University of Wisconsin–Madison

Reading Groups

One of the CSLD’s central goals is to provide spaces where students and faculty can encounter rich texts and ideas, build community, and engage in dialogue about what it means to live together in a liberal democracy in ways that promoting the common good and human flourishing. One way we do that is by hosting reading groups each semester on a wide range of topics, drawn from different disciplines and genres. Some groups are of general interest and others are targeted to those with more specialized interests (classical philosophy, Catholic thought, etc.). Whether or not you have expertise in a topic, we welcome participation by all members of the academic community, from college freshman to emeritus professors.

Some of our groups are drop-in and others ask for an attendance commitment. Feel free to reach out to the group facilitator or CSLD Assistant Director Don Hempson with any questions. Readings and refreshments are provided free of charge.

Check out our Fall 2026 offerings:

  • In anticipation of a November campus visit from public intellectual Paul Kingsnorth, CSLD Assistant Director Dr. Donald Hempson will facilitate a reading of Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity. Details here. (Sponsored by the Catholic Social & Political Thought Initiative, but of likely interest to all members of the CSLD community.)
  • The CSLD will co-sponsor, with the Department of Sociology, a reading of Robert Bellah’s Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. Prof. Chad Goldberg will facilitate the discussion. Details here.
  • [FILLED] CSLD post-doctoral fellow Sig Janoska will facilitate our Classical Philosophy Reading Group with a discussion of Katharina Volk’s The Roman Republic of Letters: Scholarship, Philosophy, and Politics in the Age of Cicero and Caesar. Details here.
  • CSLD post-doctoral fellow Ben Haines will facilitate our American Foundations Reading Group, with a study of classic texts relevant to the American Founding. Details here.
  • Prof. Cara Westmark will facilitate our S.T.E.M.-focused Catholic Social & Political Thought Reading Group with a discussion of Jerome LeJeune: A Man of Science and Conscience. Details here.