Each year, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize honors writers whose works foster peace, social justice, and global understanding. In this seminar, we will read and discuss four of the 2025 award selections: A Map of Future Ruins by Lauren Markham (nonfiction runner-up), The Burning Earth by Sunil Amrith (nonfiction winner), Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris (fiction runner-up), and Martyr by Kaveh Akbar (fiction winner). Together, these works invite us to explore powerful stories of resilience, conflict, and hope from across the globe. Our sessions will provide space for thoughtful dialogue about literature’s role in shaping empathy and perspective. If scheduling allows, we may also host a special Zoom conversation with one of the featured authors. Reading these works in advance is strongly encouraged to make the most of our discussions.

From pulp origins to mainstream dominance, science fiction has evolved into a powerful storytelling form that explores new worlds, ideas, and ways of thinking. This course traces the genre’s growth over two centuries, distinguishing it from fantasy and myth, and highlighting key authors who shaped its direction. We will discover how science fiction reflects cultural change and reimagines the future.

Edgar Allan Poe was more than a writer of scary stories—though he did that really, really well. In addition to writing those macabre tales, he helped create detective fiction and science fiction, and his literary criticism helped define the short story for future American writers. This seminar will sample the wide range of Poe’s fiction, poetry, and criticism, some of it familiar, some not. It also will look at his legacy in the visual arts, music, and film. BOOK: Students will need to obtain a collection of Poe’s works, which are readily available from online sources such as Amazon and ABE Books, from local bookstores, or from local libraries. Texts likely to be less readily available will be emailed in advance of session.

We live in a very complex world that changes rapidly, especially technology. People are holding on to their original beliefs. The only one who can cope with this world is someone who updates and changes his views. Adam Grant has written a book called “Think Again “ which gives a method to reinvent ourselves at a personal, interpersonal and group level. This book is written specifically for people who are interested in Lifelong Learning.

This seminar will explore key insights from Grant’s book, compare them with the Socratic method, and engage participants in interactive group discussions and activities to deepen understanding through active learning.

Greek mythology continues to inspire poets who use timeless stories to reflect on modern life, emotions, and challenges. In this seminar, we will read classic myths alongside contemporary poems that draw on their themes, exploring how ancient tales of gods, heroes, and struggles are reimagined to illuminate present-day experiences. Through discussion and close reading, participants will discover the enduring power of myth and the fresh insights it brings to today’s poetry.

In this seminar, we will read and discuss three of Kurt Vonnegut’s most influential novels: Cat’s Cradle, Sirens of Titan, and Slaughterhouse-Five. Through Vonnegut’s blend of satire, humor, and pathos, we will examine the absurdities of human behavior, the fragility of belief systems, and the enduring search for meaning in chaotic times. The seminar will be conducted in a discussion-based format, encouraging thoughtful engagement and exchange of ideas. Enrollment is limited to 12 participants to ensure a lively and interactive conversation.

In this popular writing seminar, you’ll learn craft techniques to write and revise the life stories you want to get into print for your family, friends, and maybe even the public! Part of our seminar is an evening where friends and family are invited to come and hear you read from your work. Craft lessons include story structure, description, dialogue, and revision. You’ll learn to give and receive constructive critique in a supportive and encouraging setting. Being in a room with other writers and hearing their stories will spark your creativity and give you more and more story ideas. This is for new and experienced writers. We’re in this together. If you’re new to writing, by the end of the seminar, you’ll be able to say, “I am a writer.” The proof will be in the digital collection of stories we publish at the seminar’s end. I’ve moderated this seminar more than ten times and am always delighted by the variety and quality of the stories. As an additional new challenge this year, we’ll try writing some 100-word stories.

"Life is a journey” may be the most common metaphor in our language, and it applies to all of us. It has to do with physical movement or relocation and also the search for identity and meaning as we wander inwards. In this course we will use literature as a vehicle to reflect on our own odysseys by reading and discussing two related novels. Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is one of the penultimate American novels of the 19th century, first published in 1885. It chronicles Huck's voyage down the Mississippi with the enslaved Jim, told in Huck's voice. "James," by Percival Everett and published in 2024, tells the story from Jim's viewpoint, along with various twists and turns that sometimes resemble the river itself. Our reading and discussion of these books will undoubtedly help us get in touch with our transformative experiences and travels to share with one another.

This Zoom seminar covers five mystery novels, set in different countries: USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, and France. The books are: The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler, The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters, Death in Tokyo, by Keigo Higashino, Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood, and The Chalk Circle Man, by Fred Vargas. We will explore universal themes involved in crime, and unique aspects of each culture. The moderator will present information about the authors, and lead a discussion of each book. 

The seminar will explore the meaning of the ancient Greek epic poem, The Iliad. Lectures will place the content of the poem in its ancient context as well as the poem’s relevance to the modern world. We will explore the Homeric tradition, give the setting of the poem in the ancient world, and explore and explain the content chapter by chapter.

Attendees are expected to read four chapters (or Books as they are usually referenced) in preparation for each week’s discussion. The translation used in class is by Richmond Lattimore. Students may use any translation of The Iliad for their personal reading, though translations produced after the mid twentieth century should be preferred. The instructor will have prepared lectures based upon content, but student questions and observations will be encouraged.

Explore the noir novel through Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, and Sara Paretsky’s Indemnity Only. From hardboiled detectives navigating gritty cityscapes to Paretsky’s feminist reimagining of the genre, this course traces the evolution of noir fiction. Film clips from classic adaptations will highlight the genre’s impact on both literature and cinema.