Fatima · Afghanistan
A seminar for Afghan girls banned from school
A seminar giving Afghan girls banned from school a way back to learning.
Inspired by Barn Burning, William Faulkner
Building peacethrough discussionof great works.
Teenagers meet in small seminars to close-read a great piece, talk it through, and turn that conversation into a project in their own community.
Ages 14 to 19 · Online and in person · Students from 28 countries
501(c)(3) nonprofit · Donations are tax-deductible in the US
Ten chairs, one work, nobody at the front.
The format is the mission: ten students around one work, no lecture, with a seminar leader who guides but never gives the answer. The work is usually a classical text, though it can be a masterpiece painting or a canonical film too, and the group slowly explores it together.
Skills AI can’t replace.
More of the thinking is being handed to machines. The skills a seminar practices, the ones peace depends on, are becoming rarer and more valuable.
Turn disagreement into connection
Read the study, Turn disagreement into connection: Cook, Maine & Čermáková, 2022, London Review of Education (opens in a new tab)
What changed in our students.
How our June 2026 students rated themselves, before and after the course.
23%
more comfortable speaking up when others disagree
15%
more confident arguing an opposing viewpoint
10%
better at seeing through the eyes of someone very different
Our own survey, self-rated. All five measures rose; three are shown, with shortened wording.
If you want to feel like a whole different person at the end of the course, you should give it a try.
AnanoGeorgiaI noticed when I watch or read something I ask questions unconsciously now. I do think this short course really affected the way I think.
GüneşTürkiye
From thoughts to action.
Every course ends with a project in the student’s own community, built from a line, a moment or a question in the text that stayed with them.
- Encounter
- Discuss
- Sit with it
- Act
Mark · Bulgaria
A charity bazaar for an animal rights NGO
17 friends, six hours in a Sofia square, and 277 euros raised for animal rights.
Inspired by On Cannibals, Michel de Montaigne
Sandy · Egypt
Childhood memories of three Egyptian grandmas
Three grandmothers in Egypt share childhood memories in a short film about parents.
Inspired by Barn Burning, William Faulkner
Meerab · Pakistan
Care and connection packets
Care packets of noodles and sweets for children who need to know someone cares.
Inspired by Enoch and the Gorilla, Flannery O'Connor
Haya · Syria
Investing in passion: Syrian ed interview
A Syrian physics professor interview on gifted students no one invested in.
Inspired by Apology, Plato
Mustafa · Iraq
A song for Yakov
A song imagining what Chekhov’s Yakov felt as he prepared to leave the world.
Inspired by Rothschild's Fiddle, Anton Chekhov
Sayalee · India
A Socratic seminar at a village school
A village school tries its first Socratic seminar, with students and teachers alike.
Inspired by Rothschild's Fiddle, Anton Chekhov
Mira · Iraq
What do you wish people understood about you?
Campers from three countries answer: what do you wish people understood about you?
Inspired by Enoch and the Gorilla, Flannery O'Connor
Anano · Georgia
A Georgian film seminar, with dinner
A famous Georgian film, a Socratic seminar, and plenty of khachapuri, Georgian cheese bread.
Inspired by Notorious, Alfred Hitchcock
Two ways to take part.
However you start, there’s no experience needed. Everything runs on a sliding scale you choose when you apply, and full scholarships are available for students who cannot pay.
Community seminars
Standalone sessions. Read a short work beforehand, then spend an evening on it together. Come to one, come to all of them.
You can just try one. If it isn’t for you, no one will chase you.
Next dates
Courses
Multi-week courses. The same group, one subject, followed from beginning to end, for when you want the conversation to build.
A new course runs each season: autumn, winter, spring, and summer.
Ages 14 to 19 · Online and in person
See all coursesWhere the students are.
240+ students from 28 countries.
Students, by country of nationality
- Light
- Some
- High
| Country | Presence |
|---|---|
| United States | High |
| Russia | High |
| Egypt | Some |
| Iraq | Some |
| India | Some |
| Belarus | Some |
| Turkey | Some |
| Ukraine | Some |
| Syria | Light |
| Spain | Light |
| Afghanistan | Light |
| Vietnam | Light |
| Morocco | Light |
| Pakistan | Light |
| Philippines | Light |
| Tunisia | Light |
| Indonesia | Light |
| Costa Rica | Light |
| Argentina | Light |
| Tajikistan | Light |
| Georgia | Light |
| Bulgaria | Light |
| Mexico | Light |
| South Korea | Light |
| Lebanon | Light |
| Armenia | Light |
| Rwanda | Light |
| Romania | Light |
In the press
Podcast
How a college friendship became a model for building peace (opens in a new tab)
Listen or read
Article
St. John's College grads use Russia-Ukraine ties to teach local students (opens in a new tab)
ReadDownload the PDF (The Santa Fe New Mexican) (opens in a new tab)
Article
Peace in Russia and Ukraine: Johnnies Build Bridges Between Home Nations via St. John's-Style Seminar (opens in a new tab)
Read
Article
St. John's students hoped to bring 'svet' — or Russian for light — with summer seminar (opens in a new tab)
Read