World-renowned Robert Frost biographer, executive movie producer, Middlebury College professor and longtime Vermont resident, Jay Parini, is the host of a new, free online course filmed on the grounds of the great American poet’s farm in Ripton.
Anyone, anywhere interested in the life, works and “particular genius” of Frost can enroll in the free course, "Robert Frost: The American Voice," which Ralston College, a new liberal arts university in Savannah, Georgia, launched this week.
“Frost is an exciting poet. He’s the granite voice of American poetry, he’s the perfect guide to the nature of America, to the nature of New England,” Parini says. “I never tire of it … going back to these amazing poems and seeing what Frost had: a particular genius that makes language, in his mouth, in his hands, come alive.”
With a time commitment of three hours over four weeks, the free, online course, published during the sesquicentennial of Frost’s birth, offers pre-recorded lectures, curated texts and online discussions, all designed for busy individuals desiring to cultivate the life of the mind.
Ralston College President Stephen Blackwood recently spoke with Parini who is currently on a set in Glasgow, Scotland, where he is the executive producer of the film adaptation of his memoir, "Borges and Me: An Encounter."
On the value that individuals can glean from reading poetry and literature, Parini says: “Literature really is the language that is adequate to our experience.
“When I read the poetry of Robert Frost, I’m looking at poetry that really touches my heart, and somehow explains my life. The main issues of life are laid out clearly in language that reflects my own experience.
“I’m not moved by most of the language that I hear throughout the day … Rather than listen to the evening news, I’d rather read Frost or Homer or Aeschylus, or read a passage from Dante, or an essay by Montaigne.
“I’d rather read a poem by Wordsworth or Yeats. There’s just so much available to us with complex beautiful expressions of the human experience.
“Why would I mess with anything but this great stuff? So, I spend my life in the great works. There is so much available to me right there.”
Upon moving to Ripton, Vermont, where he and his wife, Nicole Blackwood, each completed their theses, Blackwood met Parini.
“Truly being able to engage with the past in a deep and authentic way relies on the wisdom of guides like Jay Parini to show the way, guides who share that crucial sense of mission — of deep, devoted and good-faith engagement with works that have inspired and shaped us for centuries,” Blackwood says. “We are lucky to live in an age when access to great works of art and intellect has never been easier. Yet mere availability is not the same thing as the genuine access and encounter that Jay Parini provides to students through this new, free online short course.”
For a podcast between Parini and Blackwood, visit tinyurl.com/yc6r7vjn.
Parini’s authority on poetry has been cultivated over five decades as a professor at Middlebury College and with the publication of many books.
Founded in 2010, Ralston College is a private, 501c3 institution of higher education. Ralston College is devoted to freedom of thought and speech, has no political or religious affiliations, and does not accept government funds. Its mission is to revive the conditions of a free and flourishing culture by providing transformative, rigorous education in the humanities. In addition to its degree program, the College also hosts free, public lecture series that, since its first academic year in 2022, has welcomed more than 1,500 guests.
To date, the College’s podcasts and online lectures–also available for free–have reached millions.
For more information, visit the course page on the College's website, tinyurl.com/yxmpfybt.