St. John’s College and MEA present:

Summer Classics & Midlife Thriving

at MEA’s Rising Circle Ranch in Santa Fe

July 14 - 19, 2025 in Santa Fe, USA
Led by: David Carl, Claudia Hauer

Calling all lifelong (and long-life) learners:

Immerse yourself in the classics while gaining proven tools and practices for flourishing at the world’s first midlife wisdom school.

Are you looking for a powerful way to enrich your mind, body, and soul this summer?

This year, we are delighted to announce that St. John’s College and MEA (Modern Elder Academy) are joining forces to provide an exclusive program that combines St. John’s immersive seminar program with MEA’s science-backed curriculum for navigating transitions and thriving in midlife.

Join us for a week of philosophy, poetry, and painting that address the enduring themes of the human condition and the stages of life, while staying at a world-class retreat center and learning how to cultivate a growth-focused mindset to adapt to change, so you can flourish at any age.

When you’re not immersing yourself in rich discussion of some of the world’s greatest works at St. John’s, you’ll be rejuvenating your mind, body, and spirit surrounded by the breathtaking nature at MEA’s Rising Circle Ranch, just outside of Santa Fe.

What you’ll gain

Experienced faculty members will facilitate discussion while encouraging collaboration and careful listening. Your afternoon deep dives at St. John’s College will explore the following readings and art:

  • Georgia O'Keeffe, paintings and letters
  • Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
  • Robert Frost and W. B. Yeats, selected poems
  • Plato, The Republic, Allegory of the Cave

In addition, during your mornings and evenings at MEA’s Rising Circle Ranch, you and your fellow participants will engage in powerful mindfulness and movement practices, experiential activities, and rich discussion designed to help you:

  • Cultivate an expansive, growth-focused mindset that facilitates lifelong learning and adaptability
  • Unlock the power of curiosity, questions, and appreciative inquiry to deepen your understanding of others and improve your relationships
  • Understand the three stages of a transition and how to navigate each leg of the journey
  • Embrace liminality and learn how to maintain your confidence and positivity in the face of uncertainty
  • Build your "transitional intelligence" or TQ and grow your capacity to respond successfully to life’s unexpected curveballs
  • Cultivate lasting connections and a deep sense of community with other inspired lifelong learners who are dedicated to living their best lives

The books chosen for study and discussion by St. John’s College faculty are deeply aligned with the MEA signature topics above. This exclusive program is a powerful way to embody the lessons that classics have to teach and to expand your ability to be more fully present in the moment and lead a more intentional life.

Here’s what our week together will look like…

Only 18 spots available for this exclusive St. John’s + MEA experience.

RSVP now to have an opportunity to register:

Why embark on a journey of exploration and self-discovery with St. John’s College and MEA? 

St. John's, with its famously demanding curriculum, hovers like a high-achieving angel over the landscape of American higher education

Los Angeles Times

"A gem in American higher education."
Inside Higher Education

"The most rigorous college in America."
Forbes

"What a gift, what an education."
Los Angeles Times

"The most forward-thinking college in America."
Quartz

Are you a seeker of wisdom? A curious spirit? An enthusiastic skeptic?

St. John’s College Lifelong Learning adult education programs offer you a place to deepen intellectually and lean into the life of the mind. 

Summer Classics at St. John’s College is a 35-year-old seasonal program conceived in the spirit of lifelong learning. Seminars explore fundamental questions of the human condition through open discussion of timeless works and enduring topics. 

A Summer Classics seminar is not a lecture, nor is it a book club.

At St. John’s, seminars are lively, in-depth, and highly participatory conversations on enduring works that span fiction and nonfiction, math and science, poetry and philosophy, as well as visual, cinematic, and performing arts. In dialogue with your seminar colleagues, you will experience a shared love of intellectual inquiry.

The most remarkable gift of experiencing the great works is discovering yourself within its pages.

Across centuries, human nature remains constant: we yearn for beauty, cherish relationships, love deeply, and grieve profoundly. These timeless works connect us to the hearts and minds of those who lived decades to millennia before us, bridging the gulf of time through shared emotion and universal truths. 

Each reading is a mirror, reflecting the enduring human spirit and reminding us that while the world changes, our core experiences remain beautifully the same.

Please note that no previous knowledge of author, text, or subject is required or expected.

The seminar is collaborative, respectful, and exploratory. Participants bring with them a wealth of diverse perspectives – regional, cultural, vocational, and generational. In return, every seminar is unique and creates space for all voices to be heard and respected.

Meet your faculty

David Carl

Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, St. John’s College

David is the associate dean for graduate programs at St. John’s Santa Fe campus. He has been a member of the college’s faculty since 2000 and served as assistant dean from 2008-2010. He holds degrees from Pomona College, Claremont Graduate School, and University of California at Davis. Prior to St. John’s, David taught and lectured in philosophy, religion, and literature both in the U.S. and abroad. He grew up in rural Oregon and has traveled in India and lived and taught in France and Germany.

David’s recent Continuing the Conversations podcast for St. John's College was entitled "The Fool’s Paradise: To Where Does Travel Lead?" He teaches regularly in the St. John's Summer Classics program.

Claudia Hauer

Claudia has taught at St. John's College since 1994. She earned a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Minnesota, and taught Classics for a year at Cornell College while finishing her dissertation. She has also served as Visiting Professor in both the Department of Philosophy and the Department of English at the Air Force Academy.

