Societies
Eighth through twelfth graders looking to connect over shared interests may join one of our emerging societies. These groups will meet multiple times over the course of a semester with a TIP mentor as guide to share common interests and explore skills within those interests more in depth. Meeting times and pursuits will be determined together as a group, and may be in person, although most will likely be online to facilitate access for all.
Baylor TIP Student Advisory Council
Cost: $0 (Some fees may be charged to cover any costs associated with optional, in-person events, such as a leadership retreat, and for t-shirts.)
Application required: Yes. Applications will open in August 2026.
Stratford-on-Odeon Literary Society, grades 8-12
Instructor: Dr. Todd Kettler
Dr. Todd Kettler will be leading the Literary Society. If you are willing to allow your child to participate in his qualitative study on advanced readers that is pending approval, tuition will be waived. Data collection would consist of an individual interview and a collective focus group discussion. Email BaylorTIP@baylor.edu if you are interested in having your child participate in the study. Consent forms will be emailed at a later date.
Cost: $150
Application required: no
Application fee: N/A
Registration closes June 30
Fate, Choice, and the Ethics of Loyalty
Introduction to Greek Tragedy
The summer 2026 Stratford-on-Odeon Literary Society will step back in time to explore the tragic beauty and haunting dilemmas of the Greek tragedy. We will read and discuss two plays by Sophocles and two plays by Euripides.
Guiding Question
How do Greek tragedies use extreme situations to interrogate the limits of human choice, the obligations of loyalty, and the ethical consequences of action?
Students will explore:
• The tension between human agency and inevitable fate
• The moral responsibilities individuals hold to family, state, and self
• The ethical consequences of choices in extreme circumstances
• The classical Aristotelian definition of tragedy as a literary art form
A Four-Drama Author Study
• Oedipus Rex—Sophocles
• Antigone—Sophocles
• Medea—Euripides
• Alcestis—Euripides
Required Text
The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (2016)
New Translations edited by Mary Lefkowitz & James Romm
Big Questions Explored in the Four Plays
• How much of human life is determined by forces beyond our control (fate, the gods, society?
• When loyalty to family, state, or self conflicts with morality, how should one act?
• How do extreme emotional responses, such as grief, love, anger, both illuminate and distort ethical decision-making?
These three universal human questions made these tragedies compelling in ancient Greece and remain relevant today, while encouraging students to engage critically with moral and philosophical dilemmas.
Guiding Discussion Questions
1. Fate and Human Agency
• In what ways are the characters’ lives determined by fate versus their own decisions?
• How does knowledge (or ignorance) of fate shape the actions of Oedipus, Antigone, Medea, and Alcestis?
• Are any of the tragedies truly avoidable, or are their outcomes inevitable?
2. Moral and Ethical Responsibility
• How do characters navigate conflicts between personal loyalty (family, spouse) and societal law or moral code?
• Can we judge Medea or Antigone as moral or immoral, or is morality too constrained by circumstance?
• What role does justice—divine, societal, personal—play in each tragedy?
3. Love, Sacrifice, and Selfhood
• How does love (romantic, familial, civic) motivate or complicate choices?
• What does Alcestis’ sacrifice reveal about human notions of duty and heroism?
• How do Medea’s actions challenge traditional ideas of love, betrayal, and revenge?
4. Emotional Extremes and Human Psychology
• How do grief, rage, or guilt drive the characters’ actions?
• How do these emotional extremes illuminate human nature, both in the Greek context and today?
• How might our own values shape our sympathy or condemnation for these characters?
5. The Role of Society and the Divine
• How do societal expectations and divine mandates constrain or justify the characters’ actions?
• How do each of the plays present the tension between law (human or divine) and personal conscience?
• Do the gods intervene directly, or is their power symbolic of societal pressures?
Seminar Dates/Times (all times are 6:30-7:30 Central U.S. Time Zone)
July 2 Oedipus Rex—Sophocles
July 9 Antigone—Sophocles
July 16 Medea—Euripides
July 23 Alcestis—Euripides
Register Now for the Stratford on Odeon Society
Parnassus Pen Society, grades 8-12
Instructor: Clint Von Gundy
Cost: $150
Application required: Applications are required for new members only. Apply here.
Application fee: N/A
Registration closes June 30
Looking to improve as a poet, a storyteller, a columnist, or a scriptwriter? Craving new writing prompts or genuine feedback? Join the Baylor TIP writing community! Under the guidance of our writing coach, TIPsters will engage in monthly writing prompts and lessons to help them grow as writers. They will also receive support in preparing submissions for publications and awards.
Club members should plan to attend at least 75% of our monthly virtual meetings per semester. Meeting dates will be scheduled based on a majority of the club members’ availability. Students must apply to become members of this society, and the number of students accepted to this society will be kept small to allow for maximum support and feedback. Additionally, students can schedule one 15-minute 1:1 session per semester with the coach to get additional feedback on samples or discuss submissions. Parents are invited and encouraged to attend 1:1s.
Parnassus Pen Society will meet from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, Central Daylight Time:
July 2
July 9
July 16
July 23
July 30