In this most recent episode of Conversations With Marsha, Marsha visits with Diana Smith Butler, a long time Montessori education expert. Diana’s deep understanding of
by Marsha Familaro Enright I am so pleased to welcome Carrie-Ann Biondi to our Advisory Board! Dr. Biondi is an expert in Socratic Practice, the
by Marsha Familaro Enright February 2nd marked the 116th birthday of one of the most remarkable thinkers and writers of the 20th century, Ayn Rand.
By Marsha Familaro Enright Free to Choose Media has a new documentary out about the thought and life of the extraordinary Thomas Sowell, 90-year-old economist,
Stephen Hicks is Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault Nietzsche and the Nazis, and
Marsha talks about how to have productive conversations with Francisco Villalobos. Francisco is a philosophy instructor and Owner of Inner Strength Fitness Consulting, New York
Scott Hambrick is the Founder & Reader-in-Chief of Online Great Books (OGB). He and Charity, his wife of 20 years, home school their two daughters.
Marsha talks with Paul Rosenberg about homeschooling. Paul is the father of four children, all now doing very well in high level professions. He’s the
“It is a sign of crudity and indigestion to throw up what we have eaten in the same condition it was swallowed down; and the
Be “careful not to ask [your] questions of the [students]. Only when they seek to answer questions which they themselves ask, do they commit themselves
“What I cannot create, I do not understand.” — Richard Feynman More and more jobs today are being automated—from automations that are basic such as
“You need not know of the doctrines and writings of the great masters of antiquity, you need not have heard of their names, none the
On the precipice of full adult life, the young adult needs answers to the great questions: “Why am I here?” “How should I live?” “What
Marsha interviews Jordan Zimmerman, and Mike Shapiro, who speak to their experience as gamers and how gaming significantly boosted their professional success and intellectual growth.
In this conversation, Marsha interviews Mikkel Thorup about his experience in Canada’s public school system. Mikkel relays the harrowing, painful moments which led him to
A long school career of lectures, drills, memorization, and teaching methods out of tune with learning needs usually turns most students away from enthusiastic learning
In this third episode, Marsha visits with chemical engineer and musician Lucy Hair, mother of one of the first students who attended the Great Connections Summer
Dick Bishirjian, head of the American Academy of Distance learning, http://www.academydl.com, was Founding President of one of the first online universities,Yorktown University from 2000-2016. Before
Marsha Enright, Founder and Director of The Great Connections Seminars of the RIF Institute, will host periodic conversations around contemporary topics, especially related to education, philosophy,
Marsha Familaro Enright gives young people a lot to chew on as they prepare college plans for a future that is decidedly much less certain,
View of Chicago from the Aon Building on East Randolph; NBC pyramid tower in the forefront, Marina City as cylindrical buildings, and Trump Tower the
I recently read two contemporary books which each offered uniquely enjoyable and inspiring experiences, and learned of a third I want to read! The first
Riace Warrior A THE RIACE BRONZES AND THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF CAPITALISM BY MARSHA FAMILARO ENRIGHT I have loved the sculpture of the ancient Greeks since
Lennie Jarratt Interviews Marsha Familaro Enright How The Great Connections Leap Year Helps Build A Free Society You can hear me describe how we prepare
MONTESSORI AND LIBERTY What’s the best way to teach and learn the ideas, values, and virtues needed in a free society? Is it enough to
Thousands scramble to get into the Ivy League, Stanford, University of Chicago, and every other school considered elite. Is that the best strategy for picking
A NEW SCANDAL – OR NOT? Isn’t the admissions scandal just a new variation on a long time practice of the universities? Wealthy, legacy children
I’ve spent most of my adult life examining the deficits of US education and tenure is one of the strong nails securing its coffin, as
I was recently interviewed by the founder of the marvelous Online Great Books program, Scott Hambrick. He talked to me about the childhood events that
Sunny Arbarbanelli alerted me to the latest perversion of current culture: a version of Mark Twain’s famous anti-racism classic, Huckleberry Finn, in which offensive words
