Menu
Log in

Institute for Continuing Learning

Log in

Freedom in the Western Tradition

  • June 25, 2025
  • August 06, 2025
  • 7 sessions
  • June 25, 2025, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM (EDT)
  • July 02, 2025, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM (EDT)
  • July 09, 2025, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM (EDT)
  • July 16, 2025, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM (EDT)
  • July 23, 2025, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM (EDT)
  • July 30, 2025, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM (EDT)
  • August 06, 2025, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM (EDT)
  • Wilson Lecture Hall in Goolsby Center (On Duckworth Drive)

Registration


Register

Course Instructor - Dr. John Wells

 Course Fee - $25.00

This class will begin by examining the great thinkers of the past who wrote about freedom as a concept.  We will examine John Locke, John Stuart Mill, G.W.F. Hegel, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Sigmund Freud, and Karl Marx.  We will relate their thought to our contemporary discussions regarding free speech, the liberty of conscience, and what it means to balance freedom and community.  We will plan on robust discussion with lots of examples from history in order to explore this important and timeless topic.

A native of East Tennessee, Dr. Wells is the son of two ministers in the United Methodist Church and served briefly as a minister himself before turning to a career in higher education. He earned his B.A. in History from Carson-Newman University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Wells previously served as Provost and Interim President of Young Harris from 2005 to 2009, during the College’s transition from junior college to senior college. He most recently served as Provost and later President of a fellow Methodist-affiliated institution, Emory & Henry College in Southwest Virginia, from 2017 to 2024 and was appointed as the institution’s first Chancellor upon his retirement in July. 

Dr. Wells’s wife, Dr. Shannon Earle, previously served as a student affairs professional at Young Harris and now serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for University Advancement at the University of North Carolina Asheville. They have two adult children, Garland and Molly. 


Classroom/Office Address:

862 Main St, Young Harris

Phone:

706.379.5194

Email:

icl@yhc.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 134

Young Harris, GA 30582

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software