Cost and Registration Information

Early Registration Price (August 7 at 10 am – August 31 at 4 pm): $200
Regular Registration Price (August 31 at 4 pm – first day of class): $220

Members, seniors, and students get a 10% discount.

This seminar has been cancelled.

Mark your Calendar!

The Newberry Bookstore will re-open on August 14, and you will once again be able to find most of your assigned books for sale there.

Seminar Description

In 2016, Oxford Dictionaries named “post-truth” the word of the year. The term designated a political phenomenon – “a general characteristic of our age” – involving attitudes toward truth, conspiracy, anti-intellectualism, and ignorance. The next year, “fake news” was Collins Dictionary’s word of the year. Using a single, accessible, and thorough history, this six-session course will explore the distinctively American trait of confusing - and sometimes preferring - fantasy to reality.

Six sessions. E - $200, L - $220

Tim Lacy lives in Chicago and holds a PhD in U.S. history. His past Newberry seminars have covered anti-intellectualism, ignorance, and unreason. Lacy’s published work addresses the Great Books idea, education, cultural politics, and the history of thought.

Materials List

Required:

• Kurt Andersen, Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History, Random House, 2017. ISBN: 978-1400067213

First Reading:

• For the first class, please read chapters 1-5 of Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History

This class is part of the Newberry’s Adult Education Seminars Program. Learn more about our registration procedures.