About the Eva Brann Workshop

This year’s seminars are offered as part of the Eva Brann Workshop, honoring the legendary St. John’s tutor and her lifelong dedication to liberal education and to the work of teachers. Eva Brann (1929–2023) was the longest-serving tutor in the history of St. John’s College and a former Dean of the Annapolis campus. Awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2005, she was a prolific scholar and beloved teacher whose writings and seminars reflected her lifelong passion for liberal education. The Eva Brann Workshop carries forward her vision of supporting educators through serious study, conversation, and community. 
 

Program Summary

As artificial intelligence reshapes how we learn and process information, what is the role of liberal education? Plato’s Meno asks enduring questions about whether virtue can be taught and how true knowledge is acquired, questions made urgent again by the rise of new technologies. To deepen our inquiry, we will draw on a St. John’s lecture by tutor Zachary Gartenberg, Deep Learning, Authentic Learning: A Classical Contemporary Inquiry, which brings Plato’s dialogue into conversation with AI and contemporary questions about education.

Teachers joining us for our free online Saturday seminar will meet from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. ET in a small, interactive class led by St. John’s faculty. The seminar will be followed by discussion about how these ideas might inform and enrich classroom practice.
 

The Meno reading for this session is LINKED HERE. The Gartenberg reading for this session is Deep Learning, Authentic Learning, LINKED HERE. If you'd like to watch the Gartenberg lecture, you can find it LINKED HERE.