Claudia’s book, Strategic Humanism: Lessons on Leadership from the Ancient Greeks, was published in 2020 and explores the continuing relevance of the Greek classics. She has been featured on multiple podcasts, including EconTalk, Combat & Classics, Classical Wisdom, and The Reeds. Her recent Continuing the Conversations podcast for St. John's College was entitled "Practicing for Death: Integrating Mind and Body, East and West." She teaches regularly in the St. John's Summer Classics program. 

Explore the rich tradition of deep reflection on human experience through great works – while gaining powerful insights, tools, and practices that can help you adapt, evolve, and prosper in your own second half of life.

Why is MEA called the world’s first “Midlife Wisdom School”?

As seen in:

At MEA, we believe midlife isn't a crisis – it's a calling.

Our science-backed workshops and programs are designed to give you the tools, practices, and support to help you to thrive as you navigate the challenges and opportunities that come in the second half of life.

Developed in collaboration with some of the world’s leading scholars and experts in midlife, our proven methodology helps people in midlife find the clarity, inspiration, and fulfillment they crave.

Thanks to advancements in health and quality of life, midlife now lasts decades longer than it did a century ago.

Our mission is to disrupt societal beliefs around aging and help people in the second half of their lives create the exciting, fulfilling, purpose-driven lives they crave.

How do we do this? By giving people the tools and resources we all need to navigate the many transitions that occur as we get older – and find joy, purpose, and meaning in our lives as we deal with changing career situations, aging parents, children leaving home, retirement, changing bodies and cognitive abilities, and more.

This workshop is for you if...

You want to immerse yourself in five powerful days of exploring world classics and applying their rich lessons to your own life

You’re excited to expand your literary understanding in the company of other inspired lifelong learners

You’re interested in learning tools and practices that can help you navigate midlife transitions and thrive

You’re curious to learn more about the science of longevity and what we really need to live a long and happy life

You’re eager to spend five transformative days on a world-class regenerative ranch where your every need will be attended to 

You’re committed to lifelong learning and excited to reconnect with the natural world and yourself in New Mexico’s magical high desert

Do this powerful work on our beautiful regenerative ranch in Santa Fe

Santa Fe, USA

Rising Circle Ranch

An upscale regenerative ranch featuring traditional Pueblo architecture and spanning nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails in the arroyo, with ancient petroglyphs, and awe-inspiring beauty. Close to historic Santa Fe, an artisan’s mecca.

  • Big-sky desert country
  • Breathtaking nature
  • Interaction with horses and donkeys
  • Evenings around the campfire
  • Star-gazing

People come for the workshops,
but they stay for the community

This is truly MEA’s “secret sauce” and something you can only experience in person: the powerful connections you will make, not only with your fellow participants and the incredible MEA faculty, but also the deeper sense of connection you will feel to your own inner self and the natural world around you.

Research into aging shows that your relationships play a HUGE role in your health and wellbeing later in life. At MEA, you will make deep and lasting connections and become part of a larger community that will make your life richer and more meaningful.

Many of our alumni cohorts have stayed in close touch for years after their workshop and we have a growing number of local alumni chapters all over the world. It’s a joy for us to see them continuing to offer each other community, friendship, and support as they create thriving midlives for themselves. So if you have been feeling at all disconnected or isolated on your journey, we would love to have you join us!

Have we mentioned the food?

The MEA experience is designed in part by Chip Conley, a world-renowned boutique hotelier, which means the food is amazing.

All of the ingredients are locally sourced, organic, and made from scratch in our kitchens by hand-picked chefs. The delicious breakfasts, lunches and dinners will leave you feeling nourished inside and out – not to mention the blended drinks made with fresh fruit and other top-shelf ingredients. 


Each retreat center has multiple kitchens that always have snacks and beverages available. At MEA, we believe that thriving is delicious!

Your St. John’s + MEA workshop Includes:

  • Five 2-hour Summer Classics afternoon deep dives into great works at St. John’s College
  • 5 days and nights of lodging at our boutique luxury retreat center in Santa Fe with all of your meals, snacks, drinks and other amenities included
  • Daily MEA sessions to help you connect with your inner self, envision your desired experience, and release what no longer serves you
  • Mindfulness sessions covering a range of practices to soothe your nervous system and help you cultivate greater presence in the moment
  • Movement to get the energy flowing and build your strength and agility as you chart your course forward to the life you want to live
  • Opportunities for hikes, e-biking, massages, horseback riding, and more (some optional activities, such as massage and horseback riding, cost extra)
  • Evening discussion, stargazing, and get-togethers around the campfire

Ready to start your journey?

Summer Classics & Midlife Thriving

July 14 - 19, 2025 Santa Fe, USA
Led by: David Carl, Claudia Hauer

Step into your next chapter with confidence and ease, knowing that every detail of your experience is being taken care of by our world-class faculty and hospitality team.

$6,000 per person

– or – 

$9,000 per couple in a shared room

Only 18 participants will be able to attend – secure your spot by joining the interest list and we’ll send you more information shortly.

Join the interest list for more information about this uniquely transformative experience.

Seats will sell out and will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis so be sure to register now if you’re interested!