This fall Philip Weinstein has been teaching a class on the short story at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.

In the past, the Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor of English Emeritus at Swarthmore College has gone for the big books — Moby Dick, War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov. But really, whatever he teaches is fine with his loyal audiences which grow every year. He turned again to Melville this fall, his shorter works, then spent some time with the Russians (Chekhov and Tolstoy) and Henry James.

This Wednesday, Nov. 29, he embraces Dubliners by James Joyce. The program starts at 7 p.m. Dubliners was published in 1914 and includes 15 stories that take place in Dublin and depicts middle class Irish life. The collection travels from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. It ends with The Dead, perhaps the finest short story ever written. It takes place during the holiday season, and to read it at this time of year is always stirring. But to have an expert set the pace is a true gift.

On Dec. 13, Mr. Weinstein tackles Kafka.