Newberry Adult Education Seminars will meet both virtually and in the building for the Winter/Spring term. Although we are still primarily virtual, you will find a smaller selection of in-person seminars in the schedule. For more information about the Newberry’s virtual seminars, including a Zoom tutorial, please see our Virtual Seminars FAQ page. If you have questions about online learning, please reach out to adulteducation@newberry.org. Registration opens Wednesday, January 19th at 9am (Central time). Registration will take place through our online platform, Learning Stream.

Register via Learning Stream here

Seminar Description

Our Mutual Friend is Charles Dickens’s last completed novel, filled with humor, dark satire, multiple plot lines, and remarkable prose. This seminar considers the book in serial weekly installments (no spoilers) for an engaging in-depth look at Dickens’s literary craft, social criticism, and psychological insight.

Eight sessions. Registration – $280/$252

Steven J. Venturino, PhD, is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. He has led seminars at the Newberry and taught at Loyola University Chicago.

Materials List

Required:

• Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, (Penguin Classics, 1997) ISBN: 978-0-140-43497-2.

First Reading:

• For the first session, please read only chapters 1-4, and please do not read the book’s introduction.