Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels is often regarded as a children's book, but only by people who have never read it through. Swift was filled with "savage indignation" at the problems in the human character.

Gulliver's Travels is a work of genius, a witty, enchanting, and unrelenting critique of the optimism of the Enlightenment. First Gulliver is a giant among tiny self-important people; then he is a vulnerable doll among giants; then he visits the madcap academy at the flying island of Laputa, where he discovers the hollowness of rationality devoid of practical good sense. Finally, he meets the Houyhnhnms, highly rational talking horses and the Yahoos, disgusting primates that look a good deal like humans without the thin veneer of civilization. 

Join humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson as he sorts all of this out and leads a journey into the dark recesses of the severest satirist in the English language.

Patron Information

• If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.
• Unless otherwise noted, registration for online programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program.
• Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
• Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
• View Common FAQs about our online programs presented on Zoom.