Spring Honors College 'Retro Readings' Seminars to Dive Into '60s Acid Tests and Biblical Scholarship

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Honors College Retro Readings courses focus on seminal texts viewed through a contemporary lens. Past and current offerings have invited close readings of Tolkien, Herodotus and presidential speeches, but the courses don't shy away from delving into more contemporary readings. Next semester, honors students will dig into a far-out New Journalism classic as well as complex historical debates surrounding the Bible.

"Honors College Retro Reading Bible compels ambitious scholars from multiple disciplines to scrutinize and discuss complex ancient texts through a historical lens," said Honors College Dean Lynda Coon, who will lead the Bible course. "Highlights include a spatial analysis of the Book of Ezekiel, a historical/theological examination of the demonic in the gospel of Mark and a gendered interpretation of the Book of Revelation. No prior biblical training required!"

Additionally, journalism professor Bret Schulte will lead a course examining Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, a groundbreaking work of literary journalism.

"Journalism is the first draft of history, but that historical draft can be rendered with a style, voice, character development and narrative arc that defines great literature," Schulte noted. "Rather than offering mere information, Wolfe invites readers to feel the history of the counter-culture revolution as it happened, to learn the history of the pursuit of the divine and to examine the enduring archetype of the messiah."

Though the courses no longer require an application, interested students should register as early as possible to ensure they get a seat. 

Spring Retro Readings Seminars

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, published a year after the Summer of Love, is a neon-splattered head trip into the minds of LSD evangelist Ken Kesey and his cultish band of Merry Pranksters. Bret Schulte, professor of journalism, will lead students through the 1968 non-fiction book that pioneered a writing style rooted in psychological and pop-culture reportage. Acid Test serves as the seminal document of the acid culture that percolated from San Francisco to trigger a widespread moral panic that turned Kesey, the respected author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, into a fugitive.

Bible: The Bible seminar centers on this magisterial — yet frequently misunderstood — corpus of sacred scripture. In this seminar, led by Honors College Dean Lynda Coon, students will grapple with books of the Bible, selections from Genesis to Revelation. The goals of the Bible seminar are twofold: to enhance critical reading skills and to augment the understanding of scripture through a deep dive into its complex historical layers.