August 10 | 10 am – 8 pm & August 11 | 8:30 am – 3 pm

Experience one of Yale’s most popular undergraduate courses, “Life Worth Living,” and design your own adaptation of the curriculum!

In training teachers and expanding this curriculum to reach secondary schools, we aim to help educators bring critical questions and new approaches to thinking to their many students who will grow into our next generation of leaders.

The Connecticut Association of Independent Schools and the Yale Center for Faith & Culture are excited to partner with Grace Farms to launch the second iteration of this workshop.

About Life Worth Living
Day-to-day, we live our lives solving problems, taking on projects, trying to achieve our goals, and sometimes questioning just what it is we are hoping to accomplish. But deeper questions are always there, often just beneath the surface: What kind of life would be truly worth wanting? What kind of world would be truly worth seeking? How ought I to live?

Through encounters with texts from major religious and philosophical traditions, dialog, and personal reflection, the Life Worth Living course guides participants into some of the fundamental questions that shape our lives. Learn more about Yale’s Life Worth Living Program.

Five years ago, Grace Farms hosted the first-ever Life Worth Living course outside of Yale University, inviting a broader audience into the curriculum. Learn more about the Grace Farms Life Worth Living Program.

Who is this for?
This workshop is designed for faculty and administrators from middle and high schools (5th-12th grade). We welcome individual educators or groups from a school or district.

Ideal candidates for this workshop are educators who are interested in engaging with timeless questions, dialogue across enduring lines of difference, and building critical thinking skills and social and emotional competence in students.

Life Worth Living can work well in a variety of classroom settings, including but not limited to advisory courses, religion, philosophy, health, social studies, or literature classes. It can also provide a common framework for students at a school to talk about beliefs and values.

Participant Experience
Join us for a two-day workshop on August 10th and 11th, held at Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT. During the first day, participants will experience a session of the Life Worth Living course, learn about its history and impact, and connect with other members of the cohort. On the second day, educators from each school will work together during rigorous workshops to create a unique curriculum that best fits their school. Working within a thematic template, the teams will select and discuss appropriate texts from an archive of philosophical and religious traditions. At the conclusion of the workshop, each school will have created a course syllabus of their own to pilot.

Day 1
10 – 10:30 am | Registration
10:30 am – 12:30 pm | Welcome and Introduction of Key Principles
12:30 – 1:30 pm | Lunch
1:30 – 2:30 pm | River Building Tour
2:30 – 5:30 pm | Experience a session of Life Worth Living
6 – 7 pm | Dinner at Hotel Even in Norwalk
7 – 8 pm | Evening Session with guest speaker

Day 2
8:30 – 9 am | Breakfast at Grace Farms
9 – 9:30 am | Workshop Introduction
9:30 am – 12 pm | Workshop and Curriculum Design
12 – 1 pm | Lunch
1 – 2:30 pm | Workshop and Curriculum Design
2:30 – 3 pm | Wrap-Up & Ending Reflection

Grace Farms Foundation strives to host events that are inclusive and accessible for all who wish to attend. To ask about accessibility or request accommodations, please contact Katie Grosh.

Grace Farms is located at 365 Lukes Wood Road, New Canaan, CT 06840.

Members enjoy a 20% discount on programs. Learn more about Membership.

Students ages 18 and up qualify for 30% off with the exception of a few select events. Please show your student I.D. or proof of enrollment at check-in.

Children ages 17 and under qualify for a special child price when available.