575 Investigating Sherlock Holmes
Class | This program is completed
Nearly everyone knows Sherlock Holmes by sight (over 250 actors have portrayed him), but how many know about the “Game” or what the "Canon" is? How many have pondered the literary value of the original stories or know who was the real-life inspiration for Holmes? How many have seen one of the recreations of his and Dr. Watson’s sitting room? Or considered whether his reasoning is really deductive, inductive or abductive? Or know why we associate a calabash pipe with him, although Conan Doyle never mentioned one?
Classes will focus on discussion of selected Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and use them as a lens to look at people behind the image, fandom and tourism, science and reasoning and topics beyond Doyle’s creation and of interest to the class.
An optional "field trip" will suplement this class: An open house at LuAnn’s Holmes 221B sitting room evocation and Denny Dobry’s more “authentic” recreation in Reading will be planned to take place outside of class time.
- Required reading: the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle to be read in this course are readily available online at https://sherlock-holm.es or http://ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/index.html.
Alternatively, ebooks or print copies may be acquired at the student’s choice.
LuAnn O'Connell
LUANN O’CONNELL homeschooled her children K-12 and taught literature classes at a homeschool co-op. She has degrees from University of Rochester and worked at an education NGO and college. She is a spiritual director and retreat leader. As a Sherlock Holmes fan, she created an evocation of Holmes’ study in her home. LuAnn reads nearly 100 books yearly in diverse genres and loves to travel in person and via Google maps.