Joseph Ronan

Joseph Ronan is an attorney living in Sharon, Vermont with his wife, a retired neurologist who is now a visual artist and part-time ski instructor. Joseph was educated at Friends Select School in Philadelphia, has a BA in philosophy from Haverford College, a JD and LLM from NYU Law School, and an MA in English (thesis on Wallace Stevens) from Rutgers-Camden. He is now working on an MA in philosophy. He professes no special insight into Irish poetry, just a high degree of interest.

Taking Life Seriously: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (Winter Term 2025)

Participant Testimonials:

He did a wonderful job guiding us through a pretty dense topic!

Thank you, Joe. This truly was a gift of your time and talent and knowledge. You do this freely and it has a huge impact on people - at least it did on me. What an important mission you provide. Thanks, again.

Mr. Ronan is a master of this topic. He stuck to the topic assigned for each week. He admitted to having read the text over ten, or more times. I can't imagine teaching such a dense topic as philosophy - but he is a "pro."

Irish Poetry—The Shadow of W. B. Yeats (Winter Term 2024)

Participant Testimonials:

Having never studied poetry before, I was there to learn, and learned a lot from Joe and the participants who shared their thoughts and interpretations.  Great class!

The course was a balance between Yeats and poets who came before and after.  The selections were well-considered and all worth reading. 

Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics in Today’s Disjointed World (Spring Term 2020)

Participant Testimonials:

Joe is knowledgeable. I admire and respect his knowledge. He always had a plan.

I am a “novice” regarding Aristotelian ethics and politics so I was mostly in listening/learning mode which was my objective in taking the course. It certainly met my objectives in this regard.

Introduction to Aesthetics: How Can We Know What Beauty Is? (Winter Term 2020)

Participant Testimonials:

Loved having the Philosophy professor, Neurologist and trip to Hood all three contributed to understand the subject.  

It was wonderful to view works of art in a thoughtful, thorough manner while engaging with fellow students.