The

Micah

Seminar

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

Inspired by God’s word to the Prophet Micah,

this daily, two-hour seminar

is at the heart of the Narthex Community.

Fulfilling high school requirements in English, Social Studies, and Science, this Socratic-dialogue-styled course invites all learners at Narthex into literature and conversation constellating around year-long themes of “Act Justly,” “Love Mercy,” and “Walk Humbly.”

By the time learners work through each theme, they assume co-teaching roles as fourth-year members, broadening the reading list and deepening conversation for their peers and themselves.

Additionally, on Thursday evenings, the Micah Seminar extends to the broader community in Symposia. These two-hour gatherings foster intergenerational learning and culture-building hospitality.

Click below for more details on each year-long theme:

    • This two-semester seminar meets Indiana high school requirements for both English and US History and Government (1542 US HIST, 1002/4/6/8 ENG 9/10/11/12).

    • Cornel West has said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” This course explores how justice has historically been understood and portrayed in American democracy. How do our civic responsibilities and responsibilities of Christian conscience intersect? What does it mean to act justly in the United States today?

    • Authors include: American founders, Willa Cather, Frederick Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston, Brian Stevenson, Amy Tan, Lorraine Hansberry, Pat Mora, Joy Harjo, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Flannery O’Connor, Edwidge Danticat

    • This two-semester seminar meets the course requirements for both English and International History & World Cultures (1570 GEO-HST WLD, 1002/4/6/8 ENG 9/10/11/12).

    • Why do humans go to war? How do people justify their complicity or complacency? Who bears the costs of such conflicts? How has the Christian tradition practiced mercy, compassion, and reconciliation in international contexts? This course considers what it means to love mercy in a world scarred by violence and division.

    • Authors include: Sophocles, St. Augustine, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton Chekhov, Chinua Achebe, Khaled Hosseini, Wislawa Szymborska, Elie Wiesel, Ishmael Beah, Alan Paton, Stanley Hauerwas, Emmanuel Katongole

    • This two-semester seminar meets the requirements for both English and Environmental Science (3010 ENVSCI, 1002/4/6/8 ENG 9/10/11/12).

    • What does it mean to be creature — a created one — among creatures? This course explores how humility might shape the way humans relate to the natural world through the lenses of science, literature, and faith. What fruit does a mindset of scarcity produce versus a mindset of abundance? How does a posture of wonder towards creation inform our desire, and guide personal choice and collective action? How do we cultivate an imagination for a world presided over by relationships of reciprocity, mutuality, and humility?

    • Authors include: Robin Wall Kimmerer, Wendell Berry, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Mary Oliver, Pope Francis, Octavia Butler, Barbara Kingsolver

We are still generating our reading lists, and, in the spirit of Narthex’s collaborative dialogue,

we welcome your input.

You can do that in a couple ways:

1. Purchase any book you’d recommend that is sold by The Rabbit Room and send it to Narthex Community of Learners (23 East Palmer Street, Indianapolis, IN 46225).

2. Send us a message with the title of any book you think we should add to our Amazon wishlist.

Thanks for partnering with us in this exciting and practical way!