The Fairhaven Program offers day-time and after-school individual classes. Spring classes take place in our downtown Fairhaven location: 1106 Harris Ave, Suite 307. The space is wheelchair accessible! The cost for each weekday seminar is ‘pay what you can’, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Students are welcome to sign up for as many or few classes as desired, and classes are open to teenagers and adults. Please finish the assigned reading before class and come prepared with a short question about the reading. We encourage participants to purchase books from Village Books and other local bookstores. If you purchase a book for a seminar at Village Books, please tell them at checkout it is for the Fairhaven Program, and you will receive a discount. Click on a class title to register!
Ancient Philosophy | Mondays 2:15-3:45 p.m.
Aristotle says, “It is through wonder that man began to philosophize.” Join us to discuss perennial human questions with classic works of Greek philosophy.
- 4/22 – Plato’s Euthyphro
- 4/29 – Plato’s Apology
- 5/6 – Plato’s Crito
- 5/13 – Plato’s Meno
- 5/20 – Plato’s Phaedo
Comedy & Tragedy | Saturdays 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
At the end of Plato’s Symposium, Socrates proposes that “the fully skilled tragedian could be a comedian as well,” and his proposition came true nearly two millennia later in Elizabethan England with the birth of Shakespeare. This Saturday seminar series features some of the finest tragedies and comedies ever written.
- 4/13 – Shakespeare’s Hamlet
- 4/20 – Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (registration closed)
- 4/27 – Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex (registration closed)
Parent Seminars
- 5/6-6/3 (Mondays 5-6:30 p.m.) – Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation
- 5/15-6/19 (Wednesdays 4-5:30 p.m.) – Charlotte Mason’s A Philosophy of Education
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the classes need to be taken in order?
No! The classes are grouped thematically, but they do not have to be taken in sequence.
Can someone register for more than one class?
Yes! Sign up for as many or as few as you desire.
Where are the classes held?
Classes are held at the Fairhaven Program, 1106 Harris Ave., Suite 306. Our location is wheelchair accessible.
Are books and materials provided?
No. See individual class links for information on what book to purchase. In many cases, the readings are available freely online. If you use a free online text, please print it out, as screens are not permitted in class.
Is there homework?
Students are expected to complete assigned readings before class.
More questions? Contact info@fairhavenprogram.org or call (360) 230-8012.
Seminar Leader Bio:
My name is Donald Antenen, founder of the Fairhaven Program. I live in Bellingham with my wife, two daughters, and thousands of books. I was graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in classical languages and literature (Greek, Biblical Hebrew, & Latin) and from St. John’s College in Annapolis with an M.A. in liberal arts. At Penn I was recognized as a University Scholar, was on the Dean’s List, was awarded the College Alumni Classics Award and Allen Prize for Excellence in Ancient Greek, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. I’ve taught and mentored middle and high school students, led an annual Plato seminar in Philadelphia, and taught and tutored Latin and Greek, and I am a popular instructor in Western Washington University’s Academy for Lifelong Learning program. Besides reading and teaching, I enjoy vegetable gardening, time in the woods and on the beach, lifting weights, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.