The Home of Whole Book Learning
Après is an independent enrichment program devoted to Whole Book Learning.
Books have covers. They have beginnings and endings; they are not infinitely scrolled. There’s a beauty to beginnings and endings that we risk forgetting — having all but lost the practice of seeing them in print.
Après brings the intellectually ambitious together for small, live seminars devoted to complete works of literature, history, and philosophy. Through annotated reading, handwriting in commonplace books, and reflective conversation, the readers of Après enter the tradition as active participants.
Our flagship course, Heroic Journeys and Human Hearts begins in September 2026.
Questions? Email hello@thewholebookmatters.com.
What we teach
This is a “read the whole book” curriculum. We go cover-to-cover.
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This is the flagship course for Après Readers. Over the course of one year, we will journey as a team through great works of literature that will shape and reshape the lens through which we view the world.
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One-on-one lessons with a tutor who has lived in France, and has taught 9th-12th grade French in American high schools for 7+ years.
Optional French language instruction includes preparation for the internationally recognized DELF/DALF exams.
All French language and literature students will have lessons in French history, French art history, and will study works of philosophical, literary, or historical merit in French.
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Prerequisite or Corequisite: Heroic Journeys & Human Hearts
The Self-Paced Humanities coursework supplements a student’s English, History, Human Geography, Philosophy, or Christian Theology courses by connecting the dots and filling-out the grand narrative of life in detail.
Some common themes: (a) The study of history as civilizations shaped by geography and religious impulse, (b) the creative works of man across history, (c) what God says to man, and (d) what man says in reply.
Key texts: Myths, Models and Paradigms (Ian G. Barbour), Metaphors We Live By (George Lakoff and Mark Johnson), Classical Rhetoric and its Christian and Secular Tradition from Ancient to Modern Times (George A. Kennedy), Memory and the Mediterranean (Fernand Braudel)
The Après Tutor
I’m Dylan Burns. I hold a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Colorado and am currently completing a master’s degree in liberal arts at St. John’s College. I have spent eight years teaching French and history to students in grades 6–12, and I have lived and studied in France and Spain. Before entering education, I served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army National Guard.
My adult life has been an ongoing exploration of the humanities. I’m passionate about helping students read carefully, think independently, and find their own voices within the great intellectual and artistic traditions that have shaped our world.
Questions? Email me at hello@thewholebookmatters.com.