Apply Now! Enrollment is open for The Great Connections Leap Year! Please see all the information we’ve put on our updated website about the new
Longtime Great Connections supporter John Davis from the Dallas area, recently asked me for a list of great books for children. And I’m glad he
At this link you can read about how a beloved teacher of 34 years at the Quaker School in Manhattan was sacked over a truly
Open Minds? When I celebrate Thanksgiving, I always think of the intrepid travelers (pictured above) who came to the northeast of the New World in
It is truly unfortunate that so many parents buy into the myth that they have to start “preparing” their children to get into the “best”
You might have seen the increasing number of articles discussing the fact that a college degree doesn’t prepare students with the skills to be successful
Raymie Stata and Marsha Familaro Enright after a wonderful Great Connections Seminar weekend discussing Aristotle, Nietzsche, Dewey, Rand and others. We were totally spoiled by
Here we have a guest blogger, Vickie Oddino. Her sharp eye caught unique aspects of our trip to Greece and Italy, which I wanted to
After enjoying the richness of Olympia, we skedaddled back to Athens and took a flight to Catania, Sicily the next day for the final leg
From Lesvos, we flew back to Athens and immediately boarded our coach for the Peloponnese. We had the services of an extremely knowledgeable historian as
Aristotle’s Lagoon: Naturalist Filios Akriotis informs Ray Raad about the lush bird and sea life in the large inland body of salt water in the
Before I continue chronicling our trip, I wanted to report that The Beverly Review published an article about our trip while we were away: “Woman Makes Great Connections
We read Will Durant’s The Life of Greece in preparation for our trip and it gave us a rich, rich background from which to understand the country
Alex Tabarrok at the Marginal Revolution blog analyses the huge price disparities in tuition for people of different income brackets here. This reduces income inequality and
With recent books and articles being published on the Enlightenment, Iona Italia does a great job of providing us with a short primer on Enlightenment thought. “We
What’s Happening with the Gap Year Program We’re going to open The Great Connections Gap Year Program in the fall of 2019! We’re expanding our powerful
Only hospital service prices grew more than college tuition between 1997 and 2017 on this American Enterprise Institute chart. In contrast, prices for cell phones, cars and
The Classics, or Great Books—weren’t they the dreck of dead white males? In the past few years, many have discovered otherwise and now there’s astonishing
Great Connections Facilitators Marsha Familaro Enright and Andrew Humphries describe why the Great Connections methodology works so well.
Ryan Griggs, details how students gain reasoning skills, self-confidence, and autonomy from The Great Connections Summer Program. Ryan earned his Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in
Graduate student in economics, Mackenzie White, discusses how Great Connections reignited her interest in learning.
A new longitudinal study of 5,000 mathematically precocious children concludes — as I’ve long thought — that very smart students do not get enough attention in school.
The Great Connections is excited to announce the enhancement of its higher education work by the addition of James Kandrac and Sable Levy to its Board of Trustees, and Malachy
In this eight-minute interview, hear founder Marsha Familaro Enright explain the transformative elements of The Great Connections Seminar, which radically increases autonomy, self-confidence, and knowledge
Make no mistake about it: the New Left has unleashed their minions on free speech via Nazi Brownshirt tactics and Middlebury College is a recent arena for
University of Illinois professor Rochelle Guitierrez complains that the phrase “Pythagorean Theorem” and the cultural emphasis on math prejudices mathematics against non-white students. I guess she thinks these
Bending children to the needs of the state goes back much farther than Common Core. Hear about the failure of public education to teach most
Editor’s Note: This is the text of a report to donors on the 2016 Great Connections Seminar. This July, our high school and graduate school
“Companies across the U.S. say it is becoming increasingly difficult to find applicants who can communicate clearly, take initiative, problem-solve and get along with co-
In the latest edition of Hillsdale College’s Imprimis, Charles Murray recently wrote an excellent piece entitled “Do We Need the Department of Education?” adapted from a 2011 speech of his.
