Classes with Kevin

   Learning to Write Well, Read Well and Think Clearly! Live Class Meetings: Thursdays, January 15, 2026 to May 16, 2026 - 1:00 pm Eastern / Noon Central / 11:00 am Mountain / 10:00 am Pacific Student Support:  The instructor is available via email and for special individual sessions with students as needed. Feedback/Assessment:  Students will be assessed on their written work. Materials:  All reading materials will be available on the internet. Please have a working printer for special assignments. Description:  In this class, we will learn good writing, research and reasoning skills by reading well-written material and by analyzing what we read for content, style and lucidity.  Each class will feature the following: Reviewing the writing the students have submitted as homework. Suggestions for corrections and revisions of the students’ work (this is always done with good humor and grace; I make sure that I don’t embarrass anybody; students may also h...

  The Mystery of History from 1500 is explored at Royal Fireworks. Class Meetings:  Tuesdays, 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time Fall Semester:  August 19 – December 16, 2025 Spring Semester:  January 13 – May 12, 2026 Student Support:  The instructor is available via email and for special individual sessions with students as needed. Feedback/Assessment:  Students will be assessed on their written work. Materials:  All reading materials will be available on the internet. Please have a working printer for special assignments.

  The Mystery of History is explored at Royal Fireworks. Class Meetings:  Thursdays, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time Fall Semester:  August 21 – December 18, 2025 Spring Semester:  January 15 – May 14, 2026 Student Support:  The instructor is available via email and for special individual sessions with students as needed. Feedback/Assessment:  Students will be assessed on their written work. Materials:  All reading materials will be available on the internet. Please have a working printer for special assignments.

  This course will examine allegorical and epic literary approaches to the Christian "Journey of Faith". The Fall Semester will feature an in-depth examinations of 14 cantos spread throughout the "Divine Comedy" of Dante. The Spring Semester will feature an analysis of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" In addition to those two major works, occasional class meetings will also focus on the use of Allegory and Parable in the Bible, the use of allegory in the medieval mystery play "Everyman", and examples of 20th Century approaches to Christian epic and allegory, such as that of JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. FALL 2025: 14 Sessions - Wednesdays at 11:00 am Pacific; Noon Mountain; 1:00 pm Central; 2:00 pm Eastern from September 3 to December 17, with no meeting Wednesday, November 26 for Thanksgiving Break. SPRING 2026: 16 Sessions - Wednesdays at 11:00 am Pacific; Noon Mountain; 1:00 pm Central; 2:00 pm Eastern from January 14 to May 6, with ...

  The American Theater has a spirit all its own! Students will learn about the History of American theater in the Fall Semester and the History of American Musicals in the Spring Semester. The survey will cover the years 1752 to today. Each week, a different play by an American author will be read (as homework) and discussed (in class). Students will have a chance to read aloud and play parts in scenes from each play during the live class sessions. The context of American Theater in the larger history of Drama will be explored, as will the thrills of Broadway, Vaudeville, Tent Shows and Showboats. Each play will be analyzed in regard to its characters, plot, settings and themes, and typically American recurrent themes will be noted. In addition, the development of American Musicals on stage and screen will be studied, focusing on the relation of American Musicals to other genres of music, inlcuding opera, show hall, pop, rock and rap. FALL 2025: 14 Sessions - Wednesdays at 7...

  Students will learn the fundamentals of spoken communication in this two semester course.  The  focus will be threefold: study, theory and application. The “Study” component will focus on the greatest speeches and debates in history, from the “Apology” of Socrates to “I Have a Dream” and beyond.  These famous speeches and debates will be analyzed from the perspective of argumentation, structure and rhetorical devices, forming the theoretical basis for in-class application. The “Application” of what we learn will consist of several speeches and debates that will be conducted live in class.  Students will present individual speeches and will engage in two-person debates.  Students will be coached in how to avoid common errors, such as saying “like” as a filler word, how to speak extemporaneously when called upon (particularly in an oral exam) and how to be effective and engaging when addressing an audience. FALL: 15 Sessions - Tuesdays at 8:00 am Pacific; 9...

  Dystopias are “negative utopias”, man-made hells that seem to come from an attempt to build man-made heavens on earth.  They can be studied in both history and literature, which is what this course will set out to do. From a literary perspective, students will read famous dystopian novels and poems such as 1984, Brave New World, The Giver, “The Waste Land”, “The Second Coming” and more. From a historical perspective, students will examine the concept of hell in ancient and medieval times and will examine “failed utopias” in history, from the ancient Montanists through the early modern Anabaptists, up to the Communist totalitarian states of the USSR and China. The course will attempt to find a theoretical basis for understanding the dystopian strain in literature and history - and will identify active elements of “dystopianism” today. FALL 2024 - 13 Sessions - Wednesdays at 2:00 pm Eastern from Sept. 11 to Dec. 11, 2024, with no meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 27 for Thanksgiving ...

  Drama and dramatic literature are at the heart of the human experience.  This course will examine the history of Western Drama, reading plays from Ancient Greece, through Medieval, Renaissance and early Modern times to current Broadway hits.  Drama will be examined from several perspectives: its relation to religious festivals in the ancient and medieval world; its use as a “mirror” that is held up to human nature (in Hamlet’s words); its relation to the history and culture of its various eras; and its ongoing symbolic and ritualistic aspects, even in our current age.   Students will learn the elements of dramatic literature, including staging, plot, character development, catharsis, denouement, etc., and will get a taste of various theories of Drama, from Aristotle to Nietzsche. More than anything, students will be exposed to a survey of great dramatic literature, including Sophocles, Plautus, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Ibsen, Shaw, O’Neil, Miller and others....

What is allegory?  How is symbolism used in literature and myth?  How do writers use imagery to convey themes and moods in fiction and poetry?  How do symbols and allegories express the deepest strands of our psyches? These are some of the questions that will be examined in this course, which will introduce students to Allegory, Symbolism and Imagery through works such as “The Allegory of the Cave” from Plato’s Republic, Everyman, Pilgrim’s Progress, “The Masque of the Red Death”, Animal Farm, Tolkien’s story “Leaf by Niggle”, various poems and more.  In addition, the Symbolist movement in art and literature will be examined, as will Freud and Jung’s approach to the analysis of symbols and “archetypes” in myths and dreams. SPRING 2025: 15 Sessions - Wednesdays at 11:00 am Pacific; Noon Mountain; 1:00 pm Central; 2:00 pm Eastern from Jan. 15 to April 16, 2025, with no meeting on Wednesday, March 12 for Spring Break and Wednesday, April 23 for Easter Break. Age Range: ...

"I cannot tell you what a difference your class has made this semester for [my daughter]. She came downstairs the other day and said, 'I'm so sad that Mr. O'Brien's class is over.'  This semester I watched some of your classes with [my daughter] because she'd say, 'Mom, you're going to love this!  Pull up a chair!' You are an outstanding teacher ... We are so grateful for your impact on my daughter's life,"  "We love Mr. O'Brien!! Our son is really enjoying his class this semester. Thank you so much!"  You are so very real and down to earth, so spontaneous. You're not afraid to just be who you are. You are alive and that's what your students love. Of course you can throw in a great sense of humor and intelligence to boot. Thank you for drawing all your friends more deeply into the mysteries of life. We can't help but think about the deeper things, the most important things in life...you lead us ...