or out of calculated wisdom, or out of reluctance to wound friends,” the living don’t dare to say what they truly think. Such freedom of expression, he said, “ranks with the privilege of committing murder; we may exercise it if we are willing to take the consequences.” Join us for this conversation on the importance and challenges of free expression, guided by the wisdom and wit of Twain.
We’ve invited several state and local elected officials to join us for this special Community Seminar, which is a part of the Central Texas Learning Festival. Be a part of this unique opportunity to engage in this important discussion with your peers, community members and political leaders!
Please remember to complete the reading assignment before attending the event.
RSVP required to attend. Downtown Austin location will be sent to those who RSVP.
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Fall 2025: Sophocles' Antigone
Fall 2025
Sophocles’ Antigone
Thursday, October 9 from 6pm- 9pm
Please click here for reading and discussion questions.
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.
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Fall 2025: What is An American?
Fall 2025
What is An American?
Wednesday, September 17
Click here for reading selections and discussion questions.
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.
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Spring 2025: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Loving Your Enemies
Spring 2025
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Loving Your Enemies
Thursday, March 27, 2025 from 6:30-9pm
ACC Highland CampusClick here for reading selections and discussion questions.
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.
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Spring 2025: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Loving Your Enemies
Spring 2025
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Loving Your Enemies
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 from 6:30-9pm
ACC San Gabriel CampusClick here for reading selections and discussion questions.
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.
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Fall 2024: Alexis de Tocqueville
Fall 2024
Alexis de Tocqueville
Tyranny of The Majority
and
What Kind of Despotism We Have to Fear
(selections for Democracy in America)
November 21, 2024 from 7-9:30pm
Click here for reading selections and discussion questions.
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.
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Fall 2024: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Fall 2024
Selections fromNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Wednesday, October 23 from 4-7:30 pm
This special Community Seminar will serve as the keynote event for the Teagle Foundation’s 2024 convening of the Cornerstone: Learning for Living initiative. The event will begin with a discussion between Joshua Bennett, Distinguished Chair of the Humanities and Professor of Literature, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Roosevelt Montás, Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English, Columbia University. Then, participants will join Community Seminar discussion groups over dinner with faculty guests, who are directors of Cornerstone initiatives at colleges and universities across the country.
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.
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Summer 2024: Dostoevsky's The Grand Inquisitor
Summer 2024
Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor
Thursday, July 11 from 7-9:30pm
Click here for reading selections and discussion questions
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Spring 2024: James Baldwin, Down at The Cross
Spring 2024
James Baldwin, Down at The Cross
Wednesday, February 7 from 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Click here for reading selections and discussion questions.
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Spring 2024: Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
Spring 2024
Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (selections)
Friday, March 8 from 12pm-2pm
Click here for reading selections and discussion questions.
Guiding Questions:- Who am I?
- Is There a Supreme Being or Beings?
ACC Highland Campus
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Fall 2023: The Hebrew Bible (Genesis 1-4) and The Quran (selected Surahs)
Fall 2023
Thursday, September 14 from 7:30pm – 9:30pm
The Hebrew Bible (Genesis 1-4) and
The Quran (selected Surahs)
Click here for reading selections and discussion questions. -
Fall 2023: The Popol Vuh (selections) and The Rig Veda (selections)
Wednesday, October 25 from 7:30pm – 9:30pm
The Popol Vuh (selections) and
Fall 2023The Rig Veda (selections)
Click here for reading selections and discussion questions.
Guiding Questions:- Who am I?
- Is There a Supreme Being or Beings?
ACC Highland Campus
- Spring 2023: Antigone by Sophocles
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Spring 2023: Letter from A Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Spring 2023
Letter from A Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
April 13 from 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Text
Guiding Questions:- What is Justice?
- Is There a Supreme Being or Beings?
ACC Highland Campus
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Fall 2022: Plato's Apology of Socrates
Fall 2022
Plato’s Apology of Socrates
October 20 and November 17 from 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Fall 2022 Guiding Questions:- What is the Good Life and how do I live it?
- What is Justice? What are my obligations towards others and what are their obligations towards me?
ACC Highland Campus