Logo for Advanced Agora Seminars with a tall torch standing between two ionic columns. Logo is grey and green

Big Ideas. Real Conversations. Serious Thinking.

Launching in the fall of 2026, Advanced Agora Seminars will channel the heart and feeling of the Athenian city-center, where citizens discussed law, politics, philosophy, economics, and religion on a daily basis. As such, this program prepares students to be architects of the public square. Through studies of the greatest debates and social structures from history and the modern era, students will develop the rhetorical skill, ethical clarity, and legal literacy to lead in today’s complex societies.

Anticipated Course Offerings

  • Constitutional Law I: Foundations of Authority and Constitutional Design

    This seminar investigates the deep historical and ethical roots of Western governance, treating the U.S. Constitution not as a static document but as the culmination of a millennia-long dialogue regarding justice and power. 

  • International Relations

    This seminar provides an introduction for understanding the "Grand Strategies" and hidden forces that drive global politics. The course moves from the historical mechanics of balance-of-power diplomacy to contemporary challenges such as resource scarcity, global health security, and digital sovereignty. 

  • Constitutional Law II: The Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court

    This course functions as an analytical laboratory for the evolution of individual rights and the mechanics of the American judicial system. Using a case-study methodology, students trace the narrative of civil liberties through the shifting interpretations of the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments. 

  • World Music and Cultural Identity

    This seminar explores how musical traditions around the world express a community's history, values, and identity. Students will examine a range of global genres and traditions, developing cross-cultural listening and analytical skills.

This is the public square—reimagined.

A standing teacher engages with a student sitting at a desk with an open laptop.

  • "To lead thoughtfully in today's world requires more than quick answers; it demands deep historical vision, textual clarity, and the courage to debate what matters most."

    -Harry Shontz, High School History Department Chair