Course Description
Dr. Jeremy Cowan will lead a class on Wendell Berry’s classic, “The Art of the Commonplace” starting October 29 and running for four consecutive Wednesdays.
Wendell Berry’s The Art of the Commonplace calls readers to live with greater intention—rooted in place, connected to one another, and attentive to the land that sustains us. Over four weeks, this discussion series will explore eight of Berry’s most resonant essays, pairing his reflections on home, work, and faith with conversation about how these ideas might take shape in our own lives.
Together we’ll trace Berry’s journey from “A Native Hill,” where he rediscovers belonging in his home landscape, through essays that imagine a more humane economy and a more joyful way of working, and finally to reflections that see the world itself as a sacred gift. Each session will balance discussion and reflection, inviting participants to consider small, practical ways to slow down, simplify, and rebuild meaningful connections—with neighbors, with nature, and within ourselves.
Whether you’re seeking a more sustainable way of living, a richer sense of community, or simply a gentler rhythm for daily life, this four-part series offers a space to pause, reflect, and begin again with purpose.
Course Schedule
- WEEK 1 – Grounding & Diagnosis: “Where Are We, and What’s Gone Wrong?”
- Readings: “A Native Hill”
- This starts biographical, then frames the larger issues: consumerism, industrialization/specialization/busy-ness.
- WEEK 2 – The Agrarian Vision: Re-Integration and Belonging
- Readings: “Think Little” and “The Pleasure of Eating”
- Having diagnosed fragmentation, this week explores Berry’s vision of wholeness—that body and soul, people and land, work and worship must belong together.
- WEEK 3 – Work, Economy, and Pleasure: Living the Vision
- Readings: “People, Land, and Community”
- Agrarianism becomes practical. Berry critiques globalized, impersonal economies and imagines work rooted in community, sufficiency, and delight.
- WEEK 4 – Gift, Gratitude, and Action: Living as if the World Were Holy
- “The Gift of Good Land”
How to Join
Join us either live or recorded for this great class by becoming a patron on the Maurin Academy’s Patreon!