Henry Thoreau was a mystery to his countrymen from the beginning. He remains a mystery to us today. Yet we never tire of Thoreau, and he is more widely known, more controversial and timelier today than he has ever been. Who was the self-proclaimed hermit of Walden? What do we really know of him? In this course, we shall attempt to disentangle ourselves from all the adoration, slander and misconception to ask the one question most worth answering: What can we learn from Henry David Thoreau today? Registration required