Community Calendar

Course description:

College is a crucial institution in which our society works through its expectations for young people. This course explores the purposes of college education through the first great book on the philosophy of education, Plato’s Republic. We read The Republic in conversation with other thinkers including Aristotle, Confucius, John Stuart Mill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. For the 325th anniversary of Yale’s founding, we also explore the changing conception of college education at Yale over the centuries and read some of the college’s and the university’s key founding documents. Themes include the development of personal character, participation in a community, preparation for citizenship, and conversation with others on intellectual matters. We also explore some of the social and economic functions of college education.

The 2026 DeVane Lecture series will be led by Pericles Lewis, Dean of Yale College and Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature

The class is free and open to the public and will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:20 p.m., from September 2 to December 9, 2026.

Course description:

College is a crucial institution in which our society works through its expectations for young people. This course explores the purposes of college education through the first great book on the philosophy of education, Plato’s Republic. We read The Republic in conversation with other thinkers including Aristotle, Confucius, John Stuart Mill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. For the 325th anniversary of Yale’s founding, we also explore the changing conception of college education at Yale over the centuries and read some of the college’s and the university’s key founding documents. Themes include the development of personal character, participation in a community, preparation for citizenship, and conversation with others on intellectual matters. We also explore some of the social and economic functions of college education.

The 2026 DeVane Lecture series will be led by Pericles Lewis, Dean of Yale College and Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature

The class is free and open to the public and will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:20 p.m., from September 2 to December 9, 2026.

Course description:

College is a crucial institution in which our society works through its expectations for young people. This course explores the purposes of college education through the first great book on the philosophy of education, Plato’s Republic. We read The Republic in conversation with other thinkers including Aristotle, Confucius, John Stuart Mill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. For the 325th anniversary of Yale’s founding, we also explore the changing conception of college education at Yale over the centuries and read some of the college’s and the university’s key founding documents. Themes include the development of personal character, participation in a community, preparation for citizenship, and conversation with others on intellectual matters. We also explore some of the social and economic functions of college education.

The 2026 DeVane Lecture series will be led by Pericles Lewis, Dean of Yale College and Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature

The class is free and open to the public and will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:20 p.m., from September 2 to December 9, 2026.

Course description:

College is a crucial institution in which our society works through its expectations for young people. This course explores the purposes of college education through the first great book on the philosophy of education, Plato’s Republic. We read The Republic in conversation with other thinkers including Aristotle, Confucius, John Stuart Mill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. For the 325th anniversary of Yale’s founding, we also explore the changing conception of college education at Yale over the centuries and read some of the college’s and the university’s key founding documents. Themes include the development of personal character, participation in a community, preparation for citizenship, and conversation with others on intellectual matters. We also explore some of the social and economic functions of college education.

The 2026 DeVane Lecture series will be led by Pericles Lewis, Dean of Yale College and Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature

The class is free and open to the public and will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:20 p.m., from September 2 to December 9, 2026.

Experience the vital storytelling of 2026 Windham-Campbell Prize recipients Christina Anderson and S. Shakthidharan during an evening of staged readings. Students from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale produce and host this event, presenting selected scenes from the acclaimed work of both playwrights. This unique collaboration offers an opportunity to witness powerful new work brought to life by the next generation of theatrical talent. Offered in conjunction with the Donald Windham–Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Five years in the writing, In the Time of Sonic Booms from Ridgefield Poet Laureate Emerita Barb Fulton Jennes is a collection of poems evoking an upbringing in "a podunk town east of Albany" in the Fifties and Sixties. Books on the Common will have copies available for sale and signing. Visit the Events Calendar at ridgefieldlibrary.org for more information and to register.

Course description:

College is a crucial institution in which our society works through its expectations for young people. This course explores the purposes of college education through the first great book on the philosophy of education, Plato’s Republic. We read The Republic in conversation with other thinkers including Aristotle, Confucius, John Stuart Mill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. For the 325th anniversary of Yale’s founding, we also explore the changing conception of college education at Yale over the centuries and read some of the college’s and the university’s key founding documents. Themes include the development of personal character, participation in a community, preparation for citizenship, and conversation with others on intellectual matters. We also explore some of the social and economic functions of college education.

The 2026 DeVane Lecture series will be led by Pericles Lewis, Dean of Yale College and Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature

The class is free and open to the public and will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:20 p.m., from September 2 to December 9, 2026.

Conclude the 2026 Windham-Campbell Prizes Festival with our cherished traditional finale: an evening of readings by all eight of this year’s prize recipients. This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from the voices that are shaping contemporary literature as they share excerpts from their celebrated works. In a powerful and inspiring end to a week of literary celebrations, join us to experience the breadth and depth of talent from our 2026 honorees: Joyelle McSweeney, Karen Solie, Kei Miller, Lucy Sante, Christina Anderson, S. Shakthidharan, Gwendoline Riley, and Adam Ehrlich Sachs. Offered in conjunction with the Donald Windham–Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Michael Kelleher, Director of the Windham-Campbell Prizes, moderates the program.

Enter the Yale University Art Gallery’s Robert L. McNeil, Jr., Lecture Hall at 201 York Street.

Course description:

College is a crucial institution in which our society works through its expectations for young people. This course explores the purposes of college education through the first great book on the philosophy of education, Plato’s Republic. We read The Republic in conversation with other thinkers including Aristotle, Confucius, John Stuart Mill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. For the 325th anniversary of Yale’s founding, we also explore the changing conception of college education at Yale over the centuries and read some of the college’s and the university’s key founding documents. Themes include the development of personal character, participation in a community, preparation for citizenship, and conversation with others on intellectual matters. We also explore some of the social and economic functions of college education.

The 2026 DeVane Lecture series will be led by Pericles Lewis, Dean of Yale College and Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature

The class is free and open to the public and will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:20 p.m., from September 2 to December 9, 2026.

The Bethel Pride book club meets the third Saturday of each month in person at Rainy Day Paperback at 3PM or online via Discord (see below).
March: Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique
April: Nicked by M.T. Anderson
May: Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes
June: Man O'War by Cory McCarthy
July: Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity
August: Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

If you cannot attend in person, book club is also hosted via text chat on Friday & Saturday via Discord. Please visit store website for a link!