Life Worth Living 5-Week Course
Wednesday, June 3, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
What is the shape of a flourishing life?
Join Rev. Dr. Drew Collins, Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, for a 5-week course drawing from a range of philosophical and religious traditions to inspire thoughtful conversation on questions of meaning and purpose in our lives.
Each week, read a set of religious and philosophical texts that offer distinct perspectives on what it means to live well. During class, enjoy a cup of Grace Farms coffee or tea and discuss the assigned readings — putting Confucius in conversation with Oscar Wilde, or Friedrich Nietzsche in dialogue with the Buddha — to better understand the stakes, insights, and trade-offs within each tradition’s approach.
Class meets on Wednesdays, in-person at Grace Farms, located at 365 Lukes Wood Road New Canaan, CT. Readings will be provided, and are no more than 30 pages.
learn more about the sessions and readings below
Session 1: June 3
What are my responsibilities?
• Peter Singer, The Life You Can Save, 3-5; “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” 232
• Luke 10:25–37
• Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity, 28–29
• Asad Tarsin, Being Muslim: A Practical Guide, 4–5
• The Analects of Confucius, 1.2, 2.21, 12.11, 13.18
Session 2: June 10
What does it mean for life to go well?
• Martha Nussbaum, Therapy of Desire, 359–64
• The Analects of Confucius, 4.5, 4.9, 4.14, 14.1-3
• Jonathan Sacks, Letters to the Next Generation 2, Letter 5; Genesis 17
• Karl Marx, The German Ideology, 106, 129
• Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream”
• Revelation 21-22
• Hartmut Rosa, “Two Versions of the Good Life and Two Forms of Fear: Dynamic Stabilization and the Resonance Conception of the Good Life,” excerpt
Session 3: June 17
How does a good life feel?
• John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, 137
• Martha Nussbaum, Therapy of Desire, 389–390, 398-401
• Michael Fishbane, The Exegetical Imagination, 168–172
• Jonathan Sacks, Letters to the Next Generation 2, Letter 4
• The Analects of Confucius, 6.20, 15.2
• Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, 105–107
• Pascal Bruckner, Perpetual Euphoria, 1-6
Session : June 24
How should I live?
• Kant, The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, excerpt
• Pirkei Avot, 1.1–3; Deuteronomy 6:1–25
• John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, 148-149, 198-200
• Matthew 5-7; Romans 7; Mark 1:16–20; John 15:1–17
• The Analects of Confucius, 2.4–8, 4.15-17, 14.34, 15.9, 15.18-24
Session Five: July 1
What should I do when I fail?
• Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are, 72-75
• Asad Tarsin, Being Muslim, 107-8
• Friedrich Nietzsche, All Too Human, Vol 2, “The Wanderer and His Shadow,” §323; The Gay Science §§274–75; Writings from the Late Notebooks 10.108
• Romans 7; 1 John 1:5–2:2
About Rev. Dr. Drew Collins
Drew Collins received his PhD in theology at the University of Cambridge, working with David Ford on the Christian theology of religions, the theology of Hans Frei and the 20th century ecumenical movement. After receiving his B.A. in Religious Studies from Yale College and his M.Div from Yale Divinity School, Drew moved to London to serve as the University Program Manager at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, overseeing a global network of nine universities collaborating on research and teaching on the intersection between the secular forces of globalization and religious faiths. While helping out on an Alpha Course at his church, Holy Trinity Brompton, he met his future wife, Mary. They have three children—Agatha, Archie, and Wilfred. In New Haven, Drew and his family attend St. John’s Episcopal Church.
Drew co-teaches the undergraduate course, “Life Worth Living.” At Yale Divinity School, he teaches “Christ & Being Human”. His current research interests include the Christian theology of religions, figural interpretation, the influence of apologetics on contemporary Christian theology, and scriptural reasoning.
