In this three-part seminar, led by novelist and poet Moriel Rothman-Zecher, we will focus on both reading and writing poetry and fiction that deal with themes of grief and surrender. Each class will begin with a grounding check-in, and a discussion of what roles reading and writing poetry and fiction, in particular, can play in grieving, and what roles grief can play in our art-making. In other words, we will examine the two-directional street of transforming “my pain” into a part of “the p... Read more

This course explores the urgent, ancient question of meaning, purpose, and futility through the lens of "vanity"—both as biblical emptiness (fleeting as breath) and modern self-obsession.

Starting with the Book of Ecclesiastes, we will study scripture, novels, essays, and films that ask: what makes life meaningful amidst crisis, death, and the absurd? This inquiry feels especially urgent in our age of social media, AI, and climate emergency.

Join New Lehrhaus director Dr. Robby Adler Peckerar for an online discussion of Steven J. Zipperstein's groundbreaking literary biography of Philip Roth one of America's most celebrated writers. Drawing on extensive archival materials and over one hundred interviews—including conversations with Roth himself—Zipperstein explores the unprecedented range of Roth's work, from Goodbye, Columbus and Portnoy's Complaint to the Pulitzer Prize–winning American Pastoral, placing his wri... Read more