From Arthur Koestler’s fascinating autobiography Arrow in the Blue, he describes the crucial reasons for what we do at The Great Connections: “For people who regard mathematics
Last fall we received an email message in response to our report on the summer 2015 Great Connections seminar. This email was about Derick Ansah,
We were delighted to read this 5-star review of The Great Connections Seminar from Virginia Murr, parent of an attendee. The student, Jessica, was a shy,
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be exhibiting information about The Great Connections at the 2016 International Students for Liberty Conference (ISFLC) in Washington, D.C.
We’re pleased to announce that on Sunday, February 28, 2016, Great Connections Founder and President Marsha Familaro Enright will be guest lecturing at The Maryland
On January 24, 2016, Great Connections Founder and President Marsha Familaro Enright presented a guest lecture on “The Collectivist Control of Education and What Education
Participants from the 2015 Great Connections Seminar in Chicago talk about its unique program and how deeply different it is from other schools, classes, and
Hear attendees of the Great Connections Seminars talk about why they find the program so powerful.
Attendees of the Great Connections program discuss how the program has impacted their lives.
A talk by Marsha Familaro Enright, educational entrepreneur, author of the last chapter, “Liberating Education” in Common Ground on Common Core, editor of Ayn Rand Explained, Lead
“After the Vietnam War, a lot of us didn’t just crawl back into our literary cubicles; we stepped into academic positions. With the war over,
What Students Said About The Great Connections Seminar 2015 “The seminar is transformative; I grew as a person. Working part time in the Philippine Congress,
Event: Great Connections Weekend Seminar for Working and Retired AdultsOur Theme: Reason and PowerWhen: Thursday evening, October 1 to Sunday midday, October 4, 2015 Includes
In this 3 minute audio from Resounding Books, RIFI President Marsha Familaro Enright, discusses how people across the political spectrum can unite to reject the worst in education.
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth part of the four-part series on an ideal university education; the first part is here, the second part is here, and the
Students in School of Entrepreneurial Engagement Program to Benefit from Enriching Intellectual and Cultural Program at The Great Connections Seminar Chicago, IL: Marsha Familaro Enright, President
In this 3 minute audio from Resounding Books Great Connections President Marsha Familaro Enright discusses whether parents, teachers, and administrators still have control over education.
What is the consequence of the push for “standards” in education? Hear RIFI president, Marsha Familaro Enright talk about the issues for Resounding Books here.
This is the third part of the four-part series on an ideal University Education; the first part is here and the second part is here, and the fourth part
What is the purpose of education? Is “school choice” the same as a free market in education? Could education be provided entirely by the free
Here’s another 5-minute clip from Kirsten Lombard, editor of Resounding Books, in which she and I talk about whether all children could be educated if there were
Brookings Institute researchers Jonathan Rowell and Siddhartha Kulkarni have just published a compelling report on college rankings: “Beyond College Rankings: A Value-Added Approach to Assessing
In Part I this series, we looked at how students learn best when they are in a state of Flow— a state of concentration or complete
On Friday, March 13, Great Connections founder president Marsha Familaro Enright spoke to business people and students about the unrecognized Ethic of Trade and the
The Great Connections program fosters active minds, empowering each individual with the knowledge, reasoning skills, and independence to understand the world and build a life of adventure and
In this article on the New York Times Opinionator Blog, philosopher Justin McBrayer rightly laments the amorality rampant in the culture under the guise of cultural relativism. “[T]he overwhelming
RECOMMENDED READ The maternalistic path dredged from rights protection, leading to thought control: In this Washington Post opinion piece, author, lawyer, and civil libertarian Wendy Kaminer examines
Standard education not only fails to teach the philosophy, history, economics, and politics of a free society, but its methods oppress individuality and instead encourage
Some new evidence has come out about the dismal reading level of most college students. The source of the research is Renaissance Learning, an American assessment
Participants from the 2010 Great Connections Seminar for working professionals and retirees, share their experience of the program and discuss the impact on their development
Participants from the 2010 Great Connections Seminar for students describe their experience of the program and its impact on their lives.
Students discuss the program and its impact on their lives.
Students from the 2010 Great Connections seminar share their thoughts about the experience.