Starting Fall 2025(?), Jack, Kay, and James Pelham will begin producing and publishing online, at-your-own-pace courses on this website. Brief descriptions of the first two projects appear below.
- Introduction to the US Constitution. Targeting Fall 2025. Twenty-six 90-minute sessions, split into two 13-week semesters.
DESCRIPTION: Take the plunge into responsible citizenship and learn the document everybody talks about but (almost) nobody reads! This non-partisan course is designed to give students (from 14 to 120) a thorough introduction to the document, why it was written, and by whom. We take a patient academic and historical view, so this is much more than a mere talking-points course like you might get from a political organization. In the first of the two semesters, we introduce the course and subject matter, then we undertake a chapter-by-chapter panel discussion of Catherine Drinker Bowen’s excellent book, Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention
There is a highly-recommended “narration” option in which students write and submit an informal one-page summary of each chapter. This exercise greatly enhances the student’s grasp and memory of the material.
In the second semester, we go through the Constitution line by line, learning the original intent of each, and studying the aging language as needed to make good sense of it all. The intent of all of this is to familiarize the student with the Constitution, facilitating a lifetime of continued and confident learning on this topic.
Anticipated Fee: $200 for the course, payable up front, or separately at $105 per semester. - Introduction to Reality-Based Thinking. Targeting Fall 2026. Twenty-six 90-minutes sessions, across two semesters. For students from 14 to 120.
DESCRIPTION: Everybody knows we make thinking errors, but few have studied the matter enough to understand how often we make mistakes, why we do it, and what can be done to cut down on the errors. This course introduces the student thoroughly to both the particulars and the challenges of thinking well in a world in which the thinking of so many can be sloppy. We define reality as “the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to one’s wishes, views, perceptions, or attitudes about them.” The course focuses considerably on honesty, rationality, and responsibility in thinking. In addition to many puzzles designed to show failures in logic and to demonstrate cognitive biases, we will have a chapter-by-chapter detailed panel discussion of Sway: The irresistible pull of irrational behavior, by Ori and Rom Brafman.
Anticipated Fee: $200 for the course, payable up front, or separately at $105 per semester.
While we’re preparing these courses, feel free to email us to express your interest or to ask any questions.