Proust Seminar with Dr. Mark Calkins (Fall 2026)
Tuesday, Oct 27 | 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
For over two decades, Mechanics' Institute has offered The Proust Seminar, a six-semester reckoning with Marcel Proust’s monumental seven-volume novel, In Search of Lost Time (also known as Remembrance of Things Past), a work Edmund White called “the most respected novel of the twentieth century.” The seminar is led by Dr. Mark Calkins, Lecturer Emeritus at San Francisco State University, and meets year-round (except July and August) on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 5:30pm.
The Fall 2026 Semester will begin on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, and continue for five months until January 26, 2027. Please note the seminar dates below:
- September 8
- September 22
- October 13
- October 27
- November 10
- November 24
- December 8
- January 5, 2027 (first Tuesday for this session only)
- January 26, 2027
In September 2026, the cohort will begin reading volume two, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Blossom. Dr. Calkins will be using the Oxford University Press edition (trans. Mandell); he advises against using the Penguin Classics edition (trans. Grieve). Reading assignments average 50 pages per session. For the first session on September 8, 2026, please read pp. 5-53, ending with: "…the Café Anglais."
The seminar is now FULL! Please email us to be added to the waitlist!
Contact programs@milibrary.org or 415-393-0103.
Cancellation policy:
For each seminar, we reserve the right to cancel at any time and issue a full refund. If you are unable to attend the seminar, please email programs@milibrary.org or call 415-393-0103 by Wednesday, August 26 to receive a full refund, less any non-refundable ticketing fees which may be applicable. All fees must be paid at the time of registration. After Wednesday, August 26, no refunds will be issued.